Travel Letters . . .

THE ISSUES “OUT THERE” AMONGST THEM

I am often asked by folk “back home” as to what the brethren are thinking here and there across the country. What are the issues and problems out among the churches? I am asked. It is a wise question, for one has a limited view of things if he is confined to his congregation or views “the brotherhood” only from his office window. Reading the papers can even be misleading since the news and issues are often slanted by the party perspective represented by the particular publication. Let’s face it, a lot of our people just don’t know what is going on. They wil1 awake one of these days and find their world so changed that they’ll wonder where they’ve been all their lives. The purpose of this piece, therefore, is to share my experiences and insights as to some of the things that are going on, especially in terms of issues and problems.

These tend to come in clusters rather than singly. If there is anyone concern that dominates all others, it would be freedom in Christ, with all that this implies. So it may be viewed as the stem that holds the cluster of many more issues. Once brethren take that step toward freedom, they have to face the question as to just what this means. Are they now free to as well as free from? Our “free” churches are facing this. It is one thing to walk out and away from an oppressive situation, but another thing to take one’s place as a responsible congregation in a community. They soon discover that they did not leave all their problems behind. When freedom is sought as an end itself rather than as the means of fulfillment and service, it is predictable that there will be problems.

As people break away from their traditional confines they take on the spirit of the explorer. Adventure becomes their thing. Not only do they discover a larger brotherhood, but an entirely new world of books, ideas, questions, and experiences. The door they have opened appears to have become a floodgate, and they become vulnerable to overexposure, getting too much too soon. Not only is their head in the clouds, which within itself may be all right, but their feet are dangling in the air, hardly touching solid ground. So this is probably our most critical problem just now, learning to be free people in Jesus. I meet people everywhere who have fought their way out of Babylon like Gang Busters, but they are not sure where they want to go, whether Jerusalem or Antioch, Athens or Rome, or perhaps some Eden somewhere, or nowhere at all. But some discover Jesus at a deeper level and this is beautiful.

If we look at the cluster itself, the Holy Spirit is one issue that stands out prominently. In virtually every church in the Restoration family, questions about the Spirit are persistent, and some are very concerned about speaking in tongues. Some have overreacted by dismissing missionaries, firing preachers and staff people, and “withdrawing” from the rank and file over irregular behavior in this area. Of all the issues this is the most nervous one, often evoking irrational and frenetic response. Elderships act as if they are frightened by their brethren who come up speaking in tongues. Our people are badly in need of that “one wise man among you” who can save our leadership from erratic and unloving behavior along these lines. Some “charismatics” on the other hand need to realize that love and forbearance may be as significant manifestations of the Spirit as tongues. Paul may give us the answer to all this in Gal. 6:15, if I may paraphrase: “Tongues or no tongues is not what matters, but being really changed into new and different people does matter.”

But interest in the Spirit reaches far beyond the glossolalia thing. The church has probably never been as concerned for the Spirit’s mission in the life of the believer as now. In all places I find interest in what the Spirit does for the saints today, beyond giving us the Bible. Many are discovering the Spirit as a continuing comforter (Ro. 8:26).

This shows itself in a renewed desire for the word of God. Our people are hungering and thirsting to a thrilling degree, and I think they are studying more searchingly, with a growing indifference to the traditions and doctrines of men, whether ours or the other fellow’s. So, the Bible has become an issue: how to study it and how to interpret it aright. As a consequence more is being demanded of preachers and teachers. More questions are being asked and less and less is being taken for granted.

Nor is it amiss to say that Jesus himself is fast becoming an issue among us. Our folk are getting to where they’ll talk about him as much or more than “the church.” Many long to know him, not just about him. My lessons in homes and congregations alike are often about Jesus, the stories told by the evangelists, and the response is always enthusiastic. Even in Texas you’ll find brethren who’ll talk about the Lord as freely and as unashamedly as about the Dallas Cowboys!

Along with this they zero in on the grace of God —of all things —and even praise the Lord and talk about what God has done for them. We are taking a closer look as to what “the truth” is, and we are less inclined “to exalt ourselves as righteous and to set all others at naught.”

The issues are of course many. Unity and fellowship are now a matter of conscious concern with many. There is a greater assurance of our security in Jesus, and along with it less confidence in our own righteousness. This is reflected not only in more prayer but in the way we pray - as if we are really talking to somebody. And the “last things” are more vigorously pursued, whether in terms of reading the prophecies in scripture or Hal Lindsey’s interpretation of them.

On the “practical” side one can detect less interest in real estate holdings and church plants and more attraction for house meetings and prayer groups. The “institutional church” has long been under fire, along with all its gimmickry, and it will survive to the degree that it yields itself to the changing needs of the believers. The true nature of the Body of Christ is being given more careful scrutiny than in a long time, which should remind us that it was this kind of thinking that launched the Restoration Movement.

Under the more “practical” issues we have also the question of women’s rights, which is going to be with us for a long time, and I think we’ll see a gradual easing of the restrictions long imposed on our sisters —not to suggest that all limitations should be dropped. This will come with a broader concept of ministry. And there is the question of to bus or not to bus. That’s bus, not bust. I visited one congregation where the “in” thing was for a family to buy a bus. This has become controversial among the Baptists and others, labeled as just that much more gimmickry. It is just now only becoming among us. And then there is the issue of preachers quitting, the whys and wherefores. There seems to be a consensus that it is just as well for some of them to quit, but more are doing so than should, or perhaps the wrong ones. In time we’ll come to see, I think, that to quit “preaching” may in some cases be but a transition to a higher call of God. We have all along taken too narrow a view of serving the Lord. The pulpit is only one place, and that quite obviously has its limitations.

Theologically, our folk were barely exposed to the issue of eschatology which greatly influenced the Christian world two generations ago, and hardly more so by the kerugma (nature of the gospel) a generation ago. The issue now in theological circles is hermeneutics, with all its questions on interpretation and meaning, and this time around we will be more profoundly influenced. The meaning and relevance of scripture is already an issue with us, however subtle it may be. Questions about the Bible as a book are now more serious, and its teachings are being interpreted more in the light of its culture and background. Some of our folk can even talk about “the Jewishness of Jesus” in explaining his teaching. The Old Testament (really, the Old Covenant scriptures!) is being taken more seriously —long overdue, I’d say.

But the hottest issue of all in so many places is “the authority of elders” and the eldership in general. This is due in part to the fact that elders have generally lagged behind in all the change over the past decade. They are neither as spiritual or as informed as many of those they seek to lead. They are often arbitrary and dogmatic, ruling more like a nervous board of an uneasy corporation than like a nurse caring for her own children. Shepherd-like traits are all too rare. This was tolerated with less difficulty back when our people were less enlightened. These little, frightened men are now driving lots of people completely away from us, while those who hang in have to settle for being driven up the wall.

This is the problem that I presently find to be the most urgent: how about elders who run a tight ship and will allow no changes for the better? I sit with some groups who have moved so far ahead of their elders in spiritual concern that it is as ludicrous as it is tragic. No business or professional organization would expect to survive that has the weak ruling over the strong. It is predictable that the authority of such men would be questioned. Extremes can also be expected, with some denying any place for elders at all.

It is a problem that we’ll have with us awhile. As the younger set moves into the eldership in the coming years, which is already the case in lots of places, the image of “corporate executive” will diminish. Men will be elected to staggered terms rather than for life, and the point will be pastoral qualities rather than business or affluence. As for authority, this will emerge naturally from the exemplary life of the person. If we were all on a lifeboat in a struggle for our lives, we would not be inclined to argue about the “authority” of the Old Salt who knows the sea as well as he knows men. If a congregation is free to choose those that they would look to when they need help, they would come up with the right men to lead them. Few congregations are given this liberty anyway, for elders usually select (or have veto power) other elders —like the cardinals and the pope do in Rome!

But the most encouraging thing about all these issues is that we do indeed have them. Concern and sensitivity are growing virtues among us. That we are becoming more and more worthy to raise issues brings us within that great cloud of witnesses that have always made the big difference in the ongoing of events. —the Editor