Sneaky Apostle?

Is it Wrong to Number the Church? Copyright © 2011, Gun Lap

Fake Data?

In Why The Restored Church of God? David Pack (pictured above) wrote:

Many have asked how “big” we are—what is our attendance. I have no plan to answer this! Though I have a general idea, I do not know for certain and do not really care to know. The Restored Church of God is not concerned with “numbers.” They are no longer important at this point in prophecy—except that the last era is numerically much LARGER! We are certainly growing rapidly—and more so than any other organization—and this has been true almost since our beginning.

David learned a painful lesson when he numbered Israel ...

In RCG, we do not “number the armies” or have a goal to “get big!” This is no longer Philadelphia’s time! Those of Philadelphian attitude must expect to be greatly outnumbered, the least of the larger organizations ... (Why The Restored Church of God? Section I, sub-section, “How Big Do You Expect RCG to Get?”, taken from the RCG web site on Dec 28, 2011)

Not only does Pack depart from Armstrong's practice on publishing attendance figures, but the Bible itself gives out attendance figures. The Old Testament (OT) lists the number in each tribe (Numbers 1:1-3, 19). In Acts 1:15 the number of disciples in Jerusalem is given to be "about a hundred and twenty."

Pack's rationale for not giving numbers is that David was not supposed to "number the armies" of Israel. This thinking seems to be without a proper biblical basis (see below). His talk about "This is no longer Philadelphia’s time!" seems to have no biblical basis at all. Isn't that mere human reasoning?

Later Pack reiterates his position ...

As mentioned, I am determined that RCG will never “number Israel.” During Mr. Armstrong’s ministry, counting attendance was natural—and right. But the next stage of prophecy changed that completely! Philadelphians are now vastly outnumbered. Size—numbers!—mean nothing to God, and we do not emphasize or talk about how big RCG is! (Why The Restored Church of God? Section III, sub-section "Hierarchical Government", taken from the RCG web site on Dec 28, 2011).

Despite his refusal to publish the number, and his claim that he does not even know the number, in an article RCG Fruits—Phenomenal Growth Continues! from the Restored Church of God (RCG) web site, viewed on Dec 28, 2011, David Pack gives the percentage growth in RCG membership:

The Restored Church of God experienced about 32% increase in attendance [in 2010] above our 2009 end-of-year size—the highest percentage of growth we have seen in our almost 12-year history!

Pack's policy of giving out growth figures only in percentages departs from the New Testament (NT) practice. The NT itself reports growth by giving the actual number of persons added: "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41).

So the Bible practice is to give church attendance figures and church growth figures in the actual number of people, not to withhold them or give out only percentages. If a NT practice differs from the OT practice, the church should follow the NT, so I don't see how Pack can use an OT practice that wasn't even consistently followed in the OT.

Even in the OT, the rule against numbering Israel must have been a civil statute for the nation of Israel, not a spiritual principle. It is not kept in the NT, and it wasn't always kept even in the OT. And even when David numbered Israel and was punished for it, the number was reported in the Bible by whatever holy man wrote the book of Chronicals.

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it ... And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword ... And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. (1 Chr 21:1-7).

So apparently it was not a sin to report the number, for the Bible itself does that; it was just a sin to count the number. Perhaps the thing that displeased God was David showing a lack of faith by numbering Israel, not Israel actually knowing the number.

But how can Pack know and report the percentage growth if he does not keep a count? He says the growth in attendance in 2010 was 32%, which is a precise number (i.e. he says "about 32%", not "about 30%" or "25% to 35%" etc) which means the number was calculated from precise attendance figures, rather than being a ball-park estimate.

If he is sinning anyway by counting the number, he might as well report it, since reporting it is not the part that upset God. Counting the number and then not reporting it serves no purpose other than to keep people in the dark.

There also seems to be a double standard here. Why is Pack allowed to know the number but his own members apparently are not?

In addition to contradicting the books of Numbers and Acts, Pack seems to contradict himself. In the introduction of his book The Work of God, Its Final Chapter! he says:

... a powerful warning must reach 600 million Israelites in 22 nations and territories ... another related warning must reach over 35,000 in the splinters or holding to some truths at home ... (The Work of God, Its Final Chapter! Introduction, sub-section, "The Largest Splinters—and Their Work" taken from the RCG site on Dec 28, 2011).

So, if it is wrong to number Israel and the church, why does Pack give out the number of people in the nations of "modern Israel" as well as the number of members in the splinters? The splinters are still part of the Church ("spiritual Israel"), even if they are Laodicean.

Does he think it's okay to number the Laodiceans but not the Philadelphians? If so, why? And why did Armstrong number the church during the "Philadelphia Era"? Wasn't the church Philadelphian at that time? If Armstrong numbered Philadelphians, why doesn't Pack? Doesn't the Restored Church of God claim to be Philadelphian?

Didn't John number the 144,000 in the book of Revelation? Wasn't that numbering the Church?