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By: Dr. Johnson C. Philip Church historians have repeatedly accepted that it is the Brethren Movement that made the Bible an open book. With their emphasis upon the priesthood of every believer, and the repeated emphasis that each believer-priest should exercise his spiritual gifts, this movement brought forth an era of great understanding and teaching of the Scripture. In India the Assembly movement grew with great conviction amidst strong opposition from people of the Mar Thoma, Jacoba, and Roman Catholic churches. A large number of new believers were forced out of their house, and even their society. In a close-knit India of a century ago, a person was socially dead once his family broke ties with him. Yet men and women went ahead and embraced the Lord. The late Koshy Mathunni was kicked out of his home along with his young wife with nowhere to go. The young T. A. Kurian had a similar fate. EP Varghese and CT Mathai were often on the verge of being beaten by savage crowds. Finally Lonappan Upadeshi was ruthlessly beaten, kicked when he fell on the ground, and even his wrists were broken. The dead-body of his pre-teen daughter was exhumed by opponents of the assemblies, and thrown back in his courtyard. The young Doraraj was taken away by anti Christians and presumably hacked to death. Yet none of it deterred the followers of Christ. Talented young men like ME Cherian resigned from their jobs and went into ministry, and that also in an alien land, without any financial support. TA Kurian took up a 1500 kilometer journey on bicycle in MP and UP, in totally hostile circumstances. Philip Abraham and three other evangelists decided to walk all their way from Madras to Rajasthan if no support came forth for their venture. In the second week of their arrival in Kota city they were mercilessly beaten and the bibles and other literature were burned. Their wives and children were vulnerable to attacks similar to what is seen during communal riots, yet they did not flee North India. The whole group went on to establish assembly testimony in one place after another. In more recent times the history is full of similar heroism. Men and women who were in all ways like the people chosen by Nebuchadnezzar (intelligent, talented, handsome, able to hold high social position) have begun to leave their earthly fortunes. Rather than providing material security to their families, they have decided to walk the way of faith -- come what may -- so the the New Testament principles are spread all over the country and even outside. We know how a couple from our assemblies have gone to Kazakisthan as ambassadors -- and land where they suffer total alienation from everything that is meaningful. The question therefore is, who are the people planting seeds of dissent and bitterness among the assemblies. How is it that feelings of hatred have started poisoning the minds of young believers. Who is the infiltrators, and who is the traitor ? Who is working from within the assemblies against the very society which has given them shelter and nurture. Who Told Us That We Are Naked: In the Garden of Eden when Adam hid himself, and when he confessed that he was naked, the Lord immediately retorted and asked "WHO" told you that you are naked. In other words, someone with vested interest had planted this guilt and shame in their hearts. They were naked even before sinning, but then there was no guilt about it. But now someone had imposed it upon them, and this had filled them with shame. The same is the situation of the assemblies. The assemblies have been here for the past one century and more. The men who pioneered this movement, and who paid for it with everything they had were perceived as heroes. People considered it a matter of pride to have left churches with tradition, episcopalian priesthood, and properties worth thousands of crores of rupees. Abandoning it all was considered a great achievement. These men and women were looked upon as heroes, people whose dedication and service was to be emulated. But suddenly there is a change in the air. The people and the movement which were perceived as great for the first seventy to eighty years has suddenly been demoted. People no longer talk about their greatness. People no longer talk with pride about the Assemblies. What happened in the last twenty or so many years to change the attitude of respect and pride into disrespect and inferiority complex ? What is it that has changed ? It is obvious that we have a great heritage and that has not changed. If not then why this sudden change in attitude. And why only in the last two decades or so ? Who subtly planted the idea that we are naked. And how is it that we who perceived ourselves as a great movement have suddenly started describing as naked, who need to hid themselves from others ? When Satan planted the feeling of guilt, he was using the principle that "Ideas Have Consequences". Plant a wrong idea, and people will think upside down. And that is why God immediately retorted and asked "WHO TOLD YOU" that you are naked. The discovery was not Adam's. It was a subtle idea planted in his mind to destroy his access to God. So when we see our own people thinking the same way, we have to ask the same question "Who Told Us". Ideas have consequences. So when we see the consequences today, we should begin asking who planted these false ideas in the assembly circles. The History: Nineteen sixties was a time of great change in Kerala. Literacy was increasing, and at the same time the number of jobless people was growing exponentially. The help of every able-bodied person was needed to sustain the family. This was the era of migration. The best men went to North India and then to Gulf to sustain their large families back in Kerala. The ablest women went to North India and then to USA to do the same. It is they who financially stabilized Kerala from the sixties onwards. However, in this rush for financial stability, something else happened in the background in Kerala. There was a sudden decrease in the number of men entering full-time Christian ministry. The best ones were no longer available. Look at the dismal record of our Bible Schools, and you will find them struggling to find students. The number of assemblies was growing, but there was no corresponding increase in the number of evangelists, teachers and preachers to fill the pulpits. There was a general vacuum. Pulpits began to be vacant. And this was the first time when unknowingly many assemblies relaxed the criteria to evaluate people who entered ministry. There was such a shortage of men for ministry that almost anyone and everyone who even mentioned the word "ministry" was immediately prayed upon, commended, and sent out for ministry. There was a general laxity all around. This was also the time when a large number of non-brethren mission agencies came to work in India. Many of them were headed by people from assembly backgrounds, but who were no longer in assembly fellowship. As flow of money increased and principles became lax, many fell into various kinds of irregularities. Having no way of continuing in these agencies, they found the Brethren Assemblies a good place of refuge. The vacuum here accommodated them without any examination as to their commitment to the assemblies. The same was the time of influx of people from Catholicism, Hinduism, and a number of false cults. While the majority of them were true seekers, at least a portion of them were opportunity-seekers, who were quick to recognize the opportunity for backdoor entry. Having political background or training, many of them realized that the basically political principle of "Divide And Rule" can easily be used to gain an upper hand in the spiritual world also, specially during a period of vacuum in pulpits. Thus a large number of speeches from our pulpits became nothing more than political commentaries couched in spiritual languages. This led to a situation in the mid seventies when many politically-motivated pulpit-preachers in Kerala used to refuse to sit on the pulpit with others, lest their glory be stolen away. Gradually the doctrine-based messages began shifting to entertainment-based preaching. Condemnation of error was replaced with condemnation of people, albeit indirectly. People going to Gulf and USA for a living were projected as materialists, to the chagrin of those in the audience who did not have any Gulf or American connection. Any and every subject was presented to entertain people and Bible Teaching was totally overlooked. The charisma of the Word preached was replaced by the charisma of political-propaganda type preaching. And then came the second stage of destruction. Many of these men began openly condemning the assemblies. Every movement has weaknesses, and the assemblies are no exception. But these men began to pick up exceptions, and started projecting them as though these were common practices. Under the influence of their flowery and mesmerizing speeches, Brethren people in Kerala for the first time began to look at their own community with distorted eyes. And self-hatred followed as a natural corollary of distorted perception. This is first time in the history of Kerala Brethren when a movement that was seen with great appreciation and respect began to be seen with hatred and revulsion. A small number of people, using their oratorical skills and insights into political manipulation, were systematically brainwashing people into hating the community they had loved for the past three quarters of a century -- a community about which they were proud, and a community which had nurtured them in every way. This was akin to the incident in Genesis where the deceiver had planted guilt in the hearts of Adam and Eve. Their physical condition was the same before and after eating the fruit, but Satan was able to fill them with shame. The assemblies of brethren was the same but suddenly the heart of the members were filled with hatred, bitterness, and abandon about this movement. This was also the time when for the first time the total number of strong and vocal leaders became too few for filling all the pulpits. Many of these men recognized the danger, and people like the late VT Mathai were quick to recognize that "foxes are destroying the crops" but the number of watchmen was too few to guard the whole field. The same was the time when one-man ministries and one-man publications rose among the assemblies. Recognizing the power of print media, many launched their own one-man shows. Subscription or no subscription, these periodicals were simply imposed upon anyone and everyone whose address they could find. They knew that once a publication reaches a home, invited or uninvited, at least four to six pairs of eyes will look at it. Great would be their power to manipulate these people, specially when they visited these home month after month, year after year. One of these editors eventually became so bold that in many places he publically declared two things 1. Why he launched a one-man publication, 2. Why he defected from his church to join the Brethren movement. He said that he is a Brethren because 1. There is no clergy laity distinction here, 2. There is almost no ecclesiastical control here, 3. No permission is needed to launch any projects, 4. There is absolute freedom here, 5. A crafty person can manipulate believers all his life without being caught. And then he said the had launched his one-man periodical not for information or edification, but to see to it that anybody raising a voice against his (mis)deeds was immediately silenced, presumably through character assassination. The history of the last three decades is our witness that a number of one-man outfits have successfully carried out the mission of character assassination and destruction of believers with impunity. People knew it, but nobody dared to expose these brethren because it was an unequal battle: the one-man outfits could (and did) write anything, for any length of time, against anyone, without any constraints whatever. On the other hand, the more representative magazines run by a plurality of leadership could never stoop down to this level, nor could they be occupied with a single subject for such a long period of time. Thus the gorilla warfare continued to succeed against the community, purely because one side was willing to be as unethical as needed. Ideas Have Consequences: All ideas have consequences. Good ideas produce good results, and evil ideas produce destruction. Once the community of believers was continually assaulted with false ideas, mainly to divide and rule, it was bound to have some results. And the result is with us. But before we discuss that result, we must read a relevant passage from the book of Galatians which talks about False Brethren "Gal 2:4 (This happened) because of false brethren secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage 5 to them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you." People who would like to destroy any movement know that the best method to bring to ruin even the best kingdom is to plant false ideas, gossip, and bitterness. This is the reason why all governments caution their people against listening to and spreading gossip during times of war. Ideas have consequences, and too much spread of false ideas can destroy any community. Thus a small number of men, not having any loyalty to the Brethren Movement, used a liberal dose of mercenary and yellow journalism to attack the people of God. It was essential for them to destroy the assemblies so that their rule might be established firmly. It was a classic case of divide and plunder. And they used very well-tried political and mercenary tactics to attain this goal, which will be the subject of the research papers to follow. Suffice to say that in the second century of its existence in India, the assemblies are NOT dead. They are alive, lively, and growing rapidly. But it is the mercenary tactics of certain individual who have their own trumpets (pulpit, periodicals) who have spread the false idea that the Assemblies in India are dead. The more they are resisted, the better it would be for our younger generation. In the next research-paper of this series we will go through an analysis of how the Brethren believers were systematically turned against the Assemblies, the tactics used for creating rebellion, and the need to recognize the enemies of faith. Dr. Johnson C. Philip is the Principal of Rehoboth Theological Institute, an assembly-based institution in Trichur that offers M.Div, M.Th, and other courses. |