READER'S EXCHANGE

 

I have become so disillusioned with the legalism in the Church of Christ that I have come close to leaving. My husband would never leave, however, even though he agrees with me. I've decided not to leave because I don't want to upset my family. In your paper you also give some good reasons for staying. -Name withheld

(Many in the Church of Christ are where this sister is, staying but not liking it. The matter is not so simple as staying or leaving, but what one does (and the attitude one has) whether here or there. We must have a sense of mission and believe that we are where God wants us to serve him. It is not how we are treated but how we treat others, not whether we are loved but whether we love others. Jesus did not walk out but hung in, serving even when rejected, where he was, even unto death itself. His own church rejected him. The only real victory is in realizing that it is more blessed to give than to receive. -Ed.

If there is one thing we in the Church of Christ need to re-examine it is hermeneutics. What a mess we have made of it! I often hear, for example, that the "new covenant" is the "new law," which is the New Testament. Until we get rid of that kind of thinking we can never have unity. I met Cecil Rook at the ACU lectureship. Working through his books, Restoration Review, Mission, and a sermon here and there, this congregation is going to change. Some good things are happening. Thanks for doing your part. -Name withheld

I continue to benefit from your paper. It helped me to strip off a lot of the legalistic ideas I once had and let me move into grace through Jesus Christ. What a wonderful experience to have all that weight taken off my shoulders! May God bless your efforts to free others through Christ to throw off the concept of justification through law, works and right doctrine. Unity can come only through Christ, not by conformity to all the right doctrine. - Warren and Susan Turney, LaGrange, IN