The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum When did it stop?

That would depend on what place you occupy in your particular church. If you were a faithful member only, i.e., one who wasn't ordained to an office, you do have an obligation to report such heresy and/or to express your concern with it to your Elders and/or Presbytery/Classis. If the "powers that be" refused to act in an expeditious manner and deal with the problem, (I'm referring to the higher powers here; Synodical or General Assembly), then although such lack of biblical action on their part may lead to the demise of the denomination, such things generally do not effect the local congregations immediately. However, if the problem is within your own congregation and after making your concerns known to the Session/Consistory your concerns are either ignored, dismissed or rejected, and the problem is a grave one, then leaving would certainly be the expeditious thing to do.

So, you have the situation where problems are not in your local assembly but rather denominational issues and you have situations within your own congregation. And depending upon which place these problems exist and the severity of them, leaving may or may not be warranted. I could write much more at this point, but hopefully you will get my point with what I have written. The bottom line is packing your bags and leaving without a "fight" isn't an acceptable option. But there is no obligation on your part to participate in a long drawn out battle for the truth either, particularly when it is on the local level.

In His grace,