Repairing Lines

W. Carl Ketcherside

[Page 93]

     A few years ago I was in a town which suffered from the onslaught of a freezing rain and ice storm. All overhead wires were snapped under the increasing weight and soon all lines of communication with the rest of the world were cut off. It is a tribute to the efficiency of modern enterprise that within a matter of hours emergency repair crews were converging on the area from every direction. There was an awareness upon the part of all concerned that little permanent repair work could be accomplished until effective communication was again established.

     Apparently human nature has not altered a great deal in the past two thousand years. It is still true that "the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." It might be a subject worthy of research to determine what factors cause the children of light, who were once children of this world, to forfeit their pragmatic and practical wisdom when their state is changed. That some of them become as "harmless as serpents and as wise as doves" none of us can deny. What is true of the "children of light" generally, is no less true of those who are heirs of the restoration movement.

     This noble spiritual experiment undertaken originally to "unite the Christians in all sects" has bogged down in a welter of factional partisanship and is now one of the most divided religious movements on the current American scene. The members of each splinter regard their own segment as the one holy, apostolic, and catholic church of God upon earth, and postulate that the blood of Jesus was shed solely to purchase the faction to which they are attached. This has created an attitude of sectarian exclusivism and self-righteousness which is hardly duplicated by even the most unrealistic denominations of our age.

     Under the weight of dogmatic editori-

[Page 94]

alizing, pressure from self-appointed official interpreters, and fear and suspicion of the membership, the lines of communication have broken down. There is little exchange of thought on a high level between members of the several factions. The papers have a closed door policy, the lectureships present only men who are "sound," i.e., who parrot the party line. Any attempt to rise above bigotry and intolerance is shouted down as "liberalism," any recognition of brotherhood beyond the party confines is branded as "compromise."

     In such a time as this a statement of our own purpose and mission is again in order. We represent no splinter, split, or segment of the restoration movement. We are indebted to no faction, fraction, or fragment for our salvation, nor do we propose to allow any such to come between us and our debt to the One who died for our sins. Because we are not in bondage to any party we are free to love all of our brethren and to move among them as freely as they will allow. We will make nothing a test of fellowship which he has not made a condition of salvation. We shall treat as brothers all whom He accepts as sons!

     There are many problems in the family of God to which we do not know the answer. We are simply dedicated to repairing the lines that have broken down so that in the future we may converse as brethren instead of debating as partisan enemies. What our brethren will say to each other when the lines are up again, only time will tell. It will probably not be as bad as the things they have said about each other while the lines are down.

     We propose to go wherever the Spirit opens up a door for sharing our thinking with others who are interested in the kingdom of heaven. We shall not be nearly so concerned about those who do not want us to go as we shall be with those who want us to come. One who belongs to Jesus can go anywhere and be safe; one who does not is not safe anywhere he goes. We shall be the slave of no man, but a servant to all men.