The Marty and the Money

Since this is about Biblical evidence of the ICC's errors in doctrine and practice, I will open this with a quote from the Bible. This one comes from the book of James, chapter 2, shortly before the part about faith without works being dead. However, to an ICC member, the preceding passage may be a less familiar one. Here it is, starting at verse 1 and being taken from the ICC's favorite translation, the New International Version:

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there,' or, 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

"Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

"If you really keep the royal law found in the Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers."

I encourage you to check the passage to make sure I'm not taking them out of context. The meaning of this passage appears to be unequivocal: It is a direct commandment not to show favoritism to people because of their income. It also raises an interesting question: If you believe the ICC is the Kingdom of God, how will the poor inherit it?

Ok, now on to focussing more on the ICC, and how their actions and teachings measure against the standard of the Bible. These words to follow were preached by Marty Fuqua at the Boston Leadership Conference in August 1992, in his sermon The Cutting Edge. If the name doesn't sound familiar, Mr. Fuqua is the current World Sector Leader of the Northern Federation. Here's an excerpt from what he preached:

"As I looked at the West sector, it was made up of the weak and the weird. I said, ‘Listen, if you’re a white collar person, don’t you ever bring in another blue collar person. You reach out to white collar people. If you’re a blue collar person, don’t you come in here with someone who doesn’t have a job. You reach out to blue collar or white collar."

I'd like to believe this was just some mistake, some fluke that they've now acknowledged as unscriptural. Yet when I decided to ask if Mr. Fuqua had repented of preaching this via the "Feedback" section of the ICC's official website, the result was disturbing. The person who replied not only confirmed that nobody has repented of or renounced this command, but he tried to defend it as necessary to make the church grow. Marty was telling his audience to disobey a direct command from the Bible not to show favoritism, and people are defending this as necessary to make "the Kingdom" grow when it says the poor - those Marty demanded members not bring in - will inherit the Kingdom!

How can the ICC claim to be the true church when its leaders can blatantly order members to violate direct commandments found in the Bible? What good does it do a church to try to evangelize the world if it looses its soul in the process?