TRUTH SEEKERS’ FORUM is a monthly feature of RESTORATION REVIEW conducted for the purpose of stimulating study and thought in matters pertaining to Christianity. It is our purpose to give fair and honest consideration to every idea which comes to our attention, that we might extract from it all that is of spiritual value. No subject which bears upon Christianity is inappropriate, no question is closed, no position is considered unworthy of a hearing if sincerely held by any brother. You are invited to respond in writing to the things which appear in the FORUM, whether negatively or positively. We will use short articles and letters or sections of these. Pen names will be used to avoid the emergence and interference of personalities, since these only hinder the quest for truth. We do ask that, if you write, you write in love. We will not publish material which contains sarcasm, slander, ridicule, or which deals in personalities. The ideas discussed in the FORUM may be very important to some of God’s children. Please treat them with courtesy.

Your FORUM editor is Curtis H. Lydic. Material and letters should be addressed to him at 1703 Loop 288, Denton, Texas.

THE TRUTH SEEKER

The wayfarer,

Perceiving the pathway to truth,

Was struck with astonishment.

It was thickly grown with weeds.

“Ha,” he said,

“I see that none has passed here

In a long time.”

Latter he saw that each weed

Was a singular knife.

“Well,” he mumbled at last,

“Doubtless there are other roads.”

                           — Stephen Crane

What can we say of the genuine truth seeker? I say genuine because we know that many are professed lovers of the truth who behave toward it in a rather fickle way. Nearly all who make any show at all of Christianity claim dedication to the truth, freely quoting, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free,” “Buy the truth and sell it not,” etc. Some who so commit themselves orally have in mind perhaps that which they already know or think to be true as “the truth.” It is possible for a man to talk reverently of “the truth,” meaning nothing but that of which he is already convinced. This man thinks of himself as a truth seeker, but actually this is deceptive. What he actually is, according to his conception, is a truth possessor. He is not seeking truth, for he believes he already has it.

But, what can be said of the genuine truth seeker? First, that his object is truth; and second, that it is something which he does not already possess. Truth is an elusive concept to define. Pilate asked, wisely, “What is truth?” For the Christian, the meaning of truth is inextricably bound up with God’s revealed will. With reference to many specific things, we are unsure of God’s will. We seek to determine what God’s thought would be so that we can feel assurance. We want to be right; some of us because we feel that we must be right to insure our salvation, others because we look to the Lord as an ideal and want to conform to that ideal. In either case we have ample motivation for a continuing, tireless search for evidence which would help to define God’s will.

Not everyone has this motivation. Some are more interested in status, human approval, friendship, or influence (all very closely related things) than in conformance to God’s will. Naturally, a conflict of motives will result in a contrast in behavior. One may occupy a religious position which is characterized by a number of specific “articles of faith” in which he has very little real interest. His occupancy of that position may be due to an interest in certain benefits, such as those mentioned above. When one of these articles is challenged, his first inclination would probably not be to defend it, but the maintenance of his position might call for its defense, so he might make a show of resistance to its critics.

This resistance, however, does not necessarily involve logic or even argument of any kind. It might take the form of refusal to argue or discuss the matter. It might involve hostility to those persons who oppose his ideas, hostility expressed in insult, ridicule, and aspersions upon sincerity or character. It could even involve deliberate misrepresentation, for if one is committed to any cause more than to the truth, he need not be expected to stick to the truth at the expense of that cause.

It must always be acknowledged that no Christian is in a position to ascertain the sincerity of another, and the points raised here are not meant to be used as any sort of guide for any such judgement. We should all give thanks to God that we do not have the responsibility to make such judgments. Let us rather use the above comments to examine ourselves.

But, again, what of the genuine truth seeker? Probably no better example of the truth seeker can be found in the scripture than that of the Bereans, of Acts 17:11. They listened eagerly to what was being said, not because they were eager to accept it, but because they were interested in its possibilities. They were eager to hear it and to examine it. Such is the attitude of the genuine truth seeker. He is not reluctant to go to considerable trouble to find the truth, either. The pearl fishermen of the South Seas, I am told, dive to great depths and stay underwater for long minutes without aqua-lungs, to collect the oysters. Then they must spend considerable time prying open the rough, sharp oyster shells to look for the pearls inside. Only a very small percentage of these oysters have pearls inside them. Yet these men go to such trouble, and the only reason is that they know the value of that for which they search. So, desiring that precious object, they continue.

Surely, if we truly understand the great value of God’s will for us, we will be likewise dedicated to the quest for a better understanding of it. Will we be as the Bereans or as the wanderer of Crane’s poem?

CONCERNING FELLOWSHIP

A good deal of the current emphasis upon fellowship is too narrow. Fellowship is defined as the relationship of brother to brother in the family of God. It is said that two Christians, since they are in the family, are in the fellowship, and cannot get out of it without getting out of the family. The validity of the use of the word “fellowship” as a verb is questioned, and perhaps rightly so, in view of the use to which it is actually put. But there is an aspect of fellowship which, I believe, is being neglected.

Besides the essential fellowship enjoyed by all the saved, there is a more specific fellowship which involves participation with someone in something else. This may be work, or it may be a position, or it may be in some less serious thing such as play. One who plays golf with me is a fellow golfer. One who believes, with me, in immersion is a fellow immersionist. Thus I may not have fellowship in some specific things with one who is indeed a fellow Christian, and I may have some fellowship with a person who is not a fellow member of God’s family at all. I may recognize the fellowship which I share with another Christian while refusing to have fellowship with him in a specific activity. This is my right, and the right of every other Christian.

This does not, however, justify refusing all fellowship in specific things with one who disagrees on one or two of these. A general neglect of fellowship denies brotherhood, and denies Jesus’ prayer for unity. Paul said that we should receive one another in spite of such specific differences, not to endorse the thing which we disapprove, nor to participate in it, but to exercise our brotherly love and take advantage of fellowship in every other way possible. The current problem as regards fellowship appears to be a problem of neglect for a great deal of fellowship which we could be exercising and enjoying without sacrificing any of our principles.

COUNTING THE CHRISTIANS

The elders and deacons of the congregation which this writer serves recently attended a city-wide Church of Christ breakfast. They heard from the featured speaker the startling news that until just a few years ago there were “no Christians in Connecticut.” They took no offense toward the speaker; he was, after all, simply using the jargon of our religious group. But the wry amusement which his preposterous statement afforded them was a measure of their maturity.

We are no longer able to count the Christians in the world by studying the church directories of the Churches of Christ. Such incredible comments as, “There are now 500 Christians in India!” leave us with a pained realization of how blind party pride can be. Our Restoration leaders would not have talked like this. They preferred saying: ‘We are not the only Christians, but we are trying to be Christians only.” They wanted to unite the Christians in all sects. Obviously they felt there were Christians in the sects who could be united.

Our plea for unity today rings a bit hollowly. We cannot legitimately plead for Christians in all sects to unite, because we believe there aren’t any really proper ones except those inside the Church of Christ. There is enough division inside that particular party, however, to keep all of us busy for a generation. If we can unite the Christians within the Churches of Christ, split as they now are into some ten to twenty factions, we shall do a noble work indeed.

A friend writes his objections to a packet of promotional material for a certain radio-television program, in which this statement appears: “Ninety per cent of the Christians in the entire world are concentrated in the Southern states.” As the friend properly points out, Christianity has made extraordinarily poor progress in its two thousand years of existence if ninety per cent of its adherents live in the southern United States. And when one realizes that the writer really meant specifically the two and a half million members of the Churches of Christ make up that ninety per cent, the comment reveals itself as an amazing grotesquerie. With the world’s population exploding toward four billions and the population of the United States alone exceeding 180 millions, Christianity has made paltry progress indeed if only the Church of Christ membership can be called Christian. Yet this is precisely what the writer of that oddly bigoted statement meant. And he probably wrote it with pure un-self-consciousness. It was meant for party eyes and it simply never occurred to him how it would look to a non-party man.

But perhaps there are some other Christians in the world who have never heard of our branch of the Restoration movement. And perhaps there were some Christians in Connecticut, even before 1950. No members of the Church of Christ, perhaps. but still enough Christians to keep the state from being absolutely pagan up until a decade ago.

This criticism is not trifling. Socrates warned his disciples long ago that false words can infect the mind. A greater Teacher knew it too. It is worth while to call attention to misuse of language, because so long as pronouncements like the one above continue we shall only be confirmed in our party sectarianism. We need not give up a single understanding we hold in order to recognize the valid Christian commitments of some who differ from us. Comments intended to fix the number of Christians in Peru or Phoenix, Argentine or Alaska, ought to be regarded as puerile and blind, and scoffed out of existence. — Robert R. Meyers, 867 Spaulding, Wichita, Kan.

I DARE YOU!

I say “dare” in a kindly way, for I only intend to get you to think about a serious condition among our people. I dare you to act and think for yourself!

Most of us think like the crowd. We are conformists. Even though we do not ourselves really believe that instrumental music, or classes, or pre-millennialism are matters of grave enough import to separate brethren, yet we go along with our party by rejecting each other over such issues. Are we really honest when deep in our hearts we wish to act one way, while outwardly we behave in another way just to satisfy some “loyal” preacher?

I dare you to step out and express yourself in such a Forum as this one, for it might give you the courage of your convictions once you have said it, even if in anonymity. Say it!

Most of us do not believe a lot of stuff that has so long been poked down our throats: such as our being the only church, or being the only Christians, or having all the truth — or that only “our” preachers are gospel preachers. Then why do we sit back like cowards and encourage such childishness. Let’s declare ourselves to be free men in Christ. I dare someone among us to start a Freedom Crusade by declaring his independence of a burlesque religion that is always giving easy answers to momentous questions.

Let the crusade begin here and now. I will start it by declaring myself a free man in Christ, trusting that God will give me the courage to act like one more and more. This time I will speak Out under the protective wings of a nom de plume. Maybe later I’ll have the gumption to cross my Rubicon with my name written clearly — and let come what may. But that takes more courage than I have right now, for I have seen what happens to people who cross party lines, and I don’t want to be “withdrawn” from. So, for now at least, I am still a coward. — Philonous