The following is a quote from J.D. Tant (1861-1941):
“Brother W. M. McIntyre has done more preaching and baptizing than any other preacher in the county, and is hated by all the denominations, and is never called upon to help in their union meetings. This causes me to think he is a man of God, sound in the faith” (Published in Gospel Advocate, April 29, 1897; Quoted from J. D. Tant – Texas Preacher, p. 177-178).
Why would Tant say that one being “hated by all the denominations” was an indication of his being “sound in the faith”? Notice that he mentions Brother McIntyre doing two things: preaching and baptizing.
- The fact that the denominations hated McIntyre for his preaching indicates that he preached against the denominations. Would a preacher who was “sound in the faith” do this? Absolutely. Jesus promised to build one church (Matthew 16:18), not many. Using the New Testament to identify this one, true church (and thus indicting all of the churches of men) is not popular. People take offense when you preach against their beloved institutions (denominations included).
- If McIntyre was simply preaching a message the denominations found offensive, but had little or no influence upon others, he would be easy to ignore. Yet Tant says that he had baptized more than any other preacher in that county, showing that he had a great deal of influence and that his message was effective. Most likely, a good number of those he was converting were leaving the churches of men (the denominations) in order to become part of the one, true church. Those in the denominations would surely not be happy with this man “stealing away” their church members.
It is not surprising then that Tant judged McIntyre in this way.
Of course, there are other ways to judge the soundness of a gospel preacher – primarily his preaching the word (2 Timothy 4:2) in its complete and unchanged form (Acts 20:27; Galatians 1:6-9). After all, one could be hated by the denominations, but for a reason other than his preaching. Another could be preaching faithfully, yet is ignored by the denominations rather than being hated by them. But the fact that McIntyre’s preaching was distinctive, bold, and effective was all positive, even though it was unpopular to the denominations.
We should not be concerned if others hate us (Matthew 5:11-12; John 15:18-21) as long as we are faithfully executing the work that God has given us to do. After all, our goal ought to be to please God rather than men (Galatians 1:10).
