More Questions

W. Carl Ketcherside

[Page 129]

     For the third straight month I must apologize to our readers for dealing with a subject which probably proves boring to many of them. In the midst of world ferment they wish that I would get on with the real task. I wish I could too, but I am committed to the program of promoting peace among those of us who are a part of the noble experiment launched in 1809 as "a project to unite the Christians in all of the sects."

     In July 1 made the proposal that we remove the question of the use of instrumental music from the category of a test of fellowship, and receive as brethren those children of God on either side of this long-standing issue which has been so controversial. I came under attack immediately in some circles as a liberal and traitor, a thing not wholly unexpected. In the August issue I answered some of the questions raised in letters. I cannot drop the matter at this juncture, so I plead for your patience and understanding.

     By far the greater number of letters received contain words of commendation and encouragement, but I am not asking for popular acclaim. I simply want truth and I shall remain free to express what I believe is true, unmoved by criticism on the one hand, or by flattery on the other. I trust I shall not be forced to continue dealing with this matter interminably but I do want to face it without fear or flinching. Herewith we present additional questions, in the meantime urging that you read the July and August issues which are preliminary.

     1. How can we overcome the problem of division on a local level? The non-instrument preacher and I are on very friendly terms as individuals, but when I attend a meeting at his place, he seems like a different person, very cool and almost abrupt.

     Of course, he is a different person. Most of us are far better than our narrow unwritten creeds. When you meet privately you are just brethren, both human and frail, both needing each other. But in a public meeting the preacher is the defender of orthodoxy, the partisan front-man, and involved in this are many things--the factional image, salary, sectarian prestige and pride. The legalistic attitude always makes for dishonesty on the part of any of us. We become Pharisaical, haughty and supercilious.

     I suggest that you pray very eagerly for the Holy Spirit to open up real doors of contact. Invite the preacher and his wife to visit in your home, and you and your wife call upon his family. Make your love for them real! Attend the meetings conducted by these brethren, and always be loving and lovable. Do not be disturbed if you are not given recognition, or if you are not called "brother." This is not the important thing. We must establish and maintain association regardless of difficulty. We must hold the door open. If we do the Holy Spirit will lessen the chasm.

[Page 130]

     2. In our little town there is a Christian Church and a Church of Christ. Most of the members know one another and several are relatives. However, because of the division and bitterness created during special meetings conducted by outside evangelists brought in by both sides, we have had little contact with one another. How would you approach this problem?

     In a small town people often have very deep feelings about local issues. I think you should not try to exchange speaking engagements on Lord's Day, but I suggest that you begin with joint Bible studies on Wednesday nights. Choose a book such as the epistle of James, and alternate in the use of your meetinghouses. Forget about singing since this creates a problem. God has no law that we must sing a half hour before we start studying the Bible. When you meet, get down upon your knees and let one brother from each place lead in prayer to God, and then begin your mutual sharing of thought in the lesson.

     When you meet at the Christian Church building let one of the elders of the non-instrument congregation lead the study; when you meet at the Church of Christ building let one of the elders of the instrument congregation do the teaching. It will be better for the preachers to stay in the background as much as possible, contributing to the discussion from their seats. Surely no one can object to people gathering to study the word of God. And it follows that both sides need to be careful about importing preachers "who sow discord among brethren." The work of promoting peace is not accomplished by rabble-rousers.

     3. What can a group of concerned students in a non-instrument oriented Christian college do to further unity as you see it?

     They can do a great deal. We have some of the most brilliant, perceptive young men and women in our day that have ever graced the restoration movement. They are tired of our sectarian bigotry, sham and pretence. They are sick of the stereotyping, pigeon-holing, categorizing tactics which have been our disgrace.

     I suggest to the concerned ones that they first meet as a cell group to wrestle with God in prayer about their role in our day. In the seclusion of a living-room or dormitory wing they can implore God upon their knees to help them make their lives meaningful and rich with service. They must revolt against our dishonesty and camouflage, and do so in at least two ways.

     They must challenge the deductions and conclusions which are unwarranted by the scriptures, and which have grown out of the text-scrapping tactics we have employed as the glib "easy-answer people" of the religious world. In class, they must do this respectfully, but firmly, as becometh brethren who are free in the Lord. And they must be prepared to suffer the consequences accruing to anyone of staunch conviction who challenges or bucks the Establishment.

     They must not switch parties or change factions, but work from the base in which they have grown up. All reformation must be achieved from within, never from without. And they must stay within the restoration frame of reference for if they flake off or flack out they will cease to be of any real help. But they must work out from this base or else it will be a prison.

     I suggest to every concerned student in a Christian college that he continue to attend services on the Lord's Day morning where he has been accustomed to break bread with the saints, and to love all of these brethren dearly. But on Sunday night, and at other times, I urge brethren who are rising above their previous factional littleness to break out of the shell. Let them visit every congregation in the area-- instrumental, premillennial, anti-institutional, one-cup, anticlass--all of them! Especially visit the little ones, not neglecting store-front types, or any other.

     Make contact with the young people in all of these, and when possible set up informal discussion groups with them. This will not be easy, but nothing that

[Page 131]

is worthwhile ever is. You will be branded as radicals, which may not be too bad, seeing that the word means to get to the root of things. No faction wants to be jarred. Many brethren think that "the whole law is summed up in one word, even in this, thou shalt not rock the boat!"

     But we need a revolution of thought, attitude and approach. Most of us think of daring and courage as exhibited only by missionaries who go to snake-infested jungles, but we need to live just as daringly in the adventure for unity. It is as important that one be ready to risk his standing for the cause for which Jesus prayed, as for the cause which he commissioned.

     I am quite thoroughly convinced that tomorrow will be better than today for the very reason that energetic, eager, Spirit-filled young men and women are not satisfied with our divisive status quo. They have the desire, the ability, and the know-how to change it. And they will do so. Those in every party who educated their children to think for themselves sounded the death knell of our factionalism. Those who "see visions and dream dreams" of unity and fellowship are our greatest hope and our best asset.

     The plea for oneness of all who believe in Christ through the apostolic testimony is our thing. Where men cut across factional lines and artificial barriers is where the action is. The happening in our age is where there is proclamation of renewal through recovery of the apostolic purpose and power. This is it, man! And, it is for real! Tune in, crank up, and get going on the most challenging cause that heaven has ever flung into our laps.

     4. It seems to me that yon have sold out, and that you've adopted the policy that if you can't lick "em you'll join 'em. What do you say?

     I say you are dead wrong, my brother, and wrong on all counts. I am not for sale to any party, faction, fragment, or segment. I have not joined anyone but our precious Lord. And he joined me to all of God's other children as my brothers. We should never have been fighting brethren in the first place. What business is it of any person to "lick" some of God's other children? The devil never did a more clever selling job than when he convinced us we should take the sword of the Spirit and hack the body of God's Son into bloody chunks over instrumental music or any other of our "issues." God's house is not a butcher shop. His children are not cannibals.

     What would you think of a father who commissioned some of his children to take a switchblade knife and cut and stab his other children? I do not believe that God is guilty of that kind of insanity. The problem with you is that you have Christianity confused with tribal warfare. You and I grew up in different factions and you never did recognize me as your brother. It is not only since I am pleading for unity of all believers in Christ that you think I am in error. You thought that when our factions were clawing each other to pieces "in the name of Jesus Christ."

     If I had left my faction and joined yours, and urged all others to do the same, you would have hailed me as the greatest hero of the restoration movement in our generation. But since the Holy Spirit really came into my heart I can see how miserably both of us were missing the mark. Now, with a deep concern for your wellbeing, I can love you sincerely and pray for you fervently.

     I am no longer a factional leader and I shall never again allow any clique to dictate to me whom I shall love and whom I shall not love. I know now that I am joined to all of God's children by the blood tie. If you will open up your heart and let the Spirit in you will be happy also.

     5. Suppose half of the members of a congregation want to put in an instrument, and the other half oppose it. What should they do?

     Quite obviously none of us should ever push what we want in the realm of deduction, upon brethren who deplore it. I do not think many places will be faced

[Page 132]

with this problem in our generation, although an occasional ambitious preacher possessed of more lust for power than common sense, may create such a situation. Practically all divisions are caused by preachers and always have been. Brethren who have always sung praises without an instrument are not likely to get so filled with rancor and hate that they will thrust something in which will fragment the body, unless they are fired up by an emotional or intemperate zealot. All of our brethren, with few exceptions, want peace in our time.

     However, if a group of brethren are so deeply concerned that they divide, they should not do so in hate, for regardless of the status of the instrument, he that hateth his brother is a murderer. In spite of my views on the instrument, I would rather meet with a group which had a piano and dearly loved all of the brethren, than to meet with a group that did not have an instrument and sincerely hated most of the brethren. One doesn't know whether he really loves his brethren or not until he is tested.

     We do not all need to meet under the same roof but we do need to be members of the same family. If we simply cannot do things alike, let us not undo the work of the Spirit in our lives. I think that we have come to the time when the instrument does not mean more to the brethren than the family relationship, and I doubt that any sober or serious thinker will sever the body over his preference for it. To form an "organ party" in a congregation opposed to it would be a sin, and so would the reverse position.

     6. If those of us who have the instrument silence it out of deference when brethren come to share a service with us, shouldn't they put in a piano out of respect for our views when we worship with them?

     No. This is what I call an elephant fallacy, big enough that anyone ought to see it. I think I am the proper person to answer this because I never ask my brethren to change their procedures out of deference to my position. I do not agree to come and teach on a contingent basis. I just go and let them all stand or fall to their own master. I do not play God or try to dictate to them.

     Brethren who have the attitude expressed in this question ought not to silence the instrument because their motivation in doing so is not right. They want to use their action as a kind of partisan horse-swapping technique, and it is not done as a real expression of brotherly love.

     If eating meat is offensive to my brother I will forego serving it when he comes to my house, but I will not expect or require him to serve that which is offensive to him when I go to his house. If a brother is grieved with my meat I do not walk charitably when I force it upon him. I shall not destroy with my meat one for whom Christ died, and I refuse to let my good be evil spoken of when I can avoid it. "If eating meat offends my brother, I will eat no more meat while the world stands."

     I am probably wrong, as I often am, but it seems to me when we see-saw back and forth to gain some kind of partisan advantage we are acting childish and immature. Please forgive me if I say that I want to be free from this whole sectarian attitude on both sides. I am tired of playing tag while the world burns down around our ears. Those who prefer such games will please leave me out when they choose up sides.

     7. I have been ministering in this congregation where the instrument is not used for three years, and I am convinced

[Page 133]

that your position is the only sane one I have heard expressed. I have a good relationship with the minister of the Christian Church and we talk over our problems privately. I would like to call upon him to pray or speak when he comes to our services, but if I did I would divide the congregation. I feel like I am leading a double life since my inner thinking is so far removed from the congregational practice. What shall I do?

     It will help you to realize that you are not alone. Literally scores of noninstrument brethren caught up in the web of legalistic exclusiveness, write me every year about "the practice gap" into which they are forced. I am sure that you feel much closer to the Spirit-filled brother who does not see any harm in using the instrument than you do to many of those who help pay your salary. The indwelling Spirit always brings us closer to others in whom he dwells. This divine tension on the heart is a tremendous magnetic force.

     Never having met you, I cannot advise you what to do. I can suggest some of my personal feelings about an approach to the situation. You should explain fairly and honestly your predicament to our Christian Church brother. If he truly loves the Lord, he will understand the need of proceeding so as not to augment strife and division. All of us are inhibited by circumstances. Jesus had many things he wanted to say to the apostles but they were not able to bear them.

     Do not leave the congregation, but begin a careful and painstaking process of education to enable them to properly adjust their sense of values. Use your messages to point out that all division in God's family is a sin, and that we are called upon to be peacemakers. Urge the brethren to pray about the matter of strife and to have open minds on all issues, and to remember that with God no issue is ever settled as long as we are divided.

     I am thoroughly convinced that if we can influence our brethren to "think unity" instead of thinking division, the Churches of Christ are in a strategic position right now to help lead a genuine attempt to unite the Christians in all of the sects. In an intellectual age they possess the scholastic ability, world vision, dynamism, and financial means to move into the whole evangelical realm, and with faith, hope and love, lead all of God's reconciled ones to a deeper sense of commitment to the unity of the Spirit.

     There are many obstacles to this and they may prove insuperable, although they need not do so. We have created an image of sectarian bigotry unrivalled by any other group except the Roman Catholic communion. We have maintained an attitude that is arrogant, stand-offish and Pharisaical. This has produced a trauma of fear and insecurity which causes us to lash out at other children of the Father. Often times, as little tin-gods we have assumed a stance of infallibility in interpretation and this has caused us to become dogmatic and authoritarian. This may appear to have produced a hopeless situation. I do not think so!

     Our greatest hope lies in that fact that we are everywhere awakening to the indwelling power of the eternal Spirit. If we try to use Him to further our traditional factional concerns we will be smitten down of God in our boastful partisan pride. But if we allow him to use us as a peacemaking force we can become effective witnesses in our generation. So I urge you not to become discouraged. Do not wash out or go down the drain. I think God may be preparing us for a mighty work and a wonder. Stay in! He knows and understands!

     8. For the life of me I cannot see how we can demonstrate any unity to the world while we meet in separate places, with some using the instrument and others refusing to do so.

     Your problem is an old one. "Thou savorest not the things which be of God, but those that be of men." You are "hooked" on organizational unity which is as far from God's plan as is the Roman papal system. The very thing the world

[Page 134]

needs is a demonstration of the unity in diversity. Everybody expects people to work and fraternize together who see every little thing alike. This exhibits no real dynamic of the Spirit. It can be done by exercise of human nature. But when people differ and yet work together out of sheer love for God, this is the potent exhibition of a transcendent and transforming power.

     Let us demonstrate our unity by joining our efforts in areas where we agree. There are desperate needs which can better be served by cooperation than by isolated efforts. We can join together in proclaiming Christ in great metropolitan areas. We all agree that Jesus is Lord and Savior and the only hope of the world. We do not have a Christian Church Christ and a Church of Christ Christ. Then let us join in telling the world that "there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism."

     It is downright silly and sectarian for brethren to plan a "city-wide crusade" and limit participation and consultation only to the congregations in their one faction. All such "crusades" are sectarian, partisan and factional, in spite of the noble and high-sounding statements handed out to the press by their front-men and promoters. Thinking people can see through this facade and detect the sham. They know that such "crusades" are not advancing the cause of Christ and are only ripples on the ocean of humanity intended to build up another sect.

     We can share youth camp facilities, inner city ghetto work, and a multitude of other things where a spirit of rivalry would only weaken our plea. I am exactly opposite to our questioner in my thinking. I have to demonstrate my unity with all of God's children "for the life of me!" "He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." While you are sitting at home wondering how it can ever work, I propose with God as my help, to be out working it. If you ever come to realize that the only real unity is "the unity of the Spirit" and not agreement upon modes, means, methods and things, you will see what I mean. And when you see it, it will really be for the life of you."