It
is difficult to keep one's thinking truly undenominational. Proud,
carnal attitudes constantly make their way into spiritual affairs. The
sources of jealousy and strife today are the same carnal attitudes that
plagued the Corinthian church.
(1
Cor. 3:1-5)
I think few people
have complained more about the mental and spiritual shortcomings of
modern churches of Christ that I have. I intend to continue to do just
that. We must guard against party factions, against denominational
conceptualizations, against becoming simply another sect. The concept of
undenominational Christianity must be treasured by us and taught to the
world. But ....
But I am troubled.
Sometimes I am troubled when I hear others criticize (or admonish)
because I wonder if our motives are the same and I wonder if our
solutions are the same. I reprove my brethren because I love them, not
because I find them unattractive. I am concerned about the inadequacies
in churches of Christ because I consider them to be precisely that —
churches of Christ, the hope of the world.
It seems to me that
many of the young critics of the church today proceed on an entirely
different set of assumption. Their criticisms do not reflect an
intrinsic love and respect for simple faith but rather a personal
revulsion against simplicity of faith and against simple people. Their
call for a deeper individual commitment to godliness, comes off sounding
like a rejection of literal obedience and the acceptance of authority. I
feel I am being faced again with the ancient liberal choice of being
either right or righteous.
In short, I sometimes
hear young men saying the same things that I think need saying — but our
thoughts lead us to act in different ways. I like simple plain preaching
done by a corn-fed Alabama preacher (even at the risk of a passage being
taken out of context). They like the evangelical scholars (few having
attained the elevated intellectual status of appreciating sophisticated
liberal scholarship) and yearn for their fellowship. I like conservative
churches, even though some in them are contentious, and some do not
understand undenominational Christianity (by the way, I think that most
do). They find the spirit much sweeter in liberal churches, even in
denominational churches, though they often are less than frank in saying
so. (And is it possible to imagine that one would find an understanding
of undenominational religion here). The difference between us are
profound in act if not in word. I believe their actions reflect serious
misunderstandings about the nature of the church of the Lord, about the
quality of those who hold that faith today, and about the quality of
religion in the sectarian world.
One final point. Be
honest. I have no respect for a man who hides his convictions behind
rhetoric. If one believes that the churches of Christ in this country
are the Lord's people in our time, fighting his battles, being faithful
to his patterns, then let's try to build up the cause and expand the
borders of the kingdom. If one believes that the "conservative churches
of Christ" are an unenlightened, often bigoted, partially correct,
contentious wing of the "Christian world" that one happens to be trapped
in because of family or traditional loyalties, then let's get that
understanding up front. I can appreciate most any one's work in the
kingdom (even if it seems unenlightened to me) if I can see that he
loves it. When one's affections turn to other places, then it is time to
leave. -
Vanguard, Nov, 1977
Other
Articles by Ed Harrell
There Must Needs be Heresies
A Letter From a Disenchanted Young
Intellectual
The People of God - Their Attitude Towards the
Social Order
Primitive Christians in the 21st Century