A "MONKEY WRENCH" SCRIPTURE
Cecil Hook 

On the farm as I was growing up we had few wrenches for our implements, but we needed few. Our tool set consisted mostly of a monkey wrench. In those "olden" days our simple implements were put together with bolts and square-headed nuts, and a monkey wrench could be adjusted to fit any size of nut.

In those times of my youth there was much argumentation by sincere people about matters of religion. Many of our issues were simplistically square-headed, or maybe we were the square-headed nuts! A scripture reference that seemed to be adjustable to fit all issues was 2 John 9: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son" (KJV).

This proof-text was used to condemn individual communion glasses, a second serving of the Lord's Supper on Sunday night, the use of wine in the Lord's Supper, classes, women teachers, uninspired literature, women cutting their hair, instrumental music, baptistries, eating in the building, orphanages, and most anything else that one might be inclined to be cantankerous about. None of these were condemned by Christ or his apostles.

The application of this "monkey wrench" scripture lifted the most insignificant detail into a matter of life and death, and I fear it brought more death than life. The argument made from 2John 9 was that if one practiced any of these things not taught by Christ, he thereby abandoned God and Christ. He "hath not God!" Those who rejected the innovations had the assurance that "He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."

If a brother went beyond the teaching of Christ in any of these matters, he was not to be bidden God speed or received into one's house, for, according to verse 11 "He that biddeth him God speed is a partaker of his evil deeds." It is a blessing that this use of2 John 9 was only selective, for otherwise every minor detail would have been screwed down so tightly that we could not have operated.

Since I sort of inherited this argument, it seemed right to me and I made use of it during much of my ministry. The time came, however, when I could no longer honestly ignore the context of the passage, and I quit using it the way I once did.

And what does the context reveal about what John meant by the doctrine of Christ? Doctrine and teaching are synonyms, identical in meaning. The doctrine/teaching of Christ has two possible meanings: the doctrine which Christ taught or the doctrine about Christ. Which meaning is intended in 2 John 9?

There is much in John's writings that deals with the Gnostic influence among the early disciples. Their main contention was that Christ did not really come in the flesh. And so the apostle warns in 2 John 7, "Many deceivers have gone into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist" (RSV).

This is clearly referring to teaching about Christ Such antichristian teaching would indeed separate one from God and Christ, as John warns in verse 9, for the incarnation of our Lord is basic to the Christian faith. John was not referring to their neglect of some law, and much less to the violation of such scrupulous details as I have listed above. There is a vast difference between the gravity of denying that Christ came in the flesh and an opinion about women teaching or Bible classes.

One would suppose that after a half century of enlightenment we would no longer hear 2 John 9 used as a "monkey wrench" prooftext. But, to our dismay, we still hear the old arguments and cliches, but always selectively. None who relies on this prooftext dares to make a general application of it. It is a tool conveniently used to condemn what someone opposes when it cannot he condemned by a responsible handling of Scripture.

These thoughts in no way imply the slightest disregard for the doctrine/teaching of Christ or of the inspired writers. It is rather a plea for honesty in the application of their teaching. -1350 Huisache, New Braunfels, Tx. 78130.