READER'S EXCHANGE

 

BASIS FOR DETERMINING FELLOWSHIP
Dan Rogers, III

Last year I had two articles to appear in this journal, which advocated the unity-in-diversity doctrine, which I have come to realize is patently false!

As I phrased it in one article, “brotherhood is determined by Fatherhood.” If one has obeyed the gospel, having been baptized into Christ for the remission of his sins, then he is a child of God (Acts 2:38; Gal. 3:27), and as such my brother. However, (and this is a point that I failed to grasp when I wrote the articles), BROTHERHOOD IS NOT THE ONLY BASIS FOR DETERMINING FELLOWSHIP!

Equally important in determining fellowship is whether my brother is walking in the light (I Jn. 1:7). If he is, then there can be fellowship between us. If he is not walking in the light, that is, if he is not walking according to the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:14), then I cannot fellowship him (Gal. 2:9). In such a case, my brother is guilty of transgressing God’s law, which is what sin is (I Jn. 3:4). As such, he does not abide in the doctrine of Christ (2 Jn. 9). FOR ME TO EXTEND FELLOWSHIP TO HIM WHILE HE IS IN SUCH A CONDITION IS FOR ME TO BECOME A PARTAKER OF HIS SIN! (2 Jn. 11).

Even though I desire to see unity and fellowship among all who have been baptized into Christ for the remission of sins, I must reject the doctrine of unity-in-diversity, for it is not according to the Truth of God. So I cannot fellowship those who are not walking in the light. I cannot, for example, fellowship those who advocate: (1) premillennialism, (2) instrumental music in worship, (3) institutionalism, (4) the doctrine of imputed righteousness, or (5) the doctrine of unity-in-diversity. THAT IS, NOT IF I WANT TO BE TRUE TO GOD AND HIS WORD!

(If we cannot believe in unity in diversity, what unity is there to believe in, for who sees everything exactly alike? But we agree that diversity has its limits. Paul, for instance, listed seven essentials in Eph. 4, which are hardly comparable to our brother’s list of five above. If no. 4 is confusing to you, you are to be informed that this a new issue among the “conservative” Churches of Christ. It appears awkward in such a list since it is a scriptural term (Rom. 4:11 among others). In any event, we love our brother and we wish him well, regardless of party affiliation. And we will have our parties so long as we make opinions and deductions (rather than what the Bible explicitly states) tests of fellowship. - Ed)

I have a book on the life of Ashley S. Johnson. There was a great man. I am a graduate of the school he established, Johnson Bible College. I can remember in my days at the college that boys would come from the non-instrument group, my first knowledge of such a group, arguing against the instrument. They were told that they were welcome with open arms, but that there would be no contention about the organ, for or against, which usually ended it. - R. B. McDonald, Prairie City, IO

It is a crisp, snowy Lord’s Day. I creep home feeling small, defeated, after hearing that stirring sermon on instrumental music, baptism, dancing, tongues. I am angry and embarrassed, but I smile anyway. My cozy little home is a refuge from the cold, hard house of the Lord just two blocks away. When my husband called from the hospital and asked me about the assembly, I cried and asked, Can’t we go home? These people want to talk about things that do not matter, and they do not really think. Your paper is a comfort to me. Others here are also disturbed. - Name withheld

(Remember the beatitude, Blessed are the disturbed, for they shall change things. Think twice about going home, for you may be where the Lord wants you. What would Jesus do? - Ed.)

I am convinced that many in our fragmented brotherhood are fed up with the spiritual pablum they receive from the pulpit and also with the unloveliness inherent in our sectarian system. - Ed Holley, Chapel Hill, NC

THE AGED SPEAK

I love you much, and the magazine is a great pleasure. I am 77 years old, so I probably won’t see the day that you and Carl are working and praying for. But maybe my precious children will. --- Gladice Marlow, Carbondale, IL

(They will! And you will too, though perhaps from a different perspective. Ed.)

When I recently read of a joint missionary effort between the Christian Church and the Northside Chruch of Christ in Santa Ana, it revived my hopes for our children. With my mind’s eye I see at the end of a long dark tunnel of religious feudalism a light so bright that it could have descended from heaven. Is this only a mirage? At 83 dare I hope that by God’s grace I may live to see the curse of the Hatfield-McCoy religious prototype lifted from the heads of our children? How does it look to you? --- Stewart Hanson, Sr., Long Beach, CA.

(Change will never come if we assume the situation is impossible. Lest we forget, there is power in believing. If we older ones will have faith in the future, it will inspire our youth. - Ed.)