[The following material is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 3, Issue 7, 1986. David W. Cloud, Editor. All rights are reserved. O Timothy is a monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0. The Way of Life Internet web site is http://www.wayoflife.org/.]

When the charge is made that the WCC and the leaders of the ecumenical movement are striving to build a new one world order, it is often vehemently denied. But this is exactly their goal, even though they don't always wish to admit it.

It is this goal which has made it so easy for the WCC to work with Communists and to support Communist groups with finances through their so-called Program to Combat Racism. Not all World Council leaders and workers are communists, of course. But since they have the ultimate goal of creating some sort of kingdom of God on earth, the ecumenical leaders find they are on the same path as the communists, socialists, new agers and others striving today to create a new world order. Therefore, even though many of the ecumenical leaders do not advocate the violence of communism, they find it difficult or impossible to condemn the communist's violence since it appears very unlikely that their goal of a new world system will come peaceably.

As I read the publications of the World Council of Churches and its member bodies, and other ecumenical groups such as the YMCA, YWCA, etc., this goal of building a one world system of peace and justice is referred to repeatedly. And no, they are not referring to the kingdom of God which Jesus Christ will bring at His glorious coming. It is a "kingdom of God" made through the efforts of mankind, through international and regional political activity, through international financial institutions, through social work, through rebellion against the present system of things such as we find in the feminist movement, in the labor unions, etc. Never in the New Testament do we see the apostles or the Christians in the early churches striving to build the kingdom of God on earth, striving to change the Roman empire, striving to create some new world order. No! They were busy preaching the Gospel of personal salvation through the Blood of Christ, baptizing, teaching the Bible, building local churches--and looking continually for the imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider the following recent remarks made at ecumenical meetings, and you will see plainly that their goal is indeed to build by human efforts a new one world order, the "kingdom of God on earth," in which there is no poverty, no slavery, no inequality--only peace and justice and plenty for all.

Example # 1

"As Christians, we must act, and act now, to ensure a decent life with dignity for all. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES WHICH PERPETUATE INEQUALITY AND POVERTY MUST BE REPLACED BY A NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER AND POLITICAL STRUCTURE WHICH ENSURES THE FULL PARTICIPATION OF ALL PEOPLE [emphasis mine, editor] in the decisions which affect their lives...

"As Christians, we reaffirm our fundamental belief that all of God's people must live in dignity and must determine their own future. The polarization and fragmentation which we see in many forms on all continents threatens the survival of us all. Throughout the world, the suffering and the pain and the struggle grow...

"As the third millennium A.D. approaches, we dedicate ourselves, from this day forward, to work for justice and peace through our diakonia. We commit ourselves to implement a vision to identify ourselves and TO BE IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOW IN THE PROCESS OF STRUGGLING FOR PEACE BASED ON JUSTICE [emphasis mine, editor]." ("The Larnaca Declaration," excerpted from the document approved by the November 1986 world consultation on Christian service, Ecumenical Press Service, 6-20 December 1986, 86.12.40)

Example # 2

"But a community must not be seen as the local community alone. A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLES AND NATIONS, AS WELL AS A COMMUNITY OF DIFFERENT CHURCHES AND RELIGIONS, HAS TO EMERGE IF HUMANKIND IS TO SURVIVE. THEREFORE, ONE AIM OF OUR WORK IS THE BREAKING DOWN OF ALL KINDS OF BARRIERS WHICH PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITIES WITH RIGHTS AND JUSTICE FOR ALL--particularly SUCH BARRIERS AS race, SEX, class, NATION, power and WEALTH [emphasis mine, editor]. Genuine communication cannot take place in a climate of division, alienation, isolation and barriers which disturb, prevent or distort social interaction...

"Communicators now have an awesome responsibility to use and develop indigenous forms of communication. THEY HAVE TO CULTIVATE A SYMBOLIC ENVIRONMENT OF MUTUALLY SHARED IMAGES AND MEANINGS WHICH RESPECT HUMAN DIGNITY AND THE RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL VALUES WHICH ARE AT THE HEART OF THIRD WORLD CULTURES. ONE OF THE GREATEST ASSETS OF TODAY'S WORLD IS ITS MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES, REVEALING THE RICHNESS OF GOD'S IMAGE IN ALL ITS DIVERSITY." [emphasis mine, editor] (This item was adopted by the Central Committee of the London-based World Association for Christian Communication at its meeting in May, 1986, EPS, 16-25 November 1986, 86.11.54) 

Note just a few of the errors in false ideas evident in the above quotes:

1. There is the false idea that all people are God's people, with no distinction made between saved and unsaved, whereas the Bible says that though all men are created by God, all men are not God's children--only those who have been born again though faith in Jesus Christ. (1 John 5:19) 

2. There is the false idea that a world system of peace and justice can be built through human effort, whereas the Bible teaches that world conditions are going to grow increasingly distressful until the coming of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 24)

3. There is the false idea that there can be peace among those who are in rebellion against God--and the vast majority of the world's people are in absolute rebellion against Almighty God--whereas the Bible says there is no peace for the wicked. (Isaiah 48:22; 57:21)

4. There is the false idea that the true and living God is within and behind the cultures of this fallen world, whereas the Bible teaches that the world's existing cultures were created by fallen, rebellious men and devils. (1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4; Genesis 4)

5. There is the false idea that Christians are supposed to be trying to build the kingdom of God on earth, whereas the Bible teaches that the work of Christians and the churches is the preaching of the Gospel of personal redemption through Christ's blood, baptizing and discipling those who believe. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts and the Epistles) 

6. There is the false idea that the survival of mankind depends upon man's efforts to create a new world order of peace and justice, whereas the Bible teaches that mankind will survive only because of the intervention of Jesus Christ at His Second Coming in power and glory. (Matthew 24:21-22,29-31)