Facing the Facts

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     The unity of all believers in Christ challenges the thinking of all segments of our divided world. The pope of Rome has announced a council to consider it. The World Council of Churches, organized in Amsterdam, in 1948, has sparked an ecumenical movement among Protestants. Charles Clayton Morrison writes, "The ecumenical movement for a united church is the resurgence in Protestantism of the same undertaking which inspired the great Reformers, but which they were unable to consummate." The march of events has crystallized into the greatest opportunity in the history of the church for men with a vision and a program to secure attention for their contributions to the religious thought of the age. There is an almost universal acknowledgment that division is a sin of the first magnitude.

     In these times, so pregnant with possibilities, what is the role enacted in the great drama, by those congregations which grew out of the Restoration movement which began as a genuine attempt to achieve the unity of all believers? It is not unfair to say that now, while others seek the way of peace, these continue to wage bitter war among themselves. Far from measuring up to the demands of the age, they only contribute to the confusion by multiplying schisms and sowing discord. Motivated by fear and the partisan spirit they have withdrawn from the stream of humanity and secluded themselves inside the walls of their own castles, where they employ the energy which should be expended against the arch-foe in hacking to pieces their own brethren. Never before has God opened up such a great door and effectual, never has a body of people manifested greater indifference or shown themselves to be more ineffective and childish. Satan has inoculated them with envy, jealousy, wrath, strife, and the party spirit, and has not only successfully destroyed the effectiveness of their witness to an ideal, but has turned the sword of brother against brother, with a cunning that removes them from the arena at the very time when their labors could be most effective for peace.

     There are some twenty-five splinter parties which have grown out of the movement for restoration of the primitive order. Each of these regards itself as the one true, holy, apostolic, and catholic church of Christ. The members of each party regard the members of all the others as apostates, traitors, and heretics. Fellowship is extended only to those who parrot the party line. Brotherhood is restricted to a charmed circle, the circumference of which is hounded by unwritten creeds, enforced with bitterness and animosity. Mistaking the restoration movement itself for the church of God, no one is regarded as a child of God who does not, at least pay lip service to Church-of-Christ-ism, the modern substitution for the primitive order announced by the ambassadors of our blessed Lord.

     Just as Roman Catholicism exists today as a visible manifestation of the length to which the church of God may go when dominated by the overpowering ambition of men, so "The Church of Christ" in many communities is a living demonstration of what happens to the church of God when it becomes a victim of the corrosive, destructive influence of the party spirit. And, as the former can never unite the Christian world so long as it maintains papal authority, so the latter can never do so while it retains the dogmatic, exclusivist attitude which so often characterizes it, making it part of the problem, instead of part of the answer to division and strife.

     What can be done to restore the spirit of restoration? Is it possible to recapture the ideals and regain the glorious vision of yesteryear? There is no easy answer, no patent solution. Much rubbish has accumulated about the walls. It can be done, but it will require enduring prayer, arduous toil, patient exploration. Those who lead in restoration will be subjected to false accusation, bitter recrimination,

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and open hostility by those with whom they labored. The party spirit does not easily relinquish its victims. There must be a complete change of attitude, a transformation of thought leading to a reformation of life and heart.

     The first great test will come when one faces up to his relationship to God, Christ, and the kingdom of heaven as revealed in the sacred scriptures. He must be humble enough to admit that the segment of the disciple brotherhood to which he belongs, in which he has labored, and to which he has contributed his money and labor, is by its nature a faction. This does not mean he is factious. There are those in sects who are not sectarian, those in parties who are not partisan. But so long as one visualizes the segment to which he is attached as the universal church of God, and all others who are not members of it as being out of Christ Jesus, he reveals an ignorance of the true nature of the constituency of the church of God, and of the benefits accruing from the new birth of water and Spirit.

     I do not recall having met a member of "The Church of Christ" who was not allied with some party, segment, or faction. Most of these deny that the fragment to which they are attached is a faction inside the restoration movement. They regard all of the others as factions, but the splinter to which they yield allegiance is the church of God on earth, the one kingdom over which the Lord Jesus reigns in power and might. Some believe that the God of the universe spent four thousand years preparing the world for a Christocracy founded upon the great and abiding principles of opposition to bible classes, individual cups, unfermented wine, pre-millennialism lesson leaves, and a host of other things too numerous to mention. This is the culmination of the purpose of the ages, the beau ideal of the plan of heaven, the fruition of the messages of the prophets, that Jesus might sit at the right hand of God, supervising a group of narrow partisans who judge a man's loyalty to the Messiah by how he breaks the loaf, or whether he drinks the fruit of the vine out of a little glass or a big one. Over such matters has the church been split, shivered, and fragmented under the plea of faithfulness.

     If a man can truly face up to the real issue, he will have no problem with the lesser ones. This is difficult. It demands a species of humility, and humiliation, foreign to the character of most of the followers of the Nazarene. The difficulty is illustrated in the pitiable pleas of many who hate peacemakers. They cry that they know the church has many things which need correcting, that it suffers from many ills, but they deplore the efforts of those who rise above all party relationships and emotions, and strike at the heart of the trouble, which is the party spirit itself. When they talk of purifying the church, they mean to merely correct the conduct of some in the party.

     It is hard for many to admit they have ever been wrong about anything. Those who are the most exacting with and censorious of others, who are harsh and intolerant in their accusations, seem never to be guilty of any error. Seldom does a man of prominence say "I was wrong," or "I have sinned." Like the Catholic priests, when they quote, "Confess your faults one to another," it is always the other one who must do the confessing. But the real truth of it is that with few, if any, exceptions, every member of the disciple brotherhood has been allied with a faction, a segment, a fragment of the church of God. Those who deny this, and disclaim it with the greatest force, are generally the most bitterly partisan of all.

     There is no dishonor attached to such past affiliation, for the simple reason there has been no way to avoid it. Those who have obeyed the gospel under any preacher of the twenty-five splinter parties calling themselves "The Church of Christ" have been forthwith adopted into the party represented by the one who baptized them, and have been indoctrinated in its interpretations, unwritten creedalism, and tests of fellowship. We live in a decadent age of Christianity. Most of us have never created a party. These divisions and subdivisions occurred before we were born.

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We have inherited them, or been adopted into them, as a result of circumstances of birth, environment or association. But it is a sin to perpetuate them. The party spirit is treason against God.

     What shall we do? The first impulse is to get out of the party in which we find ourselves. Those who do usually join another. They "jump from the frying pan into the fire." We should not abandon our brethren to their fate without doing all we can to help them. Those afflicted with the party spirit are sick. They need help. We will not assist them by sharing in, condoning, or defending the party spirit. One does not need to contract scarlet fever to aid those who have it. At the conclusion of our series of articles on the decline of western civilization, we hope to present several articles which will enable all who love Jesus to come to grips with the situation, and to find a solution. In the meantime, we humbly suggest a few things which will help us to do something practical and effective about the problem.

1. Transform your life through a change of attitude. You can do this through prayer, personal confession to God, and a careful re-study of the teachings of our Lord. Do not read the scriptures through "Church of Christ" lens, but "with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, and being changed into his likeness." Let love seep into your heart and permeate your whole being, so that your soul can expand and reach out toward others.
   
2. Do not be hesitant to recognize as brethren, all the children of God. Many are afraid to use the word "brother," lest someone get the idea they endorse the position of the other. There is nothing in the word that indicates endorsement of another's views. It signifies only recognition of another's relationship to you in Christ. In the face of admonitions to 'love the brotherhood," and to "let brotherly love continue," we should be afraid to not call the children of God our brothers. One has a shriveled soul indeed who equates brotherhood within partisan boundaries and excludes all except those who agree with him on every point. Remember, that if a man is in Christ Jesus, you do him no harm by refusing to call him your brother, but you do yourself inestimable harm. It is an open insult to God to deny that His children are your brothers.
   
3. Never consider that any case is a closed book so long as the division resulting therefrom is still existent. No case is ever settled as God wants it settled while alienation and schism still exist. Be merciful and compassionate enough to review any situation in meekness and love, and in the light of your maturing concepts and conscience. You might have been mistaken. It may be no sin to be mistaken, but it is a sin to allow your mistakes to go uncorrected. Do not let your adamant and unyielding attitude cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died." It could be that what you call "faithfulness to the Book" may be stubborn pride in your own judgment.
   
4. Labor constantly to develop those with whom you are associated into a nonsectarian community of saints. This will require that you keep before them the ideal that we ought never to make anything a test of fellowship which God has not made a condition of salvation. Teach the brethren to be willing to listen to others of divergent views, and not to make opinions a basis of union or disunion. It is not the man who commends himself that is accepted, but the man whom the Lord commends. "Follow after things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another." By this means "as grace is extended to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God."
   
5. Be ready to admit that we have not yet attained unto the goal of a complete restoration of the ancient order. We must not regard ourselves as those who have arrived, but as those who are on the way. There are many barriers yet to remove, and many obstacles to be surmounted. While we are marching on the road toward a closer walk with God, many others are doing the same. Let us not drive them back because of their lack of knowledge

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   of some things we have learned, but let us rather give them a helping hand. We need not compromise truth to succor those who are trying to find it. Jesus is a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, because he has himself suffered and been tempted, and thus is "able to help those who are tempted." He is no less faithful to God, because he is merciful toward men.
   
6. Be as willing to acknowledge truth wherever you find it, as you are to condemn error. None of us are right on every thing; none are wrong on every point. Any man is right only in so far as he apprehends truth and accepts it; he is in error to the extent that he does not. We are indeed partisan when we hesitate to commend the good done by others, lest by upholding his good, we reflect against our own party.

     To those who love the Lord Jesus, and who, by circumstances of birth and training, find themselves in one of the current sects Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.--we very humbly plead that we can never be truly one in Christ Jesus, by building up these divergent bodies. They only separate and segregate the believers. It is possible for all of us to be one in Him, and none of us ever give up a single truth we have ever held. We need to surrender nothing vital to be united as Christians, and Christians only. Creeds produced by human arrangement have come to mean little to the present religious world. No longer are men held aloot from each other because of strong convictions as to Arminianism, Socinianism, or Calvinism. Modern divisions are not maintained because of profound theological differences. The average member of a Protestant sect does not know the basic contentions of his group. Would it not be possible, then, in answer to the prayer of Jesus, for us to sink into the depths of oblivion, those things which are distinctive in the various sects, and stand together upon the abiding principles of truth, as revealed in Christ Jesus?

     We solicit your letters and comments. We will read them for our good. We can learn from our readers. Conveyance of knowledge is not by a one-way route. Even if your comments are written in a spirit of faultfinding and bitterness, we would like to study them. Because we want truth more than anything else, we shall look beneath the wrapping and seek for the content. We are not so much concerned about the shell as about the kernel. And there is just no way by which you can make us hate you. We receive letters tinctured with animosity, filled with dire predictions and even false accusations. None of these arouse resentment against the writers. We love them, bless them, pray for them, and seek for opportunities to do good unto them.

     The editor refuses to be categorized with any party. We are not a spokesman for, nor a champion or representative of, any party. We oppose many things, but not from a partisan standpoint. We recognize as our brethren, in fact and in reality, every sincere and conscientious immersed believer in the Lord Jesus. We are in fellowship with all such; we are in full agreement with none. We endorse all that is right in any one of them; we oppose any thing that is wrong in all of them.

     It is our firm conviction that unless we rise above partisan views and procedures we will utterly fail this era of challenge and opportunity. We need to recognize our past associations and affiliations for what they were. We gain nothing by rationalization which leads us to feel that our party is composed of the elect of God to the exclusion of all others on earth. We can make no real impact upon the world from behind self-erected walls of monastic exclusion. Christianity is not a shrinking, cringing, fearful philosophy, but a virile, powerful force imbued by the Holy Spirit.

     We have seen the movement to restore the primitive order go aground and founder upon the rocks of partisanship. The glorious vessel which set sail under such auspicious circumstances now lies helpless, lashed by the waves, battered by the breakers, and disintegrating under the startled gaze of those whom she set forth to rescue, and who are marooned on

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the windswept islands of sectarianism. Those who walk her decks have mutinied against the Captain, fallen out among themselves, and now rove as predatory bands, preying upon each other.

     Is it not time that we heed our advice as given to the rest of the religious world? Shall we not abandon our party enterprises, go back beyond our divisions and schisms, renounce those things which fractured and splintered us, and abandon them to the moles and bats, in behalf of the noblest plea ever made to a divided world? Shall we continue to flatter ourselves that we are the chosen people of God as we fight, split and divide, at the very time when the rest of the religious world is seeking the means of uniting? Do we think more of our divisive possessions than we do of the one body? Will we maintain and revive the feuds bequeathed to us by our fathers, who often mistook zeal for the party, for service to the Lord of all the earth? Shall we perpetuate in our folly, and preserve to our shame, the schisms which grew out of the aroused and unrestrained passions of other generations? Have we learned nothing from history except how to divide?

     We make no plea that you come to us. We are not seeking to build "a nonpartisan party." A Ketcherside party would be as reprehensible as one built around Luther, Calvin, or any other finite, erring and sinful man. We disclaim all partisan ambition, and seek to crucify all partisan spirit. We will not build, nor allow any one else to build a "Mission Messenger faction." This little journal is not the mouthpiece of a party. It is not the official organ of any group. It is a means of expression for the thoughts of the editor, and such others as care to write, and for whom space can be found. But it is not "a brotherhood enterprise" and will not become such in spite of the secret and overt attempts of some pressure groups to make it so.

     Our statements in this issue will arouse resentment. We will be castigated and maligned, and, as usual, misrepresentation will be rife. We are willing to pay that price, because we labor under the conviction that we live in dangerous times. Someone must risk reputation and personal welfare to stop the plunge toward destruction of all we hold dear. In no sense of heroic sacrifice, but in a sense of humble urgency produced by the feeling that it is later than we think, I have written.

     I close with sincere gratitude to those who share with us in the expense involved in the circulation of this little journal. Not one cent contributed is used for personal gain. No public mention is made of contributions. All is devoted to the printing, mailing, and provision of free copies on request, with the fervent prayer that He who knows the human heart, will see, and know, and reward you for your effort. Your prayers are solicited, your comments invited, your criticisms sincerely requested. If you can write in love do so, but if your communications are inspired by rancor or hatred, send them in any event, for truth may shine through the passions of men. Should you like to have additional copies of this issue to distribute to brethren, friends, and acquaintances, please send for them and they will be mailed to you prayerfully, and without obligation. "May the God of peace strengthen you, and stablish you in every good work."