| JOHN WADDEY, EDITOR
Published by the Church of Christ, 12213 West Bell Road, Surprise, AZ 85374 Volume 2, Number 3
November 1, 2002 |
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Table of Contents: 1. OUR CHALLENGE
To win in our struggle against the liberal forces at work among us we must find a way to enlist every available man who shares our basic loyalties and is willing to stand strong. Most folks can easily see the dangers of the extreme liberals or the radicals on the right. Either camp is still relatively small in number. Between those extremes are several thousand congregations and preachers whom we must try to salvage and save. Large numbers of them are clearly tilted to the left and will likely go that way if we are not able to reach them with a clear and cordial message that will help them see the problem and inspire them to stick with the Book of God.
While the two extremes mentioned above have done their damage, our ability to hold the center has been greatly weakened, even crippled, by an unfortunate tendency to demand total agreement on every detail from our fellow-workers and an unwillingness to work together. This attitude has been seen primarily among those who are right of center in the middle group. The tendency to attack rather than reason, to write up and write off those who don't see the details as we do has weakened our forces. It has also provided powerful ammunition for the liberals to use against us. By painting us as narrow, factious and hateful they have convinced many younger, weaker, more moderate brethren that they offer the only reasonable alternative.
Is there any way we can arrive at a simple understanding of basic truths that must be mutually held if we are to be able to work together against a common foe, without writing a creedal statement?
The following items are being challenged by liberal brethren. They are central to our being New Testament Christians and the church of the Bible.
If we are in agreement on these points can we afford to be tolerant on other issues that occasionally arise?
1. The verbal inspiration and thus inerrancy of the Bible.
2. The full and final authority of the New Testament of Christ in the faith and practice oft the church.
3. The ability of the common man to arrive at a correct understanding of the word of God.
4. Belief in the nature and status of the contemporary Church of Christ of which we are members as the church which Christ purchased with his blood; that it is not a sect or denomination founded by humans?
5. That denominationalism is unacceptable to Jehovah?
6. The fact that the Lord's church is separate from the other religious bodies founded by men. Hence we can have no fellowship with them.
7. Loyalty to the concept of restoring Christianity to its original faith and practice.
8. Loyalty to the items and kind of worship set forth in the New Testament: weekly communion, on the First Day as a memorial; acappella music; prayers; offerings and scripture studies.
9. Congregational leadership that is limited to male Christians. Only men to be "preachers, ministers and evangelists"
10. No name but that of Christian for individual disciples and only Bible names for the church.
11. Commitment to the sufficiency of the church to do its work of evangelism.
(Here we must be careful not to drift into a position like the non-institutional brethren did). The liberals would like very much to brand us as just a new brand of "anti-ism." We clearly have a bevy of organizations soliciting the funds from our churches to do their work of evangelism in the same way that the missionary societies did a century ago.
12. Baptism by immersion as an essential prerequisite for remission of sins and membership in the church.
We will sink or survive on our ability or lack thereof to maintain a united front in the face of a determined enemy. The big question is can we find common ground on which to stand and fight our common enemy? JHW  |
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2. LIBERALISM’S DESTINATION The Transforming of a Tradition is the title of a book edited and published last year by Leonard Allen and Lynn Anderson. It purports to examine the “Churches of Christ in the New Millennium,” identify their myriad problems and offer solutions that will saved them from extinction. The several authors who contributed chapters to this book all share a common belief that the restoration plea is unworkable in our post-Christian age; that we must accept the fact that we are actually a denomination, in the same sense as are the Methodists and Lutherans; that we must cease to be a separate, exclusive body of people and embrace an ecumenical approach to Christianity. They are certain that we have approached the Bible in a faulty way in days past and must learn to view it as a love letter from God or a story book about Jesus.
They are sure that all of our large metropolitan congregations are going their way and that even small town churches will eventually follow their lead. As part of their plan they want us to embrace the liberal social agenda of the political left. We must get involved in the AIDS Crusade, the Civil Rights Movement, Care of the Homeless, Women’s Liberation and other similar causes. As I was reading Allen and Anderson’s book, the Associated Press carried an article by religious observer, Richard Ostling, that evaluated the situation of contemporary Protestant churches in America. The author points out that evangelical (i.e., conservative) Protestant churches are flourishing while the liberal churches are declining in a serious way. Citing a study by Randall Balmer and Lauren Winner entitled Contemporary American Religion
(Columbia University Press), he notes that “the mainliners (large Protestant denominations) built their strategy around ecumenism,” while “the most successful religious movements in American history have been exclusive, not inclusive.” While the liberal churches were minimizing differences, “Americans were looking for theological definition.” He further observes that “Evangelicals’ momentum stems from the centrality of the Bible... In the late 19th century, liberal notions about the Scriptures infiltrated U. S. Protestantism from Europe...the liberals held a somewhat less exalted view of the Bible...and tended to see its tenets as time bound. The Evangelicals, by contrast, insisted that the simplest, most obvious reading of the Bible was the correct one. They take the Bible seriously...” Ballmer and Winner are convinced that “evangelicalism is helping spark a Christian intellectual renaissance.” Had I not known better I might have thought Ostling was referring to the “change agents” at work among our churches when he described the liberal’s attitude towards the Bible and their desire to embrace the ecumenical movement. All who have kept abreast of religious trends in America know that the liberal Protestant churches are declining, and short of a major turn around will eventually cease to exist. All the success stories are from the camp of the conservative evangelicals. Yet the liberals that have arisen among our people are wanting us to follow the doomed trail and failed projects of those dying Protestant churches. My recommendation is that they leave us, join the liberal Protestant churches and follow them to their fate. The rest of us can then devote our time and energy to serving God, following his Word and sharing Christ with the lost about us. JHW |
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3. "BUSTER DOBBS" TO SPEAK ON CHANGES AND THE CHURCH
Bro. H. A. "Buster" Dobbs, editor of the Firm Foundation, will present a series of gospel lessons at the Church of Christ, 12213 W. Bell Rd. in Surprise, AZ, Nov. 10-13. On Saturday, Nov. 9 the church will host a Special Seminar for elders, preachers and church leaders on "What the Change Agents Want to Change about the Church." The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. with Bro. Dobbs presenting an overview of the dangers before us. That will be followed by an Open Forum with questions and answers relating to these issues. Additional information and material will be on hand for those attending. We invite and urge all Christian leaders within driving distance to attend. For more information call (623) 214-3715, e-mail, johnwaddey@aol.com |
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4. A STRATEGY FOR SURVIVAL
Churches receiving this issue will find enclosed an insert by the above title. I urge elders and preachers to read it carefully. The suggestions contained therein could help you protect your flock from the destructive "change" virus that is afflicting our brotherhood from coast to coast. Share this information with others who care for the kingdom. Implement its suggestions as you see fit. By all means do not allow Satan to gain a foothold in your midst. JHW
Please follow this link to read A STRATEGY FOR SURVIVAL article on-line. "Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness
and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind"
(Cicero).
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5. THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY: WHAT IT WAS; WHY IT WAS WRONG
The American Christian Missionary Society was established in Cincinnati in October 1849. This, along with the introduction of instrumental music in worship, created a furor that ultimately divided our brotherhood. Those who accepted these innovations came to be the Christian Churches and Disciples of Christ. Observation tells us that most of our brethren, including our preachers, have no idea what the Missionary Society was and why our brethren rejected it.
A look at the founding documents provides an idea of the nature and purpose of the Society. Those assembled at Cincinnati adopted the following resolution: "Resolved, that the ‘Missionary Society,' as a means to concentrate and disperse the wealth and benevolence of the brethren of this Reformation in an effort to convert the world, is both scriptural and expedient." The constitution adopted began with the following articles:
1. "This society shall be called the American Christian Missionary Society.
2. The object of this Society shall be to promote the spread of the gospel in destitute places of our own and foreign lands.
3. The Society shall be composed of annual delegates, Life Members and Life Directors. Any church may appoint a delegate for an annual contribution of ten dollars. Twenty dollars paid at one time shall be requisite to constitute a member for life, and one hundred dollars paid at one time...shall be required to constitute a director for life.
4. The officers of the Society shall consist of a President, 20 Vice presidents, a Treasurer, a corresponding Secretary, and a Recording Secretary...
5. The society shall also annually elect 25 managers, who together with the officers and life directors of this Society, shall constitute an executive board, to conduct the business of the Society..."
The delegates selected Alexander Campbell to be the first President and D. S. Burnett the First Vice-President.
From the beginning, serious objections were raised. Among the criticisms were the following:
1. Since delegates, membership and officers were all limited to those who paid the set fees, therefore the Society was built on a money basis and that was wrong.
2. It was argued that God's Word "knows nothing of a confederation of churches in an ecclesiastical system, culminating in an earthly head, for government or for any other purpose..."
3. It was a dangerous precedent, a departure from the principles for which we have always contended..."
4. Many feared "that the Society would grow into an oppressive ecclesiasticism..."
Among those who led the opposition to the Society were Jacob Creath, Jr., Tolbert Fanning, David Lipscomb and Benjamin Franklin
The church in Connelsville, Pennsylvania issued a public statement in opposition to the Society which encouraged many other congregations to join them in rejecting it. Among their objections were these:
"We consider the Church of Jesus Christ, in virtue of the commission given her by our blessed Lord, the only scriptural organization on earth for the conversion of sinners and sanctification of believers."
"...Conscientiously, we can neither aid nor sanction any society, for this or other purpose apart from the church, much less one which would exclude from its membership many of our brethren, and all of the apostles...because silver and gold they had not."
"We consider the introduction of all such societies as a dangerous precedent–a departure from the principles for which we have always contended..."
"We also consider them necessarily heretical and schismatical, as much so as human creeds and confessions of faith, when made the bonds of union and communion."1
Through the Gospel Advocate, David Lipscomb and others brought additional charges against the Society. They said:
1. That it was a substitute for the church, that it was a human invention and without divine authority. When the society did its evangelistic work it was usurping the rights of the church.
2. That societies were built on the assumption that the Lords's church cannot or will not do the work assigned to it. The founders must therefore assume that their plan can do the job better than God's.
3. That the Church of Christ is the Lord's Missionary Society. He is its Head, and every member a life member and director.
4. That the Society had its origin in a desire to be like the denomination's around us.
5. That to do its announced job the Missionary Society would have to assume power or control over the churches who were the source of its income ands the fruit of its efforts.
6. That the Society was the cause of division and conflict in the brotherhood.
7. That the society was a poor investment of God's money since the operating overhead consumed most of the money.
8. That there was no Scriptural authority for the creation and existence of the Missionary Society, therefore it was unscriptural, unauthorized and condemned.2
History tells us that the majority ignored the warnings and accepted the Missionary Society to be their organization for evangelism. After a shaky start, it grew in power and pursued a steady course away from God's Word. Scores of additional state and local societies were launched. The Disciples of Christ denomination is the modern consequent of that decision. All of the warnings about what would be the end result have come true.
A wise man observed that, he who does not remember the lessons of the past is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. The prevailing ignorance about the Missionary Society leaves us vulnerable to those who propose human systems to do the work of the church today. We have an abundance of them. Be thankful to God for those faithful soldiers who stood and fought to save the church from the corruptions of these human schemes.
May we, their heirs, never forget the battle fought and the price paid for our freedom in Christ. JHW
ENDNOTES:
1. Homer Hailey. Attitudes and Consequences of the Restoration Movement, Second Edition (Rosemead, CA: Old Paths Book Club, 1952) pp. 148-178.
2. Earl West. Search For the Ancient Order, Vol. 2 (Indianapolis: Religious Book Service, 1950) pp. 51-71.
6. YES, WE'RE OLD FASHIONED
It is not uncommon for folks in our Post-Christian age to sneer at those who seek to follow Christ as did his earliest disciples. "You're old fashioned," they say. To this criticism we plead guilty. - Our faith is old fashioned. It is 2000 years old, but it comes straight from the Word of God. David says, "The word of Jehovah is perfect...sure...right" (Ps. 19:1-8). God is eternal, his word is ageless.
New is not necessarily better. What was good for the apostles is good enough for me. - Our worship is old fashioned. It is simple, unadorned and offered "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Following the apostolic example, we commune each week (I Cor. 11: ); mingle our voices in song (Eph. 5:19); present our offerings (I Cor. 16:1-2), lift up our prayers to God (I Tim. 2:8) and hear God's Word explained (Acts 20:7). Such old fashioned worship bears little resemblance to much modern worship but it is what Christ, the head of the church ordained.
- Our singing is old fashioned. We "sing and make melody in our hearts unto God" (Eph. 5:19). It was 670 A.D. before instruments of music were introduced into Christian worship. Many of the churches that now have organs and bands once sang praises without them.
- Our preaching is old fashioned. We have real Bible preaching. Sermons are expositions of Scriptures; full of Biblical citations. Verses are read or quoted and references are given so listeners can verify the truth of what is said. Our preaching is light on jokes, personal experiences, poetry and psychology we prefer a "thus saith the Lord." It is different but rewarding..
- We have an old fashioned view of eternity. Heaven and hell are real (Matt. 25:46). Eternity is an endless reality. Resurrection and judgement are facts all must face (John 5:28-29).
May it ever be true that every congregation of the Church of Christ is just as old fashioned as the New Testament of Christ, one like our parents and grandparents knew. JHW 7. HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE
We welcome your fellowship in helping us send this paper to preachers and elders throughout the land. A monthly contribution of $50 would send it to every congregation in a mid-western state. Contributions should be made to the W. Bell Rd. Church of Christ and are tax deductible. JHW |
