Cause for Concern

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     By invitation of a consecrated little band of believers, I recently spent three nights in a rural area of our state, during which I addressed respectable audiences assembled in a modest meeting house located at a crossroads. On every side spread fertile fields. The drone of tractors plying back and forth between rows of corn could be heard throughout the day. The community was composed of genial, hospitable and friendly people. They shared with their hard working neighbors, exchanging labor in critical times, and visits when crop conditions would permit. It was a privilege to be among them.

     There was one disturbing feature which troubled my heart. Within a very small radius, three congregations maintained their separate buildings, and carried on their worship services, isolated and aloof from each other. They could all participate in the same social and community affairs. All belonged to the same farmers association; all sponsored the same 4-H Club, all were members of the same Parent-Teacher Association. In the realms of physical, moral and mental development, they could combine their efforts and their varied talents. It was only in the spiritual domain they went their several ways, with even families divided and rent asunder religiously.

     The situation was worsened in my view, by the fact that all three of these small groups were descended from the great restoration movement of the previous century which had as its goal the uniting of the Christians in all sects. For years now they have been rivals, and although the harshness of the past has been partially dissipated, they still have no combined witness in the community, testifying to the power of the Spirit as a unifying force in their lives. I sought to ascertain the history of their division. It revealed the same tragic picture still found in so many localities.

     Sixty years ago there was one congregation of disciples. Each Lord's Day the hitching rack outside the meetinghouse was lined with the teams and vehicles which transported happy neighbors to worship together in the Lord Jesus. Aged elders taught the word to the flock. Freedom to exhort was extended to all of the qualified brethren. Each Lord's Day night the whole community gathered again to sing the hymns of praise in unison, except when the time was given over to a visiting preacher to address them.

     However, this peaceful condition was not to obtain always. "The instrumental music question" which had begun to disturb the tranquillity of congregations in the larger urban centers was introduced by one or two families. It became the sole topic of conversation in many

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homes and at private gatherings, as the pros and cons were voiced. The elders, regarding the instrument as a human novelty and innovation, requested that it not be agitated any further to the disruption of the harmony which had prevailed. One of the chief advocates of the instrument regarded this as an attempt of reactionaries and old fogies to stem the tide of spiritual progress. He made a personal canvass of the membership to put the leaders out and the instrument in. Feeling that he had sufficient backing to accomplish his purpose, he went to the home of one of the aged protestants, and losing his temper, shook his fist and announced they would have the instrument if they had to sue in the courts for possession of the property.

     The same man claimed the floor on a certain Lord's Day and made the announcement publicly, telling those who did not propose to worship with the organ that it would be an opportune time to leave. The great majority arose, to the surprise of all, and followed one of the aged brethren to his home. There it was agreed to meet in a schoolhouse temporarily. Meantime the other brethren put the organ in, and continued to meet for several months, but lacking spiritual instructors, their services gradually dwindled away, and six months later the building which once resounded to hymns of love and praise was becoming the haunt of bats and pigeons.

     Those who left, amalgamated their efforts with those of another small band, and soon began to grow, as peace and harmony prevailed. Then, once more, "a root of bitterness springing up" created dissension. A nearby congregation received into their membership one who came from the Baptist party. Hearing of this, a couple of brethren made mention of it to an elder, who replied that he would have done the same thing, being perfectly willing to recognize as valid, immersion in water of a believing penitent, even though such a person might be mistaken about the time when the judicial act of heaven took place in the remission of sins in connection with such immersion. The two immediately began an assault, in public and in private, denouncing the leader as unsound and disloyal. He requested that the matter be allowed to drop as the congregation might never be confronted with the problem, and, if so, it would be the time for resolving the question. He was informed that he would have to make public acknowledgment of his wrong in holding such an opinion, and renounce what was termed "sect baptism." This he declined to do, inasmuch as he could not renounce his personal conscience and conviction. Charges were formally filed against him and he was driven out. Once more a goodly number went with him, and another congregation was formed.

     Today, there are three small groups meeting in the area. One bears the name "Christian Church," the other two the name "Church of Christ." All are good people of high moral integrity, but there is little fraternization between them. I am convinced that God wants us all to be disturbed and troubled about such conditions and to do something about them. Such division exists in contravention of the divine will and of the prayer of Jesus. It weakens our testimony to the world. We live in a world of division and distortion. If the Holy Spirit cannot draw us closer to an adjustment of our difficulties and a settlement of our differences, we may doom our children and our children's children to a fate worse than death. We can never achieve unity by talking about our brethren who differ with us--we must talk with them and to them. We must have the breadth of vision, the love for God, the zeal for the cause of Christ, which will not rest or be quiet until God sends forth judgment unto victory.

     Our problem is not so much one of our differences, great as they may appear, but of indifference, of unconcern, of love for the status quo. That is what makes men froth and fume when someone proposes to do something about unity instead of merely preaching sermons on the subject. I do not agree that these issues were settled in finality fifty years ago, and that

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all we can do is continue to go our separate ways. Nothing is settled until it is settled in harmony with God's will, and it is not His will that we be divided. Nothing is settled so far as I am concerned while I am cut off, alienated, separated, and segregated, from any of God's children and my dear brethren in the Lord. Building a wall higher does not solve the problem when the wall had no right to exist in the first place.

     We have inherited conditions we did not create. We were not present when they were created. But we need not perpetuate the feuds of our fathers. We need not reproduce the passions which produced them. We need not rekindle the animosities which aggravated them. So long as the present state of division continues in the disciple brotherhood, none of us can be guiltless, none can be wholly free from blame. While one is in schism all are in schism! A schism is a rent or a tear, as in a garment. When a rip exists in a coat, no one can jealously clutch the part he holds and regard it as the whole garment. No party is "the faithful church." No faction or segment is "the loyal church." There are some in each group who are as faithful as they know how to be; there are many in all who disgrace our calling!

     But what can be done to alleviate the condition handed over to us by those who have gone before? What practical steps may be taken in such a community as the one to which we have alluded? No one can give an answer that is universal in application. The problem differs in each locality. The method used effectively in one place might not work in another. Men differ in their manners, modes and methods of tackling a problem. We must be free to labor as best we can in a spirit of love. We must adapt ourselves to varying situations. We must become all things to all men, so that we may win some. But there are certain things that are essential and basic. We humbly suggest a few of them.

1. We must cultivate a deep love for all of God's children, not merely for those who are members of our party or group. We must yearn for the presence and fellowship of all who have made a covenant with God. Our love must not be a narrow, confined and regimented affection for those who see things as we do, but a demonstration of the divine agape, reaching forth in an unquenchable philanthropy to embrace all who have come to regard Jesus as King.
2. We must cease to regard ourselves as "the loyal brethren" to the exclusion of all others. The prophet declares that the "holier-than-thou" attitude is a smoke in the nostrils of God. Self-righteousness is not the key which unlocks the door to heaven. Let us then evaluate men as God judges them, allowing each individual to stand on his own merits.
3. We must pray for open doors through which we can catch a greater vision and through which spiritual enlightenment will stream in a continuous flood of light. What might be accomplished if two groups of estranged brethren were to meet for an hour, just to pray together on bended knee! What could be lost by any one in such a season at the throne of mercy?
4. We must no longer consider and regard as apostates those who differ with our interpretations and opinions. Let us credit others with being sincere and honest, even though they may be in error. None of us are perfect, so we can afford to meet as equals in the presence of God.
5. We should cultivate the wisdom to discern between things of primary and lesser importance. We emphasize some things far beyond their value and importance. Jesus said that there were "weightier matters of the law." To him, mercy was greater than sacrifice, even though the latter was commanded. It is difficult to elevate the trivial and incidental features of life, without relegating the weightier matters to a secondary place.
6. We must be content to labor and to wait. Many of us will die long before our feeble efforts bear fruit The situation in which we find ourselves is one of long standing. It is complicated by ancestor worship, and tribal taboos. Tradition hallows things, whether they be

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   right or wrong, good or bad. So we can only sow the seed and pluck up an occasional thorn or thistle. The Holy Spirit must produce the fruit of peace, joy and unity. It must be enough for most of us that we merely plant the shrubs along the highway, so that our children can pluck the blossoms and breathe the perfume.
7. We must not regard all those who differ with us as causing division. It is a common thing to apply such passages as "Mark them which cause divisions and offences...and avoid them" in wholesale fashion. I suspect that the passage is generally misapplied to start with, but not all who are in factions with which we are not allied have caused division. Many of them, like the rest of us, grew up in conditions they did not create. There is a difference between one in the driver's seat who causes an automobile wreck and the innocent victims who are passengers in the vehicle he is guiding.
8. We must guard against confusing the world pattern by new areas of division. There will arise among us prophets of dissension and apostles of schism. They will do their best, under guise of orthodoxy, to sow discord. They will misapply what we say, attack us behind our backs, seek to turn brethren against us. This is the real test of our thesis on fellowship and brotherhood. Can we make it work in our lives? Can we still pray for and labor to help those brethren who, in misguided zeal, try to poison and envenom the minds of others? Let us firmly resolve that we will never encourage another division among God's people in any manner, and that we will labor incessantly to do something of a positive and definite nature to lessen the tensions created by past divisions. "Let us follow after peace and things wherewith one may edify another."

     The above suggestions are simple. No doubt they appear trite statements. They may seem too humble to accomplish a great deal. But God will work with those whose attitudes change to conform with his love. Our hearts will throb with joy through the love shed abroad in them by the Holy Spirit. Remember that those who work for peace work with God. The angels in the annunciation to the shepherds, proclaimed peace on earth to men of good will. Those who take up that refrain and herald it to the divided realm of Christendom today will be the companions of the angels. The Spirit can accomplish what the flesh fails to do!