A Startling Proposal
W. Carl Ketcherside
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It was Thomas Carlyle, the famous "Sage of Chelsea" who wrote: "Reform like charity must begin at home. Once well at home it will radiate outward, irrepressible, into all that we touch or handle, speak and work, ever kindling new light by incalculable contagion, spreading in geometric ratio, far and wide, doing only good where it spreads, and not evil."
Although many of my readers will doubt it, and some will even dispute it, I think the opportunities for promoting the oneness for which Jesus prayed, are greater than they have been for many centuries. We seem to be drawing closer to another "fulness of the times" and there is an air of expectancy beginning to manifest itself which betokens only good if we can fan it into flame. We need courageous and dynamic leadership throughout our land to act as a catalytic agent to bring the scattered forces of the faith together.
I should like to see "Churches of Christ" supply the incentive to answer the prayer of Jesus for the oneness of all believers with new and daring approaches which will capture the attention and imagination of our day and focus them once more upon Jesus as the Lord of the whole life, and of this shrinking world of humanity. There are reasons why I think the brethren may have a greater hope of success than any other group on the contemporary scene. Because this proposal may seem so odd and far out as to provoke only laughter in some quarters, let me point out to you some of those reasons.
1. We began as "a project to unite the Christians in all of the sects," as Alexander Campbell stated it. To reaffirm the validity of this labor of love under God would represent no departure from our position, but a return to it. Of all the historic groups still extant we should have the greatest incentive to cross over lines, remove walls and ignore barriers. This was our goal. It was our hope and our aim. We, of all people, should be thinking, planning, promoting and practicing unity in Christ.
2. We have historic ties with many of the sects still in existence. It was Prebyterians who launched the restoration movement in Cane Ridge, Kentucky; and Presbyterians who led out in Washington, Pennsylvania. But there were Methodists, like James O'Kelley, and Baptists like Elias Smith and Abner Jones, who preceded the Presbyterians, and who began the tributaries which flowed into the mainstream of the restoration ideal.
Our ties with the Baptists were so close that Alexander Campbell called his first journal The Christian Baptist. The reformers actually became identified with the Redstone and Mahoning Baptist Associations. Contrary to popular belief, it was the Baptists who thrust out the reformers. Alexander Campbell wrote: "After the Mahoning association appointed Mr. Walter Scott as an evangelist, in the year 1827, and when great numbers began to be immersed into Christ under his labors, and new churches began to be erected by him and other laborers in the
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It would not represent a reversal of policy but a resumption of it, if we sponsored another "Great Awakening" and sparked another "Cane Ridge Revival" in which men of divergent theological views could come together to proclaim the Christ. It was out of the very warmth resulting from the original Cane Ridge that devout and learned Presbyterians resolved to write The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, in which are included these words: "We will, that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large." Who knows but what, under the impetus and dynamic of the same spirit, other such testaments might be written which would gently consign other sectarian bodies to oblivion.
3. We do not need to secure permission from, or clearance by, a synod, central commission or hierarchy. Being congregational and autonomous, and not subject to control from any headquarters, each body of saints is free under God to propose and pursue any approach which is deemed scriptural and appropriate to resolving the problem of the sectarian spirit in its own community. Obviously, no one approach can be universally applicable, and brethren should prayerfully, fervently and eagerly implore the God of all grace, who is more interested in the unity of His people than anyone else, to give them insight into the course upon which they should proceed.
Groups of believers which have historic ties with "established churches" whether they be Roman, Anglican, or later Protestant associations, would find it more difficult to encourage unity on the basis of the sin of schism and the death of the sectarian spirit. The restoration movement has no real historic debts to "sects" or "isms" and the brethren are free to go forward without having to protect the rear or pay tribute to opinions which have crystallized into creeds.
Liberty can best be exemplified by those who walk in it, and it was liberty which helped to lead men from their confining littleness. Alexander Campbell wrote: "Such is the measure of light and liberty which I now enjoy under Jesus Christ, that I could unite in all Christian communion and cooperation with all the baptized believers in all the sects in America, so far as their opinions are considered; provided only, that they hold the head, Jesus; believing all the facts attested concerning him, and are obedient to his commands. And farther than this, we humbly conceive christian union, communion, and co-operation can never legitimately extend." (The italics are those of Alexander Campbell.)
4. Historically, our brethren already have to their credit the actual union of two groups into one. It represented a reversal of the divisive trend of sectarianism when the Reformers and the Christians came together at Lexington, Kentucky, on New Year's Day in 1832. There were great differences between them, but they resolved to regard them as in the realm of opinion, and not to advocate them as conditions of fellowship. One prominent historian, M. M. Davis, writes: "Love was the leading element in this glorious consummation. The people first became acquainted with each other; this acquaintance ripened into friendship, and this friendship into love. No amount of argument and information and exhortation in the absence of love could have wrought such results. Pieces of steel thrown together will touch each other, but they will not unite: but melt them, and they become one common whole."
Dr. Robert Richardson wrote of this union that "the world was stirred as it has not been since the days of primitive Christianity." What would happen in our generation if the heirs of those who effected this wonderful demonstration of the power of God to unite men of divergent thinking were to become the real unitive force among all who believe in Jesus through the apostolic testimony?
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5. We have recaptured many values which are basic to any step toward uniting the Christians among the sects. Our people are not generally spiritually illiterate. The importance of the knowledge of the word of God has been stressed among us and we have a fair sense of recognition of the authority of Jesus over our lives on the basis of God's perfect revelation. Any unity which is brought about in answer to the prayer of Jesus must be achieved with those who believe on Him through the apostolic proclamation or word. We are in a better position than most religious communions to bring into any honest and open discussion of the problem of disunity among believers in Jesus a genuine scriptural foundation.
6. A sincere attempt to understand all believers and to promote a real thrust for unity may better come from us than from most others. We have been the most exclusive people in many communities, and have created an image of a hostile, arrogant and combative group with our hand against every man, and every man's hand against us. If we reverse our attitude and confess our error in allowing Satan to use us to divide rather than to unite, it will give the greatest impetus toward eventual unity since the days of Campbell and Stone. It will be a little like the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, whose radical change undoubtedly helped to bring about the spread of the Good News throughout the whole Gentile world.
7. In a few places the brethren have already demonstrated that it is possible to create a favorable atmosphere for further discussion with the entire religious community. I know of two congregations, both of them non-instrument Churches of Christ, which host monthly breakfasts for men of the community, particularly for the preachers. The sisters prepare and serve the meals and both meetings have been well attended by Catholic and Protestant clergy for several years. Although the discussion at both places is informally about the word of God, there has been no real investigation of what I am writing about, but the time may not have been ripe for that. I am not at all sure that "the clergy" will achieve a great deal in the field of real unity. They may actually consider that it poses a threat to their financial security and that may be as true of "our clergy" as of others. No real movement for unity will ever be effective which does not involve the "grass roots" but the fact is that the "common people" in all of the sects, including our own, are sick of strife and saddened by schism and ready to "flow together" on the foundation of God's precious word if permitted to do so.
There will, of course, be all kinds of objections to this bold suggestion that "Churches of Christ" actually take the lead in setting up meetings which will seek to involve the Christians in all of the sects, but most of these will result from traditional patterns of exclusivism, emotional hang-ups, or unnatural fears that truth will suffer in any encounter with error. But these are the very things which have created divisions and it is time to renounce them lest they perpetuate a state of affairs among believers which is intolerable to Him in whom we believe and "whom having not seen we love."
1. It will be said that we should first settle our differences inside the restoration movement before we begin to project the dynamic of unity into the wider world of believers! Why? The restoration movement is not the body of Christ, and never was. Are believers in a movement which grew out of the consecrated thought and efforts of Scotch and Irish Presbyterians any more precious to the God of the universe than believers who grew out of the thought and efforts of Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Wesley?
Is it not possible that our real problem has been that we have waded too long in the shallows fishing for crawdads when we should have launched out into the deep? Can we let the city burn down and be destroyed while we continue to rearrange the furniture in our own living-room? Perhaps in the wider discussion of those things which have caused the greater chasms we can find an answer to the
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2. It will be said that other believers will be suspicious of us and of our tactics and will regard any move we make as simply another ruse to gain access and proselyte. We must recognize the validity of this objection, regrettable though it is. Our approach to other believers in the past does not present a very creditable performance. We have openly and publicly attacked those who honestly differ with our understanding of the will of God for our lives. Sometimes the attacks have been crude and boorish. Our only approach to differences has been division and our only approach to division has been debate. We have no doubt driven from us as many as we have led to the Master.
But we cannot continue to act as troublemakers in a world which desperately needs peacemakers. While God is opening up a door unto us we must not continue to slam it shut in His face. It is time for a genuine reformation of attitude. We must be cast in the role of positive thinkers rather than negative. We have some real values to share and we should break the traditional bonds which enslave us and penetrate the whole religious complex with our witness.
3. It will be said that any attempt to relate to the whole sectarian world to inject a dynamic of peace will result in compromise. This need not be so at all. It overlooks the fact that the religious world is sick of its own sectarianism and is seeking a solution. It also represents a false concept that association betokens endorsement and that any verbal exchange of views must result in adoption of mistaken ideas. Our problem is that we have adopted and accepted a stance which is without scriptural warrant but which will condemn us to talk to ourselves about other people rather than talk to other people about ourselves, and the ideals which we hold.
We need to break out of our shell and assume the task which God has ordained for us. The world will not be won to believe in Christ until those who believe in Christ in the world are one. We hold enough in common with other believers to use as a foundation upon which to stand as we communicate. There are millions who believe that God raised up Jesus from the dead and made Him both Lord and Messiah. Their confession of this momentous fact represents my only creed. I should be willing to meet with anyone to discuss the implication of this momentous truth and the implementation of the Lord's will for our lives.
I am personally convinced that "Churches of Christ" in many localities could spark the greatest renewal of interest in the kingdom of heaven that has been since the days of Martin Luther. Because of cultural conditions in our day, much more favorable than those in Luther's day, it is my conviction that any genuine reformation would sweep the whole religious world and result in one of the greatest triumphs for the King in the annals of the faith.
When I speak of the "Churches of Christ" in this connection I have in mind the congregations of believers which do not employ instruments of music in conjunction with their public expressions of praise. For reasons I need not disclose as a supplement to those already mentioned, I think these disciples are in the most strategic position of anyone on earth in this final quarter of the twentieth century to spark a movement which could rapidly spread throughout the earth.
I want to see the brethren who "sigh for Jerusalem" catch a vision of what could be done and "launch their Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea, nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key." We have wallowed long enough in the slough of despond. It is time to start once more the ascent of the mountains of faith. Our fathers who crossed the "Jordan" had "Jerusalem" as their goal, but their heirs mistook Jericho for the city of the Most High.
Let us again shoulder our packs and
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