About Movements
[Page 141] |
The continuing tragedy of the ages is that good men, in an honest attempt to offset division, seem always to end up fragmenting further those whom they seek to unite. The problem is thus augmented by the very ones who seek to solve it. Every reformatory movement grows old and crotchety, suffering from hardening of the arteries and high blood pressure, with all of the symptoms of aggravated senility. Such noble attempts are like the dauntless pioneer who blazes new trails through an unbroken wilderness, only to eventually retire to the front porch of his cabin to puff on his corncob pipe, and hold his trusty rifle at the ready, to gun down anyone who would dare explore beyond his clearing or staked-out claim.
The reason for this is obvious. Men equate the movements for which they live with the church for which Christ died. Any criticism of their creation is regarded as an attack upon the ramparts of heaven. But the search for truth and ultimate meaning is endless. Those who think they have arrived have actually departed. There is nothing wrong with
[Page 142] |
One is truly safe only so long as his creed is Christ, for Christ is living, vital and active in the universe. He is the same yesterday today and forever, but I am not. I must grow and develop and be transformed. To argue that I must not change my mind because Christ is unchanging in nature is, in its final analysis, to argue that I no longer need Christ. One who is flawlessly perfect in appearance requires no mirror, unless he seeks only to admire himself.
A movement which ceases to move soon becomes a monument. There is a great difference between the two. A movement heralds hope for the future while a monument portrays only the glories of the past. It is absurd for those who live in the twentieth century to be shackled to a movement of the nineteenth century. To do so means acceptance of men who were caught up in history on the same basis as the Savior who was caught up to heaven. The canonizing of heroes always involves the crystallizing of their views, and results in venerating traditions under the guise of fidelity to the faith. There is a great difference between walking in the old paths, and wallowing in the old ruts!
Only an open-ended movement holds forth any hope of uniting the saints. The moment we shut the gate to hold what we have gained, we forfeit our freedom and forsake our ideal. It is those confined within walls who are in prison and not those who are without. When a movement becomes "a church," by whatever title it may be designated, it automatically casts itself in the role of a sect, and must be prepared to engage in all of the petty rivalry and paltry politics which are a part of the sectarian stance. To call a scriptural name over a party no more makes it the body of Christ, than a cow becomes a horse by so designating it. The body of Christ has no specific title and needs none.
It is a little silly and quite absurd for anyone to castigate "the denominations" while arguing for a special designation or denomination for the party of his affiliation. To denominate means to name, to give a title to, and any person who defends a particular name as the one authorized by heaven only accuses the Holy Spirit of forming a denomination. Clever debaters who affirm that their exclusive faction is "scriptural in name" do not realize that in trying to establish their contention they only succeed in proving it is unscriptural.
Perhaps our greatest hope for the future lies in the fact that so many are becoming restless and tired of the institutional image with its trappings and tom-foolery. They are weary of tenting on the old playground, and they want to shoulder their packs again, not to march off into the sunset, but into the Risen Son. We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. A stranger is one who sojourns in a land which is not his own; a pilgrim is one who seeks a better place. To be one of these without the other is not enough!
The trumpet is sounding again for ears which were not previously attuned to its stirring summons. There is little time left to mourn over the mistakes of the past, or to extinguish the gray ash of the campfires around which we huddled, by the gushing fountains of tears. Let the dead past bury its dead! Tomorrow will be brighter than today. The millions of the earth are stirring in expectation. The future belongs to him who dares to capture it as his own!
Let us not embalm truth in an attempt to preserve it. We are not here to save the truth, but the truth is here to save us. Let it be free, and let those who proclaim it be free. Let them be free to go where they can, let them be free to penetrate the fragmented worlds of our day. Let them be free of the grasp of skeletal hands from the sepulchers, and of the rusty fetters of tradition. The voice of heaven is heard again summoning us to new tasks and new responsibilities. Let us heed it!