OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

Ouida and I enjoyed driving to Springfield, Mo. where I had a series with the Glendale Christian Church. I arrived with a cold and finally became so hoarse that I could not finish the series. That was the first time that ever happened to me and I was embarrassed by it, but the people were very gracious, assuring me that I could come another time and finish what I had to say. It gave Ouida the advantage in that she could do all the talking, which wasn’t all that much. We went on to her brother’s hog farm near Grovespring, Mo., where we slept with or near about 6,000 pigs and hogs. I’ve been told that I’m not fit to sleep with the pigs, but I found out I am. These particular pigs are elegantly pampered and are part of one of the most advanced and scientific farms in the state.

We also made a recent trip to east Texas where I spoke at a union church called Oak Grove, near Mabank, which presides over a well-manicured country cemetery. It was an annual memorial service for the dead. In the foyer of the church they have the names listed of all those buried across the road, hundreds of them. A sobering reminder. I spoke on the hope of the believer, drawn from the promises in Rev. 21, to a congregation of old folk whose loved ones were interred there. I told them that in heaven we will not be divided into sects, and that we should make every effort to do God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven. I assured them that those buried nearby are not really dead, for “all live unto him.” They listened with rapped attention, as if what I was saying was too good to be true. That is where we are, caught up in what is too good to be true, but true nonetheless, or so we believe. They circled their cars and had dinner on the ground. You haven’t lived if you haven’t had dinner on the ground under tall oaks at a country church in east Texas. It is Ouida’s pan of the state. Her old home was but a few miles away in Athens, which has become a kind of second home for me. When I mentioned Ouida’s name from the pulpit, it brought an old school mate out of the woodwork—the audience, that is, not the cemetery! There they stood talking, claiming to recognize each other after more than a half century out of high school. These women who never change a bit!

It may not have been in the public press (We receive releases directly from Graham’s office), but it is noteworthy that Billy Graham and Patriarch Alexei, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, met recently in Moscow to discuss common interests. I was impressed with Graham’s response when he was asked if the Patriarch would support his Moscow crusade: “As long as I am preaching Christ, I’ll have his support.” They agreed that churches should not proselytize from each other. The Patriarch related to Graham the bitter struggle the Orthodox Church has had the past seventy years under atheistic Communism during which time it lost tens of millions of members. In the crusade that followed Graham was sponsored by 150 churches in the Moscow area and 3,000 others throughout the former Soviet republics. He noted that God is doing mighty things in Russia. A few years ago Russians and Americans were considered enemies, but now we are friends, he told the people.

A 450-year old tradition was recently broken when the Church of England’s synod voted for the equality of women in ministry. In nearly half of the Anglican bodies through-out the world, including the American Episcopalians, women may now be ordained as priests. It is predicted that the new women clergy may be able to heal the divisions that run deep in the world Anglican community. Almost to the day that this happened 27 women were newly elected to Congress in the U.S. Some journalists saw these events as bright spots in a world still plagued by sexual and racial prejudice. Will the Roman Catholics be next to break the tradition? How about Christian Churches and Churches of Christ? Will we be the last to base ministry strictly upon gifts and calling, not sex? If the Anglicans could break a 450-year old tradition, we should be able to manage a 100-year old one. To do so we are going to have to quit saying, “If we try that, we’ll have people get up and walk out!” Unless we get with it and effect some changes there isn’t going to be any-body to walkout. We’ll be dead in the water. But there are signs of hope.

I was delighted with the brotherly spirit that prevailed at the Restoration Forum X held last month at the Skillman Avenue Church of Christ in Dallas. Some 200 leaders from far and wide, about evenly balanced between Church of Christ and Christian Church. met together, prayed together, studied together, lunched together. That was the most important thing about it, that it happened. It was generally conceded that “issues” do not divide us (we can differ on issues) but a divisive spirit. Instrumental music was occasionally mentioned, but it continues to be treated for the most part as a dead issue of the past. In my discussion group, made up of folk from both groups, not one person was willing to make the instrument a test of fellowship. We had fun together, including some good jokes. My favorite was told by Sam Stone. This couple that was fussing and at outs with each other was driving along a country road. When the man saw a jackass grazing, he asked his wife, “A relative of yours?” She replied, “Yes, by marriage!” Now that is what we need to do, get together, not to debate, but to tell stories!