REPORT ON UNITY FORUM IN LUBBOCK

The Fifth Annual Unity Forum was held in Lubbock on the campus of Lubbock Christian College, July 2-4. It takes its place in our ecumenical history alongside Bethany, Milligan, Southeastern, and West Islip, the previous places where the forum has been conducted. It now appears that the Sixth Annual Unity Forum will be either in Atlanta or Terra Haute, Indiana. Definite announcement will come before the end of this year.

The Lubbock affair, like the previous ones, had its own peculiar significance. The first of these is that it was sponsored by a dynamic committee of non-class brethren, consisting of Thomas Langford, Kline Nall, Wendell Huddleston, and Don Conard. These are all talented men, having contacts in educational and civic affairs that enabled them to put together the most exciting program that the forum has had thus far. It is encouraging that our non-Sunday School people would accept this kind of responsibility and manifest such an interest in the cause of unity.

Equally significant is the fact that the forum was held on the campus of a main-line Church of Christ college. F. W. Mattox, president of Lubbock Christian, is an unusually fine man and a dedicated Christian. He was helpful to the unity effort, not only in giving the welcoming address, but also by his attendance at the sessions and his participation in the discussions. At the closing session he made helpful suggestions as to how the annual forum might be improved and made more acceptable to the rank and file of brethren, one being that “we must get down to the real things that divide us.” He also pointed out that the forum seems to imply that love is the only basis for unity, that we must make it clear that there is more to it than that. He also warned us against “running past Jerusalem” and of the possible danger of giving comfort to those not in Christ.

While the college did not sponsor the meeting nor give official sanction to it, it was considered a kind of breakthrough that one of these forums, which have been vehemently opposed by many of our leaders since their inception, could be held on the campus of one of our colleges. Some thought this the most significant aspect of this particular effort.

Hardly any facet of the forum, however, could be more significant than the high quality of the participants, especially in view of the diverse backgrounds represented. From the Disciples we had no less than Perry Gresham, president of Bethany College, who inspired the forum with his account of our pioneers and their ideas; and Dudley Strain, minister of the First Christian Church in Lubbock, who is state secretary for the Disciples, and who pointed to ways in which barriers to unity can be overcome.

We were unusually blessed with talent from main-line Churches of Christ in that Wesley Reagan, Roy Osborne, and J. W. Roberts all made important contributions. Wes stressed the centrality of Christ in our struggle for oneness, while Roy gave a personal testimony in which he underscored the urgency of unity. J. W. served on a panel in which he called for a measure of doctrinal agreement. In an exchange with Dudley Strain he made clear his view that instrumental music stood as a barrier to fellowship with Christian Church brethren.

From the Independent Christian Churches came A. Dale Crain, who has one of the most seminal minds I know anywhere, and who by nature has to be a kind of gadfly wherever he happens to be. And he always manages to extend his stinger at these unity meetings, to the delight of people who enjoy seeing balloons punctured. Also from the Independents was Grayson Ensign, of the Amarillo College Bible Chair, who pointed to hate and competition among preachers as a common source of division.

The non-class folk, who sponsored the forum, had on hand G. B. Shelburne, Jr., who is both an editor and educator in their ranks; and Portis Ribble of San Angelo School of Evangelism. G. B. is a magnificent person who has no difficulty in being impressive. He admitted his previous misgivings about such gatherings, and his testimony as to what the Lubbock affair had meant to him was tremendously encouraging to all of us. He saw significance in the fact that we got together, if nothing else, something that we have too long neglected. Portis Ribble related our search for oneness to the Holy Spirit, who is the giver of unity.

LaVern Houtz, recent president of Southeastern Christian College, was present from the premillennial Churches of Christ, and he is one who always makes a contribution by the fine Christian spirit he shows. He contended in his remarks that we can have unity if we really want it, that we must look to the Christ for it rather than to our own creations.

My own presentation on the nature of unity appeared in this journal’s June issue.

I was especially impressed that the non-class brethren made it a point to invite a leading brother from their own right wing, one who is one-cup as well as non-class. So J. Ervin Waters had the distinction of being farther left than anyone else, and with it he had the greatest opportunity to enjoy the fellowship of the saints with all those who disagreed with him, which was everybody! This he did magnificently. Ervin dresses like a river-boat gambler, looks like Rhet Butler, weeps like Jeremiah, and orates like a son of thunder. There is hardly a question but what he stole the show in Lubbock. His speech was a dramatic production that would stir the envy of any university speech department. He not only received a standing ovation for his presentation, but he so electrified those present that he virtually transformed a sedate forum into a dynamic love feast.

Ervin turned the rostrum into a confessional, pouring out his sorrow to the audience for the division and heartache that he himself had created as the leader of a faction. Being a man who is obviously both proud and able, his child-like call for repentance touched the hearts of us all. A lump formed in my throat when he cried to God that he would never again injure the body of Christ by debating with his brothers, and I wiped away a tear or two when he bemoaned the fact that he was “old too soon, wise too late.”

Ouida made her way to him and commended him for his important contribution. “Then hug me,” he said. What could she do but obey such a persuasive man? It was the one time in her life that she looked like Scarlet O’Hara! That anyone would request Ouida’s embrace is understandable enough, but when Ervin wanted me to hug him too, I knew that he had found his own Damascus. It was a great moment.

You see, I knew Ervin Waters back when he would come to those early unity efforts in Dallas when Carl Ketcherside and I had lots of trouble getting people on the program. Like Peter of old, Ervin would bring his six brethren along (or was it sixteen?) to bear witness to his orthodoxy. He would make his speech and orate his arguments about cups and classes, and then hurry away with his brethren close behind, never staying around as an involved participant. It was a different Ervin Waters at Lubbock.

And it is fellows like Ervin Waters that are the best answer to the critics of our unity efforts. They are always after us to “talk about what divides us,” which must mean that we are to keep on debating Herald of Truth and instrumental music, as if we have not had enough of that. The real issue is what has happened to Ervin and many others like him.

Ervin Waters will be no less preferential about his non-class, one-cup position, nor should he be. It only means that he has moved closer to Jesus and away from a party. It means he is going to love his brethren and enjoy Christian fellowship in spite of such differences. I strongly disagree with those who imply that men like Thomas Langford and Ervin Waters should debate the one-cup issue at these unity meetings, or that J. W. Roberts and Dudley Strain should debate instrumental music. Reasonable and brotherly exchanges on any subject are, of course, always in order, but these should occur within the context of unity and fellowship, not as a condition to them. Ervin did not get the one-cup issue settled in Lubbock, nor will he ever to everybody’s satisfaction, but he did get the issue of fellowship settled for himself. If we wait until the instrument question is settled before we experience oneness together in Christ, then unity will never be ours to enjoy.

This criticism indicates a failure to understand the nature of unity, for it implies that unity is based upon uniformity of viewpoint. Work out the differences and we’ll be united, is the way the thinking goes, which always means that the differences are to be worked out according to the demands of a particular party. What we tried to get across at Lubbock is that the only kind of unity that is possible, and the only scriptural unity, is a unity in diversity. Anything else is but a demand for uniformity through conformity.

Ouida and I were edified by the trip to Lubbock. We went out a day early so that we could visit our strongholds “west of Antioch.” We had a delightful visit with K. C. Moser at Lubbock Christian College, and we are convinced that he has an important contribution to make in future efforts of this kind. We attended chapel at Sunset School of Preaching and enjoyed helpful exchanges with several faculty people. One of the teachers assured me he would not walk across the street to one of our unity meetings (same old story: we don’t discuss the issues), which left me with the impression that he has high standards indeed if he hasn’t time to hear the likes of Wes Reagan, Roy Osborne, Perry Gresham, and Ervin Waters. Those who refuse to hear are, of course, the real losers, and they are the ones who should be there. We don’t give up on them, for the Spirit of God has done mighty things with such ones before.

A visit to a special program for kids at First Christian took us full circle from right to left in brotherhood affairs in Lubbock. Ouida and I remarked to each other when the busy day was over, which ended in a non-class home with all sorts of brethren in a prayer circle, that it is wonderful to be free enough to enjoy all our brethren. From right to left, from the top of the circle to the bottom, they are all our brothers. We called on no half-brothers or cousins in Christ. We love them all and enjoyed them all, including the ones that frowned!

Tapes of forum are available. Write to Kline NaIl, Dept. of English, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.—the Editor

Doomed indeed is any land where opinions are put on trial and condemned as crimes, and where those who avow them are sacrificed, not to public safety, but to the hatred and savagery of their enemies.—Spinoza