Beware Foolishness of Force - FORCE

Frequently, many a new person to join the rest of us on the Friends and Fellowhelpers listservs ("FAF") will edifyingly share how they had only recently discovered the truth and growing "movement" (as it were) of Christian Polygamy. At the same time, there is often an expression of how a present wife is understandably neither fully comfortable nor accepting of the issue.

In order to help such families to remain strong and growing together, it thus also becomes important to share an exhortation of warning for such dear new ones who are not yet aware of some of the dangerous pitfalls "out there" which could otherwise sabotage that growth together. Indeed, it becomes vitally important that they know of what thoughts and unGodly ideas are "out there" (as on the interent, for example). That way, a sincerely Christ-following and growing family may then be protectively "on the lookout". Thus, they would be armed and able to protect their marriage from such destructive and unGodly ideas which could otherwise harm or destroy them.

What now follows is such an exhortation of warning. It had been originally posted by Mark the Founder of TruthBearer.org on September 21, 2001, to the Friends and Fellowhelpers listserv, in reply to a new friend to the listserv. As it was written for helping that new friend, it has now also been posted here, for anyone else who might need this, as well.

In all of this, may this be a blessing for all who are able to read this indeed.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark the Founder, TruthBearer.org
To: FAF Listserv
Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 1:42 PM EST
Subject: Beware FOOLISHNESS of FORCE polygamy

Greetings in the love of the Lord!

Dear M,

I praise the Lord that you are finding this ministry a blessing for you.

I would like to share something which I have been intending to share for some time. Your post here simply reminds me to share this now. :-)

I pray that this be a blessing for you and for anyone else who may read this.

You wrote,

> Meanwhile we have been lead or stumbled into this Christian polygamy truth.
> But [my wife] is half hot-blooded [ethnicity] & the other half
> [another ethnicity-combination]. So she doesn't want to share me with anyone.

I would exhort you to deep love, patience, and wisdom toward your precious wife then, because, as I would have you now know, your wife is in a very fragile particular paradigm there. As you shared previously, she said that she would directly accept Christian Polygamy if she perceived that God revealed it to her directly (which is a paradigm which is "further along", as it were, in paradigms than at which many other wives are presently), but as you share above, she is not "there" yet (at all) to fully embrace polygyny.

In this particularly vulnerable stage, I would have you understand that it might not take much at all for her to be dissuaded "backward" in paradigm-shifting, if you yourself are not increasingly loving and wise. And along those lines, therefore, I would exhort you to the caution of Proverbs 13:20.

As it is written,

"He that walketh with wise men
shall be wise;
but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed."
(Proverbs 13:20.)

On the internet, please do be careful as to whom and from whom you receive your "learning" about Christian Polygamy. There are false brethren and plagiarists and wolves in sheep's clothing "out there" looking for to profit for themselves at the expense of others. In your seeking to learn of Christian Polygamy, I exhort you to seek the wisdom of God, lest you instead mistakenly become a companion of fools unto your own destruction.

"Who is a wise man
and endued with knowledge
among you?
let him shew out of a good conversation
his works
with meekness of wisdom."
(James 3:13.)

"But the wisdom that is from above is
first pure,
then peaceable,
gentle,
and easy to be intreated,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality,
and without hypocrisy."
(James 3:17.)

That would therefore exhort us all to seek that wisdom which is from above and to beware of the hypocrisy that is out there. It is hypocrisy to say that one loves wives while also having UNREPENTANTLY committed or attempted to commit FORCE polygamy upon a "first wife" (meaning before other wives join family in a polygynous family). Any unrepented WORKS of FORCE polygamy, wherein the "first wife" was FORCED to accept polygamy, even if the language used afterward is expressed as that of SOUNDING similar to the TRUTH BEARER Vision of love-not-force, such unrepented WORKS are NOT with that above definition in James 3:13,17 of the wisdom which is from above. Worse, any expression of such FORCE polygamy as if it had happened in the so-called name of supposed "obedience unto God" is a blashpemy against the Lord whose word is ALWAYS true, of Whom we would never be called to commit so loveless a hellfire-bound sin. (Moreover, therein is there no repentance occurring as long as such blasphemy is perpetuated too, even if they purport to repent, because to genuinely repent is to also stop saying God supposedly "called" such sin in the first place.)

But if anyone should still follow such a matter, therein lies the danger unto destruction.

For many have tried to follow after such foolishness of FORCE polygamy, only to then suffer the carnage and destruction of losing their wife ---all for following such foolishness.

God's wisdom does not bring destruction! There is no wisdom from above in hypocrisy.

Accordingly, regarding such following of such foolishness of hypocrisy unto destruction, as it is written,

"My brethren,
these things ought not so to be."
(James 3:10b-c.)

But Proverbs 13:20 shows us why it happens, as much as it breaks our hearts.

Again, as it is written,

"He that walketh with wise men
shall be wise;
but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed."
(Proverbs 13:20.)

And so, for your sake, even unto all, I say it again,

Seek only the wisdom which is from above. Follow not after foolishness of FORCE polygamy thinking unto destruction. There is no wisdom from above in hypocrisy. God's wisdom does not bring destruction.

For I would also have you see, a dear precious wife, as one who is in the particular vulnerable paradigm at which you have described your wife as presently being, could very easily and instantly be turned back away from further paradigm-shifting. She could instead be turned back in reverse direction, back to an even more entrenched "monogamy-only" paradigm.

This is especially true if she now observes you going the way of following the thoughts of any who have unrepentantly executed or advocated anything related to FORCE polygamy.

Why? Because if she sees you listening to and accepting such thoughts, she will begin to rationally perceive of how the two false spirits of self-exaltation and self-justification will soon come upon you (if they had not already done so, if that ends up being the case) and she would then be foreseeing how she too could be suffering so evil a fate of suffering FORCE polygamy too. Accordingly, it would only be natural (as well as "spiritual", in rightly resisting the two false spirits, of course) for her to then perceive a "need" to "turn back" to more entrenched "monogamy-only" paradigms as a means of "safety" to her (in her heart) from such evil she sees to be coming from you in the future.

As we thus learn and see (from the above verses) that there is no true wisdom which is from above in FORCE polygamy, as it has indeed sown and reaped so much carnage and destruction for marriages instead (thereby showing itself by its fruits thereof, of course), I beseech you (even beseech all who are reading this here), for your marriage's sake, that you be careful not to follow after that which is not of the wisdom which is from above.

Ever remember that unrepented or blaspheming FORCE polygamy is clearly not of the wisdom from above, instead yielding the destruction that come upon so many who have been such companions of that foolishness. I cry this out for the preservation of the marriages of all who read this indeed!

Proverbs 13:20 is an ever present lesson for us at all times.

Again, as it is written,

"He that walketh with wise men
shall be wise;
but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed."
(Proverbs 13:20.)

As you, M, have genuinely expressed your sincerity in growing forward, and because your wife is at such a vulnerable paradigm at this point, how truly tragic indeed it would be if the making of a simple mistake, as following after FORCE polygamy advocates, could end up yielding such horrible destruction for your marriage indeed. O how my heart prays that would not ever be so for you.

As such, when it comes to "testing" for seeing the truth about any other "wannabe" source's actual beliefs toward love-not-force, I encourage you to always inspect the source of any other teaching out there (on the internet or elsewhere) with the following question to ask yourself:

Did that person FORCE polygamy on their "first wife"?

If so, did they repent of it?

If they do say that they had repented, are they self-justifying themselves still anyway, such as by saying they were supposedly "obeying God" to commit so great a sin?

The thing is, anyone can SAY they believe in loving wives and the principles of love-not-force, but the real test is that of asking what are their fruits in that matter? Are their works in hypocrisy thereof? (My reference to "works" there is based on the above reference in James 3:13, and not to be confused with the "faith vs. works" theological matter.)

Anyone who PURPORTS to believe in principles that SOUND like love-not-force but which still, in the end, they really only self-justify their act of FORCE polygamy on the "first wife", that all is simply a profoundly dangerous threat to your wife's ability to embrace Christian Polygamy. No doubt that God is, of course, fully able to see her through it despite that, but if you can prevent it in the first place, then no need to take such a risk of destruction, when God's exhortation about following His wisdom from above is so clear for us.

As such, I exhort and beseech you, even all, beware the foolishness of FORCE and seek the wisdom which is from above.

I pray that this quickly-written and off-the-cuff post has been a blessing for you and for anyone else who has read this, that we all follow after God's wisdom from above, unto His glory alone! Hallelujah!

May the love of the Lord be with all who have read this.

YHWH bless...

---Mark
  Founder
TRUTH BEARER
    Acts 24:14
http://truthbearer.org
    Continuing the Reformation...
      Bringing Christian Polygamy to the Churches