Florida Lectureship
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In January I attended the lectureship at Florida College. It had been a number of years since I was there. Upon the previous occasion the "big guns" firing salvos at the absent sectarian world were G. K. Wallace, Pat Hardeman and Bill Humble. All of these have since "gone over the hill," having joined the "liberals" as the peculiar partisan phraseology heard on the campus expresses it. But there were present many other brethren whom I have met and known through the years and I was glad to see men who regard me as extremely dangerous since I no longer make a test of fellowship out of the trivial factional issues in which all of our
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I was treated well and politely by everyone I met I attended because many of the students felt I should come, since my position on fellowship was to be made the subject of public attack by a brother whom I respect and appreciate. I found a number of disciples in the area who are much better than their unwritten creeds imposed upon them by dogmatic preachers and instructors, or by authoritarian elders. Many are chafing at the bit and seeking freedom in Christ Jesus.
The college has had its share of problems, as all partisan establishments do in an age of intellectual and spiritual ferment. Compromises must be made with conscience for men to continue to teach where there are overtones of racism, and where moral and ethical values are subjects of legalistic impression made with the organizational eye cast in the direction of the financial rope-holders. The future of such institutions lies not with the administration or faculty but with the students, some of whom are brilliant, consecrated, questioning, and fed up with the casuistry essential to maintaining any monastic-type structure.
I met with a number of students and preachers in a crowded room in the senior men's dormitory in the afternoon, and answered questions for almost three hours. Before I arrived permission had been s& cured for a panel discussion of my position on fellowship in the large and beautiful structure owned by members of the University Church of Christ. The meeting began at 10:00 p.m. and lasted until almost 1:00 a.m. The large house was crowded out with many standing around the walls for the entire period. I spoke for thirty minutes and was followed by Robert Turner for an equal period of time. We were then joined by Ferrell Jenkins and Harry Pickup, Jr., and fielded questions from the audience until the prolonged session concluded. Despite the tension created by my presence and position there were no untoward incidents and proper decorum marked the event.
Although the brethren at Florida College are regarded as "antis" and are castigated by "the powers that be" at Abilene Christian College and Pepperdine University, they have manifested more openness and less fear than their detractors. I have long had an unrestricted offer to come to the latter places and allow my position to be openly examined by the faculty or by an elite panel selected by the administration, but thus far the offer has been coldly rejected. I commend the saints at Florida College for their willingness to listen to a position which literally cuts across all of our factional hang-ups. I am still praying that God will move on the hearts of the presidents of the other schools to rid them of their fears.
The speech delivered by the brother on the following day made use of all the debating and political tactics so prevalent in certain segments of the brotherhood. It ran the whole gamut of the "guilt by association" technique. He equated my position with neo-orthodoxy, existentialism and situation ethics, linking my rather obscure name with such important figures as Charles Clayton Morrison and Karl Barth. I was able to watch the audience reaction from a vantage point in the auditorium and it was obvious that few knew anything about the frightful specters with which my humble views on fellowship were alleged to be hobnobbing. So the listeners endured the speech as part of the price to be paid for the privilege of enjoying a reunion with those of like precious prejudice. I enjoyed the occasion of my visit and expect to return if our dear Lord wills. Since the only kind of brethren I have on earth are "brethren in error" I intend to go among all of them--regardless of variety. It is no problem for me to love them all! I am eager to share insights and to listen to what others have to say. After all, we do not learn much from those who agree with us. We already know that, and we can profit a great deal by association with those who disagree. And who knows but what association will bring us closer together?