The works of the Worldwide Church of God may be impressive, looking at the evangelism done on the backs of perhaps one hundred thousand tithe-paying members: certainly their public literature and colleges are the very best the organization has to offer, along with its hosting of (ironically) high-profile arts performances, and a few small charitable efforts.
Ultimately, mere showy diligence is no excuse. Christ denounced the Pharisees for a similar diligence: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" (Matt.23:15).
As Christ said, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit....Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them" (Matt.7:18,20). Anyone who has lived in the milieu of the Worldwide Church of God and struggled with "The Problem" will recognize, with a shock, that yes, the actual fruits of the Worldwide Church of God are evil. This was not a conclusion I came to lightly; like most loyal members, I tried to see each evil result as a horrible exception with its own isolated reason for being. Eventually, though, my rationalizations broke down, and I came to the inescapable realization that these "exceptions" are themselves the rule.
What, then, is the standard by which a church, or an individual, is to be judged? "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8). This is as good an encapsulation as any. While the WWCOG organization is often unjust, unmerciful, and anything but humble, there is another way that it goes against the very core of biblical religion.
The Worldwide Church of God, in arrogating to itself the individual's responsibility to nurture his or her own relationship to God, not only denies the principle of free moral agency by interposing itself between the member and God, but actually sets itself up in the place of God, so that the member's main concern has to become his relationship to the church: his relationship to God, his family, his friends, and his obligations to himself must all be sacrificed on the altar of "The Work," as this church likes to call itself.
Its chosen, familiar name, "The Work," is reminiscent of the phrase "Arbeit macht Frei" (work makes you free) over Nazi concentration camp gates. While the parallel is outrageous in its degree, the intent is basically the same: the Worldwide Church of God sees its members as fodder for its programs, and creates in them the mentality of shock workers. The organization has simply not had the opportunity to take full advantage of the congregations' willingness to follow this church they feel compelled to obey--and I hope they never do.1
6.2. The Place of Safety
The Worldwide Church of God believes that just before the return of Christ, the church will be given a secret signal from God, and the Administration will contact the ministry, who will call the members to sell their possessions and get on an airlift to Petra in Jordan, there to await Christ's return. That this could be a potential Jonestown is obvious to anyone who has heard of it, and this concern may have been the deciding factor in the state of California's botched and ill-advised receivership of the church. There was a belief among the congregation that members must be ready to make any sacrifice once in "the place of safety," as Petra was called -- some even thought it might be necessary to kill God's enemies, even among one's own family. Although I never heard such a thing from the pulpit, being alone in a rocky desert with such people is a chilling thought.
1
The new incarnation of the Worldwide Church of God seems to maintain this Pharisaical attitude: many doctrinal changes, as well as participation in charitable and other pursuits, seems designed to win the favour of other Christian groups: in this case, it is only the other Pharisees, not the general populace, they are trying to impress.
