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As a physician working to remove a tumor, Dr. Newman’s words expose the problems of the past with a goal in the present to excise this sad reality of the Assemblies of God so it never happens again.
Years ago I read an essay by Dr. Gordon Fee on “Loyalty.” He spoke of three kinds of loyalty: blind loyalty; i.e. when one shows blind support no matter how wrong a person or organization may be; disloyalty; i.e. when one publicly shows support but privately one’s position is negative. The Assemblies of God has never asked for blind loyalty, nor should it ever tolerate disloyalty.
The third kind of loyalty which Dr. Fee described was critical loyalty; i.e. the degree to which one affirms his or her support for a person or organization, that individual thereby earns the right to be critical. No human organization is perfect and improvement only comes with honest, transparent revelation. As the Bible says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” All organizations need those who are critically loyal.
Dr. Newman has shown the craftsmanship of a Pentecostal scholar who is “critically loyal” to the Assemblies of God. We desperately need to know this part of our history. And as we all know, “The truth shall set us free.”
No one can read this work without acknowledging the Assemblies of God has made important progress in recent years but there are still many “miles to go before we sleep.” Yes, the Assemblies of God is farther along on the journey than ever before but the journey must not stop at Memphis. It must continue. May it be! May it be!
Don Meyer, PhD
President
Valley Forge Christian College