The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 1301-Q, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 19." A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1980. All Rights Reserved.
Question
I just got back from a summer with an organization where we took Bibles and
books into Eastern Europe and Romania. And, one such problem I had to deal with
personally was, what would happen if I got to the border with a load of books
and Bibles and was asked point-blank, which, maybe, I was, and I did not know
it. "Do you have any Bibles?" What would be your ethical answer to that?
Answer
Yes, sir! Yes, sir!, Yes, sir! I figure, if I am honest, I am operating within
God’s framework. And, if He wants those Bibles in there, they will get in there.
But, if I am dishonest, I have stepped outside the bounds of God’s framework of
integrity, and, then, I cannot be sure that God did it. I may have done it
myself.
Question (continues)
Another thing, which we did was we would make up hypothetical stories based as
close to the truth as possible before we went into the border. Now, don't laugh,
but before we went into the border, we would make up stories, you know, as close
to the truth as possible, but in case we were caught, to protect the believers
and the people working full-time for the organization, in case we were
interrogated.
Answer
I understand. Somebody said it this way, they said, "If somebody asked you the
time, don't tell them how to put a watch together." In other words, you don’t
have to say everything. And, I think, if you choose selectively what you say,
say something that is true. I mean, if you go to the border, and you say, “Oh,
yes, this bag is just full of underwear and old socks.” I mean, that is probably
true. You do not have to tell them everything. As long as you are not attempting
to be deceptive.
Now, this brings up the whole issue of the ethics of this things, and this is a big issue. I guess, where I come back to is the sovereignty of God. If God wants to accomplish these things, He will accomplish them within the framework of His principles. And, His principles, basically, are truth. But, that does not mean that you have to say everything to everybody about everything. I mean, I think, you could be somewhat selective.
For example, if you were to go into Russia today [1980], and they checked you at the border, and asked you what you were going to do, you could say, “I am a tourist.” And, you could be a tourist, right? You are going to go in and look around. What is a tourist? A tourist is somebody who stands in the middle and has a camera on his neck and looks around. And, you, also, may preach. You don’t have to tell them the whole thing. It is a very difficult question. I think, too, this whole issue of protecting people...I know this went on a lot in the...If any of you saw Hiding Place, Corry Ten Boom’s? story and so forth, there is a lot of that kind of thing that went on in the Nazi times with the Jews, and a lot of times with Christians, you know, and so forth.
Biblically, the only way we would deal with this would be the story of Rahab,
the harlot. She hid the spies. She was righteous. In fact, they even said that
about her. She was righteous. She was even included in the Messianic line of
Matthew 1. There is a place for concealment of the people of God and the things
of God. But, you have to be very careful that you don’t violate the principles
of God in the process. But, you do not have to disclose everything. That is what
I am saying. You do not say, “Oh, yes, I am hiding the spies over here!” “They
are right under there!” You do not have to say everything. I think, if you are
guarded about it, and yet, maintain your integrity. I realize that there may be
stressful situations where that becomes a real difficult point. How did you do
this summer?
Question (continues)
We were given vans and cars, and went in in teams of three. We would have just
the books in the back seat, you know, not too open, but it was an open load. It
wasn't in the van walls or anything. Technically, it was not smuggling. And, we
would just drive the vans into the country. You know, go to the borders and
apply for a tourist visa, and then, we would bring the books to specific pastors
and believers in the East.
Answer (continues)
Well, you know there are underground printing presses. Do you remember when
Georgi Vinns was here and said they built them out of bicycle parts, throughout
Russia, and they are printing Bibles and Christian materials over there now.
And, they wouldn't tell where those are! What you do not want to do is lie, but
you cannot be forced to betray a situation. That is all in the Lord’s hands. You
just have to be in that stressful situation, I think, and totally sensitive to
the Lord. It is kind of refreshing, you know, just to be honest and watch and
see what God does to circumvent to accomplish His will.
Question (continues)
Yes, we did have one guy caught, one group caught, and the problem is that they
were interrogated with three different...all apart, and, I think, the main
reason why some of these people are caught is to give the boarder guards some
books and Bibles.
Answer (continues)
I was just going to say, “If they catch you, maybe the boarder guard will read
it and become a Christian. Who knows?
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and
Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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