Nicole forwarded an April 20 Easter message from Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.
At the end of his short message, he gave some great advice:
No one is compelled to believe this. You may read this and call it foolishness. That is your right. But if that is your view, I at least encourage you to read one book in the Bible, the gospel of John, and consider the claims of the Bible and Christ before you dismiss Christianity.
I love that advice. Point people to the only evangelistic book in the Bible!
I am reminded that the Lord Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26). Wildmon said that no one is compelled to believe this. But he was not talking about the same this that the Lord Jesus was in His question to Martha.
Wildmon was not talking about the promise of the Lord Jesus that whoever believes in Him will be glorified and will never die spiritually (John 11:25-26). Instead, Wildmon interprets this as follows: “In order for man to be in right relationship with God, man must conform his life to match with God’s requirement of man.”
Now if by right relationship he meant fellowship with God, he would be partially right. Of course, even in sanctification we do not conform our own lives. In Rom 12:2, the two commands, “Don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds…” are both in the passive voice. Transformation is done to us by God as we sit under solid Bible teaching and the Holy Spirit renews our minds.
What Wildmon is saying is that we must change our behavior in order to be born again:
Jesus called this experience being “born again.” In other words, a person (every human) must understand that he or she has violated God’s laws and is forever separated from God spiritually unless he or she repents of their sin and trust in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross for forgiveness of that sin in order to be counted among those who have been redeemed. Redeemed from the consequences of unrepentant sin which is death and hell. What I am writing here in not popular in modern day America and where we want to live our own life without interference from God. It’s our natural tendency to live for ourselves instead of obey the commands of God. That is the eternal struggle between flesh and the spirit.
I do not know Tim Wildmon. I have never heard him speak. But reading this short message from him gives me the impression that he is well-meaning. He sounds like he wants to please God. Unfortunately, he does not know what the saving message is. Though he points seekers to the Gospel of John, he does not know its message. Hopefully, he believed the promise of everlasting life in the past and so is a fellow believer, even though he no longer believes the message of John 11:25-27.
I looked up the American Family Association. Their website indicates that Don Wildmon, the founder of AFA, is a Methodist minister. He died in 2023. His son, Tim Wildmon, has headed the organization since 2010. He has a degree in journalism from Mississippi State University.
The AFA wants to help families have Biblical worldviews. Their number one core value is: “Evangelism and discipleship—AFA aims to evangelize the lost and disciple the believer” (see here).
I am glad they refer to “the believer.” But I am sorry that when they send out an evangelistic message on Resurrection Sunday, it is not about believing, but about repenting and conforming one’s life to God’s desires for us.
Thanks, Nicole, for sending me that message from AFA. May the Lord guide Tim and his staff to the truth that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but has everlasting life. It is not about behavior. It is about believing what the Lord of Life has promised to all who believe in Him.
Keep grace in focus and you will be able to tell others what they must do in order to have everlasting life.
* I am using the word gospel in this blog to refer to the saving message, though gospel rarely refers to that message in the NT.
