March For Jesus: Commitment or Compromise?
March For Jesus: Commitment or Compromise?
March For Jesus: Commitment or Compromise?
"No one has ever touched history like Jesus of Nazareth. People of
practically every culture and background acknowledge Him as the greatest
teacher, the greatest leader, the person who lived the most holy life. Indeed,
there has never been anyone who could compare with Jesus Christ. He is
unique among human beings."(5)
Notice that nothing is said here about the deity of Jesus. In fact, Mr. Gary
devotes an entire chapter to Jesus' uniqueness, from a human standpoint,
referring only to His deity in talking about the apostle Paul:
"After God made Jesus Lord and Messiah through the resurrection, it
was impossible for Paul to consider Him just a man, limited to time and
space."(6)
He ends the chapter with this statement:
"I believe we are about to witness a God-given awakening of interest in
the person of Jesus as we move toward the year 2000."(7)
New Age Connections
While Robert Muller is not directly involved in the leadership of March for
Jesus, he has a much more important role in a leadership position of the AD
2000 network. Mr. Gary is tied to Robert Muller and his New Age connections
through the organization of B.E.G.I.N. (Bimillennial Global Interaction
Network), a project which began in 1991 under AD2000. Mr. Gary named Dr.
Muller as one of the three key people in the establishment of this network the other two being Mr. Gary and Paul Guest of World Association for
Celebrating the Year 2000.(8)
Jay Gary founded another project under this umbrella (AD 2000) known as
Celebration 2000 in 1990. He wrote a letter to World Goodwill about
Celebration 2000. World Goodwill is more than a New Age organization. It is
an organization that is closely linked with the Lucis Trust [formerly the Lucifer
Trust] and the Arcane school founded by Alice Bailey(9) [Bailey was a New
Age prophetess and also founder of the Lucis Trust].(10) In his letter, Mr.
Gary said,
"One common project we are developing is an International Year of
Thanksgiving in 2000, especially through the United Nations. Mr. Robert
Muller has given leadership to this proposal."(11)
In fact, the Celebration 2000 Declaration states as one of its precepts, "...We
urge the United Nations to issue a World Bimillennial Proclamation to:
declare the year 2000 as an `International Year of Thanksgiving.(12) On
"In his latest book Muller proposes that the UN proclaims the Year 2000 as
an International Year of Thanksgiving, preceded by 'unprecedented thinking,
action, and determination to solve our remaining problems in order to enter
the third millennium with a clean slate.' He calls upon the UN to establish a
Preparatory Committee which would stimulate and coordinate celebration
2000 preparations among the professions, institutions, media, business,
citizen organizations, religion, and the arts.(20)
That same issue of the B.E.G.I.N. newsletter also advertised the new-age
book by John Nesbitt, Megatrends 2000, and heavily promoted the interfaith
Parliament of the World's Religions, which drafted the "Global Ethic" - a
manifesto for the transformation of mankind through common religious and
social beliefs. Also featured in Jay Gary's newsletter, as a full-page spread, is
a poem by Robert Muller which includes the lines:
"I dream that on 1 January 2000, the whole world will stand still in prayer,
awe and gratitude for our beautiful heavenly Earth, and for the miracle of
human life. I dream that (all peoples) from all beliefs and cultures will join
their hands, hearts and minds in an unprecedented, universal bimillennial
celebration of life....I dream that the third millennium will be declared and
made Humanity's First Millennium of Peace."(21)
New Age Ecumenism
We are concerned with the willingness of Mr. Gary and the March for Jesus
organization to tie themselves not only to New Age personalities and their
religion, but to all religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. In John 17:20-23,
which was used often last year in promoting the March, Jesus is talking about
unity with believers, not with everyone no matter who or what they believe
in. How can this March glorify Jesus when there are marchers who do not
even believe in or worship Jesus as the Son of God or worship a Jesus other
than the one we are taught about in the Bible to believe in? Second
Corinthians 11: 3-4,13-15 states:
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not
preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or
another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him...
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into
an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according
to their works."
Second Corinthians 6: 14-17 states:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light
with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath
he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of
God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you."
Finally, Galatians 1: 8-10 states:
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we
said before, so say I now again. If any man preach any other gospel unto you
than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men,
or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I shouId not be
the servant of Christ."
John MacArthur in his most recent book, Reckless Faith: When the Church
Loses Its Will To Discern, discusses an important aspect of unity:
"Again, emphatically, none of this suggests that love and unity are
unimportant. We must be loving. We must seek unity. We must reflect the
long-suffering of God and the meekness of our Savior. But all of that must be
built on a foundation of non-negotiable truth"(22) [emphisis added].
Our findings show a direct correlation between the hierarchy of the March for
Jesus organization and Robert Muller, an avowed espouser of the New Age
and One-World system. Even though on the surface the March appears to
promote nothing but good, there are some aspects of the organization and
leadership of the national March for Jesus that are very wrong. First
Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9 state it quite simply: "...Know ye not that a
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" It is our responsibility as Christians
to question things to see if they are of God (1 John 4:1: "Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world") and to expose wrongs (Ephesians
5:11: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them").
Following our initial research of Mr. Gary's and Dr. Muller's connections, we
received a copy of a memo from Jay Gary to Stewardship Services, Standard
Ministries, and Banner Ministries in which he stated, "...In order to be clear
on this matter, we no longer use Robert Muller's name as a reference,
whether on our letterhead, or connected as an advisor.(23) However, this
fails to explain Mr. Gary's endorsements of Mr. Muller's books or his failure to
retract Mr. Muller's quotes from his book and publications.
We have come to the conclusion that marching for Jesus does very little to
evangelize effectively for Jesus. That can only be done by living a life that is
exemplary and Christ-like. We feel we do not need to walk the streets to
claim them for Jesus. They are already His! John MacArthur writes again in
Reckless Faith:
"...another factor contributing to the decline of discernment in the
contemporary church... is a preoccupation with image and influence. Many
Christians have the misconception that to win the world to Christ we must
first win the world's favor. If we can get the world to like us, they will
embrace our Savior...The express design of this user-friendly philosophy is to
make unconverted sinners feel comfortable with the Christian message.
People won't come to hear the Gospel proclaimed? Give them something
they want. Put on a show. Entertain them. Avoid sensitive subjects like sin
and damnation. Accommodate their worldly desires and felt needs. Slip in
the Gospel in small, diluted doses. The whole point is to make the church a
place where non-Christians can enjoy themselves. The strategy is to tantalize
non-Christians rather than confront their unbelief. That is altogether
incompatible with sound doctrine. It is compromise with the world. James
called it spiritual adultery (James 4:4). . . . In practical terms, the movement
to accommodate the world has diminished Christians' confidence in divinely
revealed truth. If we can't trust the preaching of God's Word to convert the
lost and build the church, how can we trust the Bible at all - even as a guide
for our daily living?(24)
This illustrates what the March for Jesus... is all about - winning others to
Christ without the preaching of God's Holy Word. Gerald Coates, one of the
founders of March for Jesus, stated:
"Our task is to make Jesus attractive and intelligible. Through words and
deeds to build bridges of love because human beings are worth it, and in the
hope that we might have the rich privilege of sharing our faith with them. In
so doing, as people respond, the earth will fill up with reasonable people who
have been given the ability to make peace rather than war, to be faithful
rather than promiscuous, to bring heaven rather than hell into the
world.(25)
Territorial Salvation
The March for Jesus is an event that is publicized by its founders as a means
of evangelizing the world and is, therefore, perceived by many who
participate as straight evangelism. However, Tricia Tillen, in the 1993 Winter
Then there are those who strive for methodological unity - this nit-picking
fundamentalist evangelical approach to scripture that asks questions like
where is marching in the Bible? Methods are important, but we are not
primarily looking for methodological unity. We are primarily looking for
relational unity - a display of love, unity and joy."(31)
We agree that Christ's doctrine does divide. Those of this world (or those
who choose to follow "Christ" but on their own worldly terms) would naturally
find Christ's doctrine as outlined in the Bible to be too restrictive or "nitpicking". Didn't Jesus predict division in the last days when he spoke in Luke
21:12-19:
"But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you,
delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before
kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall
answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries
shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by
parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they
cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's
sake. But there shall not a hair of your head perish. In your patience
possess ye your souls.
What kind of love, unity and joy are they talking about if it is not backed up
with Christ's doctrine - perhaps the world's "feel-good" type?
Which "Jesus"?
Take, for example, the fact that an ex-homosexual who repented of his sins,
now a dedicated Christian and family man, was approached by the March
organizers in Des Moines, Iowa, to be part of a reconciliation with
homosexuals at this year's March. He was asked to publicly apologize on
behalf of the church for treating them so terribly. No gospel. Nothing else.
Just apologize. Needless to say, he has declined. Further, this "apology"
showed no intention of leading gays to Christ. It simply is a way to bring in
the gays to the March. Last year, in this same city, the Moonies were invited
to participate in the March for Jesus.(32) Is this the type of unity true
Christians want? Sounds like compromise and trying to make the church
friendly to the world to us.
Listen to what another founder of the March for Jesus, Roger Forster has said:
"God told us to march - our understanding of the theology of what we
were doing came later."(33)
"We don't know how to engage totally the spiritual forces of darkness that
are vested in the structures of society... We don't know what happens when
we declare the victory of Jesus into the cosmos - what we do know is
something happens."(34)
In other words, the idea for these Marches was based on subjective feelings.
The founders admit that there is no New Testament scriptural basis for these
Marches. However, that doesn't seem to matter to them. What does matter
is that everyone feel good about the unity and agreement amongst the
participants that the Marches promote. Everyone can give praise to their
own `Jesus".
What we have learned from our experience regarding March for Jesus is that
we don't need involvement in organizations or movements to worship,
praise, or evangelize for Jesus. What we do need to do as Christians is to be
more discerning and more in God's Word. We also need to spend more time
and effort in instructing our families in the Word to insure their salvation. lf
we keep God's Word in our heart, His light will shine in our lives and Jesus will
truly shine for others.
Footnotes:
1. 1994 March for Jesus brochure.
2. Jay Gary, The Star of 2000, Our Journey Toward Hope, p. 112.
3. Ibid., p. 115.
4. Ibid., p. 36.
5. Ibid., p. 22.
6. Ibid., Chapter 2: Unwrap History's Mystery, p. 35.
7. Ibid., p. 36.
8. Fact sheet from AD2000 on Project name: B.E.G.I.N., under "Key
People" heading.
9. Texxe Marrs, Book of New Age Cults & Religions, 1990, p. 334.
10. Texxe Marrs, Dark Secrets of the New Age, 1993, p. 169.
11. Cited in World Goodwill Newsletter, 1993, No. 3, p. 7.
12. "The Celebration 2000 Declaration" petition distributed by B.E.G.I.N. to
present to the Secretary-General of the U..N.
13. From letter from Jay & Olgy Gary dated October 14, 1993 on
Celebration 2000 letterhead.
14. World Goodwill Newsletter, 1993, No. 3, p. 7.
15. 1994 March for Jesus brochure.
16. Jay Gary Star of 2000, p. 90.
17. Ibid., p. 91.
18. Robert Muller, First Lady of the World, p. 21.
19. Ibid., p. 60.
20. "Bimillennial Research Report," March-April 1992.
Regarding the year 2000, Muller, in his book The New Genesis on page 186,
calls for the New Age to be ushered in by the year 2000 and for the
formation of a New Order which he calls "A Bimillennium Celebration of Life,
the advent of an Era of Peace, a Golden Age, and the First Millennium of
World Harmony and Human Happiness." He writes, "Yes, we must join our
Hindu brethren and call henceforth our planet
'Brahma' or the Planet of God."(21)
The ideological base of the New Age political agenda is a unity of all
religions, allowing various religions to exist with each viewed as teaching the
same core truth: mankind is divine. This is what Muller had to say about the
unity of religions:
"For the first time in history we have discovered that this is one planet on
which we live. Now it remains for us to discover that we are also one human
family and that we have to transcend all national, linguistic, cultural, racial
and religious differences which have made our history. We have a chance to
write a completely new history."(22)
In an interview for The Center magazine in 1981, he stated,
"I have several proposals to help the world situation, but the main one
would be to prepare for a world celebration of the bimillennium....I would like
to see all leaders and men and women of good will begin to work toward the
year 2000 now, so that from 2000 on we will have a clean slate for a new
age and world....The next two decades should be devoted to unparalleled
thinking, perception, inspiration, love, planning, and work for the
achievement of a just and peaceful society on earth....I would like to see
politicians begin to work on new values,
methods, and political instruments to free the big powers from their present
deadlock in nemesis...and to better administer this planet. Such aspirations
and efforts would lift the sight of the people above their present anxieties
and give them hope. We need to be shown new frontiers and summits. We
need to have faith, for faith engenders progress, achievements, and
sometimes even miracles. We need to believe above all that the human
species has a reason to be, a task, and an ultimate fulfillment in the
universe. I believe there are cosmic laws for which we ought to be looking.
The billions of years of our planet's evolution and the millions of years of
human evolution cannot have as their sole objective that the Soviet Union
and the United States should annihilate all life on earth. There must be other
reasons for all our travail. I believe that these other reasons are
progressively to emerge."(23)
An Ecumenical Emerging Order
At the Conference in Search of the True Meaning of Peace held in Costa Rica
on June 25-30, 1989, Robert Muller urged participants to work to bring in a
One World Religion by the year 2000. Here is a portion of Muller's speech to
the conference:
"We need a World or cosmic spirituality...religious leaders will get together
to define before the end of this century the cosmic laws which are common
to all their faiths....They should tell the politicians what the cosmic laws are,
what God, or the gods, or the cosmos are expecting from humans. We must
hope also that the Pope will come before the year 2000 to the United
Nations, speak for all the religious and spiritualities on this planet and give
the world the religious view of how the third millennium should be a spiritual
millennium, a millennium which will see the integration and harmony of
humanity...."(24)
Mr. Muller believes the U.N. has a role in the establishment of a global
society. He states what is to come to those who oppose the establishment of
his "utopia."
"... If I wanted to make a fortune I would leave the United Nations and
start a new profession called entity promotion. It would go far beyond
public relations and advertising. I would say to my customers, You want to
promote an entity? A race, a religion, an institution, a nation, a minority, a
firm, an interest group, a product, a service - anything, you name it. I will tell
you how to do it. Over the years, I have gathered two files on entity
promotion. The first deals with every possible technique to prove that your
entity is superior. You need a flag, a
hymn, an education, a creed, a protocol, a language, famous persons,
preferably even heroes and martyrs, etc. My second file deals with ways to
diminish other entities. Lie about them, denigrate them, do not cease to
repeat that they are bad, accuse them of anything and everything. The
human species is still at the stage where this is the predominant game on
the planet....We need entities....(25)
CouId March for Jesus be one of his entities?
Footnotes
1. Robert Muller, First Lady of the World, "About the Author," 2nd edition,
1994, p. 207.
2. The Center Magazine, November/December 1981, "An Interview with
Robert Muller: Toward A Global Politics," Michael Crandell, p. 7.
3. First Lady of the World, p. 207.
4. The Robert Muller School World Core Curriculum Manual, November
1986, "School History" section, p. 1.
5. First Lady of the World, p. 207.