The Concerned Ones

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     There is only one church on earth. There never was but one, there will never be another. The church is a divine organism. It is not a human organization. It is the body of Christ and every saved person on earth is a member of it. There is really no such thing as The Baptist Church, The Methodist Church, or The Presbyterian Church. These are parties created by men. They have been divisive because they are the outgrowth of the party spirit. Neither is there any such thing as The Christian Church, The Church of God, or The Church of Christ. There are parties wearing these titles, among the believers in Christ, but the church of God is greater than any of them and more majestic than all of them put together.

     No sect, faction, or segment now in existence, can lay claim to exclusive possession of all the saints of God within its ranks. The Lord's church cannot be numbered. No census bureau can enumerate its adherents. Such a bureau can catalog the number of members affiliated with the various parties and can publish the statistics of such parties for comparative

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purposes, but only the Lord knoweth all that are His. We delude ourselves when we refer to the group of believers with which we are affiliated as "the Lord's church" to the exclusion of all others. This great truth, acknowledged and defended by all of our restoration forefathers is now labeled "liberalism" and branded as "new doctrine." This is an indication of how sectarian we have become in the past few decades.

     It is our growing sectarian attitude which makes it impossible for us to appreciate the magnificent scope of the kingdom of heaven, and renders our radio pleas for unity ineffective and invalid. Many of us are not really appealing for a unity of believers in Christ at all. We are simply trying to get everyone else to join our party. We confuse "the unity of the Spirit" with uniformity of interpretation and conformity in opinion. The day is past when such a puerile approach will make any impact upon the hearts of thinking people. There is a great yearning for oneness which cuts across all artificial barriers. The sheep of God, scattered over the sectarian hills, are lifting up their heads and hearing once again the call of the Shepherd for a closer walk with God--and a closer walk with men of a kindred spirit.

     I think an injustice is done to my own feeble effort to promote "peace upon earth among men of good will" because of my apparent inability to communicate effectively my true convictions to my brethren. This gives rise to such statements as the following which appeared in Firm Foundation, November 27, 1962:

     "The creed advocates tolerance, fellowship, brotherhood, compromise, amalgamation and finally a loose federation with 'Christians of all denominations.' It is presently being called 'the fellowship of the concerned,' a term that appears often in Bro. Carl's paper. Carl admits by his slogan, that he will reject the 'unconcerned.' He is therefore not in fellowship with all his brethren--some are not concerned with his new hobby."

     I overlook the use of the term "hobby" because I have long ago learned that in our parlance a sectarian is one who has something we oppose, and a hobbyist is one who opposes something we have. I oppose our limited, provincial and traditional view of fellowship and its equation with endorsement. I consider it to be divisive and factional. But I am in the fellowship with all of my brethren, even those who are not immediately concerned with my plea for oneness. Fellowship is brotherhood, and I can no more choose my spiritual brothers than I could my fleshly ones. Brotherhood is a product of mutual fatherhood.

     I borrowed the expression "fellowship of the concerned ones" from Dr. Elton Trueblood. It relates to those in every faction, fragment, sect and segment, whose vision reaches beyond their partisan walls and whose horizon is not defined by traditional lines. This does not mean that the concerned ones are unconcerned about "the unconcerned." I love and cherish all of my brethren whether they concur in my concerns or not. But it is only the concerned ones who will do anything tangible to relieve the scandal of division and alleviate the tragedy of schism. I think that the Holy Spirit is motivating the hearts of these all over the world to re-evaluate their positions in the light of God's revelation. And I have something in common with all who are concerned about the problem of religious division. I love all of these and I propose to go among them whenever a door is opened unto me and lift up my voice with theirs in a plea for restoration of the spirit of the primitive saints of God.

     I do advocate "tolerance, fellowship and brotherhood," but I do not advocate "compromise, amalgamation and finally a loose federation with Christians of all denominations." Instead, I advocate the destruction and abolition of all sectarian and denominational tendencies as being inimical to the eternal purpose of God. I simply plead for a recognition that there are Christians in the sects. God's family is not all united in a practical and workable program of service, thus His will is not being done on earth as it is in heaven. We have allowed Satan to divide us into

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rival camps. We are expending our energies and resources in fighting believers with whom we should be united. If we can sit down and discuss our problems as brethren rather than as enemies; if we can cease to debate each other as aliens, perhaps we can accomplish through love what we have never been able to achieve by partisan strife.

     It will help us to remember that not a single apostolic injunction to be of one mind or to achieve harmony, was ever written to bring men into the fellowship. Every such admonition was given to those who were in the fellowship and because they were in it. A recognition of fellowship was to precede and help to produce unanimity of thought. "If then our common life in Christ yields anything to stir the heart...any sharing of the Spirit fill up my cup of happiness by thinking and feeling alike, with the same love for one another, the same turn of mind and a common care for unity" (Phil. 2:1, 2). Fellowship is not conditioned upon thinking and feeling alike, but these are conditioned upon recognition of fellowship.

     All of my brethren, beloved in the Lord, who read these lines, are in the same fellowship as myself. Not all will agree with what I say but this will in no sense militate against my love and respect for them. We are in the fellowship through an act of divine grace and all of us are striving amidst human weakness to come to a greater understanding of His will and purpose for our lives. Fellowship is a sharing with Him and a sharing with each other.