OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

The Westview Church of Christ in Plano (near Dallas) recently drew up a Statement of Mission and Fellowship. Its inclusion here may cause others to look at their own attitudes and work more critically, not to mention its reflection of our changing brotherhood.

This congregation of the Lord’s body is committed to a witness of Jesus Christ through the proclamation of the Gospel and the provision of social service.

We believe that we have been called by God into fellowship with all those who have responded in faith to the Good News of Jesus and who have been immersed upon the basis of their trust that Jesus is God’s son and the Messiah.

We believe that the unity of the Spirit is based upon community, not conformity; therefore, the only unity attainable by thinking men is unity in diversity.

As free men and women in Christ, we take the position that the basis of unity and the ground of fellowship must be Jesus and the response to Him. We respect the freedom of opinion of individual Christians regarding all other religious matters. Accordingly, we recognize that there will be honest differences of opinion regarding such issues as church organization, worship, and moral conduct. Decisions in these areas affecting the congregation as a whole will be based upon New Testament principles and examples.

As a service oriented congregation anxious to witness for Christ, we pledge that the bulk of our resources will always be focused on people and programs rather than facilities.

There is an important pragmatic value to this kind of a statement. When new people move into an area and are considering where they wish to be members, it would be helpful if there could be a simple and candid statement of the “philosophy” of the congregation. That way each one would know what he is getting into, and there would be fewer unhappy folk in our churches. Let’s face it, one Church of Christ these days is often substantially different from the next one (which is a good thing), so each church should make it clear in such a statement the direction it intends to go. Such congregations would also be less likely to change to the whim of every new preacher.

A new book on Psychopaths by Alan Harrington lays the blame of increasing psychopathy at the feet of organized religion, charging that the churches have not provided for a real change of lives, especially a rebirth experience so badly needed by potential psychopaths. We can sometimes see the signs of this disease among us: feeling of no guilt, believing only in immediate gratification, and no real concern for misery in others. The psychopath, says Harrington, is one who can’t love because he was himself unloved in childhood, nor does he have any concern as to whether he is good or bad. His only morality is to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. While not too hopeful of cure for those so afflicted, he says ways must be found for feelings of rebirth, and it is here that religion should supply the answer.

Older readers will remember Father Charles Coughlin, the controversial Roman Catholic radio speaker of the 1930’s, and younger readers will have heard of him. In a recent celebration of his 81st birthday he revealed some things that are really startling, and, if true, serve as dramatic illustrations of the price of freedom. He now charges that it was Pope Pius XII and President Franklin D. Roosevelt that forced him to end his radio broadcasts in 1940, a program that drew hundreds of thousand of letters a week. Coughlin was highly critical of communist Russia and of our involvement with her in any way. Roosevelt, eager to be an ally with Russia, pressured the Vatican to silence Coughlin. An American cardinal appointed young priests to censure his manuscripts, who scissored them so radically that he was left with nothing to say. Later a federal marshal came with an army truck and carted away all his files, including the subscription list to his paper, Social Justice. “It would all make the Watergate scandal look like peanuts,” he said. He is presently concerned with satanic influence in the United States, charging that half of the Roman Catholic bishops are under Satan’s influence. He made no evaluation of Satan’s influence on Protestants!

The Random Road congregation of our folk in Arkansas City, Kansas was recently written up in the local paper for its aid to the community and its uniqueness. One unique feature is its high rate of attendance, with 95% of its members attending each service. And from the reputation this church has it is unlikely that this good attendance is achieved by any kind of pressure, but because of their love for each other and their desire for fellowship. Even more unique is that it spends little money on itself, allowing for a whopping 75% of its income for benevolent work. In 1972, despite its smallness, Random Road gave $10,000 to hospitals, colleges, needy families in their community, Camp Shiloh, and the Salvation Army. They also purchased an automobile for a preacher of the Word who labors beyond their own walls. The church practices mutual sharing in its meetings, Another unique feature, which the writeup did not mention, must be the group’s love for giving of its means, which must be an unusually high average per member.