WHY
YOU SHOULDN’T LEAVE
A letter
from Fern West, one of our readers in Palisade, Nebraska, states that
he has been in the Church of Christ for 26 years and that he’s
within an inch of leaving. His letter was motivated by the piece in
this journal by Dan Rogers, who had decided he could not fellowship
anyone who did not agree with him on certain issues. He further
describes his situation in these words:
“I
don’t know what our preacher schools are teaching. We get just
young preachers out here as our money doesn’t buy big name
preachers. All they preach on is ripping up the other churches or
fighting among ourselves, or musical instruments and other hobbies we
love to rail about. That’s all I’ve heard for 26 years
and I’m fed up with it. Why can’t we preach Christ and
edify the members instead of constant dissension?”
I wrote
to Fern, whom I have never met, asking for permission to use his
letter in this article, and promising that I would reply to it
publicly since there are many with his problem. I am urging him and
all those with his problem to hang in and not leave. I now give the
reasons for this position.
While
there are of course exceptions to the rule, we should think in terms
of growing where we have been planted. And that is the secret
of being able to bear up in oppressive situations, personal
growth. We may not be able to change others, but we can let our
own light shine by reflecting the brightness of the Sun of
Righteousness. When we are beset by sectarianism, we have a peculiar
opportunity to be Christ-like, for this was part of what he had to
bear. He came to serve, not to be served. He did not think about what
he could get out of church but what he could contribute. Once his
home congregation kicked him out (Lk. 4:29), he was not deterred. He
kept right on ministering in the synagogues. If we are truly his
disciples, then we too may have to suffer, even within the church. We
are less than faithful disciples if we spend our pilgrimage in this
world looking for places where we will be comfortable.
Why
must we go anywhere? If we resolve to be used of God where we
are (somehow!), He will use us. It may not be in ways we would
prefer, but He will cause us to grow where we are, even if we are
sometime stepped on. The crucial point is that we ourselves live
within God’s will, being Christ-like. We must not waste time
and energy complaining of the darkness. God has never specialized in
opposing darkness. He just turns on the light, especially the
Light, and the darkness comprehends it not. Is this not our
mission? Our light is not likely to overpower darkness if we insist
on avoiding dark places.
Moreover,
the response from those who leave is not all that encouraging, for
they often find similar situations wherever they go. Since sin is
common to us all, churches are not all that different. One church’s
weakness is another’s strength, and vice versa. We do not
usually escape problems by taking off.
Equally
important is the fact that Churches of Christ badly need the likes of
Fern West. If the reform-minded leave, who will conduct the coming
reformation among our people? All over the country I find “the
fellowship of concerned ones” at their posts doing what they
can, and they are being used of the Lord to change things for the
better. What a loss it is when such ones grow weary and leave! We
must remember that by heritage and commitment we belong to the
reformed tradition, which means that we realize that the church will
never be perfect in this world and that it is our mission to be
forever reforming it. This is how we work out our salvation with fear
and trembling. Reformers get their noses bloodied.
Besides,
the likes of Fern West want to be around for all the excitement that
is on the horizon. It is a rich experience to share the spiritual
spoils of victory over partyism. Mal. 4:2 promises that when the Sun
of Righteousness shines on people’s lives they will go forth as
calves out of a stall, happy and free. I’ve delighted many
times in such a sight. When we walk in his light rather than the
shadows of partyism, we learn to reach out, to wait, to pray, and to
think. There is something contagious about the happy and free among
us, and their tribe is increasing. The changes are too numerous to
recount. Young and old alike are sick and tired of partyism,
exclusivism, superficiality, and ignorance. And they are not all
leaving. They are fighting back, not with carnal weapons, but with
that weapon more lethal than all the strongholds of Satan, “the
power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).
Churches
of Christ will eventually be far more spiritual, open, reasonable,
and responsible than they are now. The handwriting is already on the
wall. Fern West is distressed by the preacher schools, but I know
several of their graduates who are not buying the whole bill of
goods. One of them called me recently, a product of one of the most
rigid of the schools, to tell me that he was in contact with six of
his former classmates and that all of them were now marching to a
different tune. One day the free, open churches will be the majority.
We will one day be making meaningful contributions to the Body of
Christ at large, reaching out in fellowship to other believers
without surrendering any truth that we now cherish.
Now that
those days are dawning upon us you don’t want to be off
somewhere else, do you? We need all the help we can get for the
victory that is sure to come. Of that victory I am fully confident.
This
is not intended as a put-down of those who have already left or who
feel they must. No rule works for everyone, and each one must decide
for herself. When people feel that Jesus can no longer be Lord over
their lives in their present situation, they may have to walk out and
start over. We have numerous walk-out churches, and I do not fault
them. Usually these remain Churches of Christ, open and free,
to use our terms, and they do what they do as peacefully as
possible, which is a new chapter in our history.
We are
referring to those who are fed up with “us,” who are
threatening to go to some other denomination. Some of these may have
to do just that, and when they do we should still accept them as our
brothers and continue loving them just as much.
I only
want such ones to realize that they may be able to grow better and
bear more fruit where they have been planted. It is usually a mistake
to walk out on one’s heritage, especially when it is prized as
much as most of our people prize their heritage. And ours is a
reformation heritage that recognizes the fact that the job is not yet
complete. We need everybody’s help, each according to her own
talents.
“Think back on the days of old, think over the years, down the ages. Ask of your father, let him teach you; of your elders, let them enlighten you” (Dt. 32:7) --- the Editor
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