To Our Ministers and our Conference and Institutional Workers.
Greetings:
The officers of the General Conference take this opportunity of addressing you upon a matter of great importance. We are living in a time of great spiritual and moral crisis. Of these times Jesus prophesied thus:
As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were' given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot ; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded ; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17: 26-30.
Jesus illustrated His point by drawing a parallel between the days of Noah and Lot and the last days just previous to His coining. The moral conditions of those evil times were deplorable in the extreme. Just as Jesus predicted, we have come again into just such times. The world today is like another Sodom. The sins and loathsome practices of the antediluvians again prevail in the world. On every hand salacious exhibitions, insinuating and impure theatrical plays and motion pictures, low-class radio programs, so-called beauty contests vulgarly portraying the nudity of young women, mixed bathing in indecent costumes, and a flood of vile literature, contribute to the breaking down of moral restraints and standards.
These evils threaten even the life and spiritual well-being of the church. We know that the great body of our workers and believers are godly men and women of moral integrity. But some who have stood as shepherds of the flock have fallen before the temptations of these perilous times. We desire to sound a solemn warning against the intrusion of these evils into the church. We call upon the ministry and all our workers and members to turn away from every practice and association that tends toward laxity and indulgence. We exhort every worker and church member to keep himself free from moral contamination and from all, tendencies in that direction, and to shun a careless, world-loving, easy mariner of life that invites temptation and leads to wrongdoing.
We call upon all our workers and members in this cause, both men and women, to conform to the highest standards of rectitude and moral conduct, and to avoid all unbecoming and improper relationships. Let it be known everywhere that this denomination will not tolerate or condone any laxness in these matters on the part of those who as leaders or workers should be examples to the church and to the world. The highest spiritual and moral considerations should lead every worker to avoid even the appearance of evil.
When workers give evidence of carelessness in their conduct or live in a careless, world-loving way, or are continually surrounded by an atmosphere of suspicion, or fail to live up to the adopted standards of the church, they should be released from further service in the cause. It is the duty of conference committees and institutional boards to deal promptly with all cases involving failure in such matters. The church has a right to demand that every worker who serves this cause shall maintain all these standards in his life, or else give place to those who, in the fear of God, will endeavor to do so.
Workers who habitually maintain a liberal or worldly attitude in their general deportment and conduct toward denominational standards, thereby fail to give the spiritual leadership the church has a right to expect. Such workers should be encouraged to change their attitude on these fundamental questions, or seek other lines of employment. We appeal to all our workers to live a consistent example in all these particulars.
We also appeal to all our church members, believers, and young people to keep their lives and actions on a high plane of moral conduct in harmony with the well-known standards of the church. The time has come when there should be a clear line of distinction between those who serve the Lord and those who serve Him not. The church must guard faithfully its good name and reputation. The erring should always be dealt with in a Christlike manner, but there must be no compromise with sin. A clean church must be maintained. Let us "cleanse the camp" from all moral pollution. We call upon all to unite in carrying out such a worthy purpose.
General Conference Officers.
J.L. McElhany, President,
E.D. Dick, Secretary.
