PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- OCTOBER 6, 2008

Plain Truth readers' pastor tells them to cancel their subscription

Q. We were told by our minister to cancel our subscription to The Plain Truth magazine -- so please cancel my subscription.

A. While we always hate to lose readers, please allow me to explain why your decision -- specifically the motivation for this decision -- troubles us.

You noted, in your letter, that you "were told by our minister to cancel . . . Plain Truth magazine." It seems to me that there are two possible conclusions: 1) Perhaps your minister didn't really mean to say that he was attempting to control your reading material. Perhaps you misunderstood him. Perhaps he was saying that he personally wouldn't read Plain Truth -- but he realizes that you have the right to choose the Christian resources you read. He might be mortified if he knew you thought that he was giving you an order to stop reading Plain Truth. 2) Or perhaps you understood him correctly – which is the reason I felt I needed to write to you.

If your minister drives a Ford, he has the right to do that -- but unless I am mistaken, God has not authorized him to tell you to sell your Toyota and start driving a Ford, so that you can be just like him. Ford and Toyotas are both cars. Your minister doesn't need to read Plain Truth, he doesn't need to support our Christian ministry, but he cannot deny that we are a Christian ministry, a part of the body of Christ. We are a different kind of spiritual "car" -- but we are a spiritual "car" -- just like your church -- with spiritual tires, a steering wheel, seats, windows, etc.

The very fact that you report that your minister has told you to stop reading Plain Truth -- and that you seem to be following his instructions -- is one of the reasons you should keep reading!

We appreciate that many Christians may not choose to read Plain Truth, deciding to find spiritual nourishment elsewhere. We are all free in Christ, and are free to make such decisions. Baptists usually attend Baptist churches, Lutherans attend Lutheran churches, Methodists attend Methodist churches, etc. -- but pastors of these churches are not given biblical authority to demand that their parishioners never darken the door of another healthy, Christ-centered church. Unless your minister can demonstrate that Plain Truth is heretical and unbiblical, and that he is alerting you to toxic teaching, then I see him as lacking biblical authority in urging you, much less demanding, that you cancel. As Christians, we are all God’s children, and you have every right, as a part of the body of Christ, the priesthood of all believers, to determine and discern what is profitable and edifying for you.

The very fact that you report that your minister has told you to stop reading Plain Truth -- and that you seem to be following his instructions -- is one of the reasons you should keep reading! If your minister feels that the Plain Truth is spiritually deficient in some way, then we need to know what corrections we should make. Please invite him to give me a call at 1-800-309-4466, or email me at Greg.Albrecht@ptm.org

We will, of course, cancel your subscription, as you request. We will do so with misgivings, because it seems that this is 1) either a misunderstanding, or 2) it is an example of a religious authority attempting to coerce and domineer, perhaps, ironically, as a reaction against the proclamation of God’s grace. May God bless you and pour out the riches of his grace in your life. Thanks for allowing us to serve you in the past. If you wish to re-start your subscription, please give us a call.

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Postscript: Plain Truth is not the only Christian magazine to be suppressed, prohibited and censored. Recently, an issue of the largest urban Christian magazine in America, Gospel Today, was pulled from the shelves of the nationwide Lifeway Christian Bookstores. It seems that members of the Southern Baptist Convention were upset by the cover, which featured six prominent female pastors. Southern Baptists are opposed to the ordination of women to the pastoral ministry. Read the full story by clicking here.

In Christ
Greg Albrecht

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