READERS' EXCHANGE

 

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

So much of what was said in the February and March issues is what we have felt, but we have not been able to put our finger on it as precisely as you have done. We were in the Church of Christ but have been disfellowshipped by the governing body. — Indiana

As a non-instrument advocate, I had never been close enough to an “instrument man” to know what one was like. The first thing I noticed about this “untouchable” was that he was a regular-type human being. This means he had his life to watch out for, that he had his likes and dislikes, his aspirations and responsibilities. But what I noticed most of all that was this man had love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. I could find nothing against these things And when we discussed the instrument, he showed much love and understanding, something I had not necessarily done in the past. — New Mexico

Your work is the most encouraging thing I have seen in Churches of Christ in almost 20 years. May God richly bless your labor of love is my prayer! You may know that Tampa has been a center of one of the newer “splinters” among us with former Florida Christian College as the hub. — Florida

We’re praising the Lord for the work he is accomplishing through you. We have been so blessed by the Review copies we have borrowed from friends. Now we’d like to subscribe for our own copies. — Idaho

Thank you for sending me Restoration Review. It is so nice to read something that doesn’t send you to hell just because you disagree. You have probably read the lines below that I picked up somewhere.

“From cowardice that shrinks from new truth,

From laziness that is content with half truth,

From arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,

Oh God of truth, deliver me.” — Florida

Your theme is restoration and in my mind this means that soon we must deal with the women in the church. If the church is to move into more reality, then women must be considered too. We cry “recognize us” for we too have intelligence, potential and much ability, way above the child-care basis. How long have we been the second class citizens of the church!

The ladies here planned a totally new Workshop, one aimed at uplifting and inspiring their sisters in Christ. We have lectures by women and a series of 3 classes all taught by women, some of whom never dreamed they could do this sort of work. We had 150 women from several states. We had another in 1970 with 369 women involved. . . Women come when some MEAT is offered to them and when it is presented in joy and love and not shoved down their throats. We did not deal with how to be a good wife and mother. As important as that is, we have that shoved down our throats till we could die, and serving Christ is more than this. — New York

Campbell and all of the earliest Restoration fathers were premill or millennial to some degree. As I study and attempt to answer questions about Revelation and the second coming, the thinking of the early Christians about the eschaton seems more and more relevant. Those disciples had a sense of history, and the Last Days were the final scenes, the denouement of God’s plan. Is it any wonder that, as actors in that climax, they found their age exciting? And is it not strange that we who must be 1900 years closer than they, are so complacent about the whole matter? It seems possible, though speculative, of course, that the movement of the Spirit now may be setting the stage for the very last acts, though we know that there may be hundreds of years yet. Or it could be tomorrow. —Texas

HOW ABOUT MODERNISTS?

It is going to be interesting to see what you and the Christian Church will do with a modernist like Howard Short . . . whom I assume to be a modernist as the Disciples generally are. I want to see how you and Brother Ketcherside grapple with the problem of modernism on the part of sincere immersed believers. So far you have carefully skirted that problem. — Ohio

Howard Short is referred to because he is editor of The Christian, official organ of Disciples of Christ, and a dear and good brother who has participated in numerous unity efforts among us as well as the Ecumenical Movement at large, including being an observer at the Vatican councils.

I pass the above along to our readers so as to illustrate how our folk continue to burden themselves unnecessarily by serving as judges of other men’s consciences. The freedom that Christ gives us liberates us from having “to see what we will do” about this or that brother. I will accept him as my brother, that is all I will do, and it is all that I should want to do.

Modernism is like the Mother Hubbard dress that covers everything and touches nothing. To the Amish folk we are modernists if we ride in cars and have plumbing in our homes. But if a brother is having problems with things like the virgin birth of Christ and the resurrection of the body, assuming that the writer refers to such things, I will love him all the more and seek to lead him closer to Jesus, however far or near he may be. This was Alexander Campbell’s attitude toward Barton W. stone when he was questioning the preexistence of Christ. We are to remember that God has made us brothers and as blood kin we will be most reluctant to look for reasons to draw the line on one another. Love will hide a lot if we will but love. Something is wrong when we go looking for something to hang on each other.