Thoughts on Fellowship

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     If Christ were to come back and walk the streets of any of our great cities today, the heart that bled for the sin of mankind, would bleed afresh because of the condition existing among those who believe that He is the Son of God. He would behold the party spirit parading under the guise of faithfulness, see hate wearing the livery of love, and selfishness enshrined as sacrifice. In the name of Christianity, he would hear men bear false witness against brethren, and behold the malignant spirit stab character and defame reputation. He would see church buildings rising as temples of pride, and visualize the haughty spirit of the Pharisee in modern dress as men still pray in effect: "Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men are."

     Sectarian division is the scandal of Christendom. It has raped the church and pillaged God's sanctuary. And because all of us are a part of the Christian realm we are shamed and debased by what has transpired. Because I am a human being I cannot be unaffected by man's inhumanity to man. The tortures and barbarity of Dachau and Buchenwald must rise up to torment my dreams, for all humanity suffered in the gas chambers of these German prisons. The stiff fingers of those dead point at the heart of every human being on earth. In the same way, every division that has ever occurred in the Christian world, every rent in the fabric of brotherhood, cannot leave me untouched, even though I do not consciously acknowledge it, and though I seek to disavow it.

     Every new schism that appears, every sect that is spawned, every faction that is created must affect me, whether remotely or otherwise, for it makes the task of arriving at unity a greater one, it postpones by so much the answer to the prayer of my blessed Lord, it increases the pressure of endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I cannot be unmoved or untouched by religious dissension anywhere on earth, for, being a follower of the Nazarene, I am a partaker in the momentous effort which cost His life. When a little congregation in a far away place, kindled by jealousy and inflamed by passion, erupts, until those who walked together now walk apart in their partisan spirit of self-righteousness, this pebble flung into the pool of Christianity, creates ripples which will not only break against the shores of my heart, but will not spend themselves until they foam out their mire upon the beaches of eternity.

     No one of us can be utterly free from a sense of shame while bigotry, intolerance and factionism exist in the name of religion. We are Christian, and the rents and tears in the Christian fabric reflect against us all, as surely as injustice, inequality and cruelty to human beings in any part of the earth reflect against us as human beings. We cannot disavow our responsibility by arrogantly enquiring if

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we are keepers of our brethren. We cannot, like Pilate, wash our hands, and be free of the guilt of the mangled body of Jesus, so long as we have made no attempt to pour in ointment and bind up the wounds.

     I am impelled by a sense of urgency, because I believe that our civilization staggers today on the brink of a precipice. I think we are doing a crazed and drunken dance on a narrow ledge above the valley of destruction. Unless we can make the Christian concept work, our children, or our children's children, may become mere statistics in an atomic holocaust, their burned, seared and charred bodies mingled with white hot steel and choking rubble. Time is running out. The sun is setting. Gog and Magog are gathering for the fray. There is but one thing that can save our world from disintegration. Jesus said that his disciples were the salt of the earth. If that salt loses its strength the earth cannot be preserved. There is no other alternative. We must restore the saving quality to the salt, or we shall perish.

     Realizing this, some two years ago I began to plead that we increase our labor in love to heal the breaches in the walls of Zion, that we wage peace as diligently as others wage war. Only the peacemakers will be called the children of God. Happy are the peacemakers, says the prince of peace. We must find the way to unity or our boasted glory will lead to the grave. We must recapture the sense of spiritual kinship with all sincere believers in the Messiah. We dare not compromise truth, we dare not forsake principles. But we must find the solution to the problem of division. We cannot fracture ourselves into strength, nor split ourselves into unity of the Spirit. Unity will not come by accident. We cannot ignore the causes of disunity and restore it. But time is of the essence. The shadows are lengthening. The storm clouds gather. The winds of destiny are moaning and rising. Brethren, do not tarry much longer, or it will be too late.

     In coming issues of the little paper, I shall seek to arouse all who love Jesus, to a realization of the danger confronting our world. I shall endeavor to get them to realize that it is no time to nail stray shingles on the barn while the house is on fire. It is possible we will not be able long to send out this call. Our funds are almost expended, our resources are running low. We will do what we can with what we have left. We owe it to Him to be faithful to the end. He does not expect us to do more than we are able. Perhaps others will be raised up with more means and greater ability, to arouse a slumbering church to the threat of what will happen if we do not restore peace on earth to men of good will. We trust that you will pass our subsequent issues to your friends, whatever their faith, for we must gather every grain of salt from the sectarian shakers, if we are to apply it in force to the accomplishment of His will.