Someone left a CofC publication in my box in the church office, Christianity: Then and Now. Here is a link to the website -> Christianity: Then and Now online.
Here are a couple samples:
Churches of Christ are standing at a critical crossroads. We face the same situation our forefathers faced in the half-century following the Civil War.
A hundred years ago the majority of those who were part of the movement to restore original Christianity chose the same road the agents of change are now promoting. Today they are identified as the Disciples of Christ/Christian Churches. The issues that distinguished that movement last century and the movement for change of today are virtually identical. When the digression occurred in the past, the surviving remnant, led by great men such as David Lipscomb, James A. Harding, Austin McGary, and J. D. Tant had to rebuild almost from scratch. But God blessed their efforts and today well over two million souls are identified with the Churches of Christ around the world.
Today winds are blowing gale-force across the face of our beloved brotherhood. They are urging us to abandon the old ways for new ways learned from our denominational neighbors. These winds, originating primarily from our large universities, are sure to drive the ship of Zion on the rocks of destruction, should they prevail.
The attack on the Lord's church in our day is being led by a group of men called "agents of change." These are highly educated, articulate men who use subtle means to convince the unsuspecting that the faith, worship and practice of the church is flawed and must be changed if we are to survive and succeed in the 21st century. If allowed to succeed they will lead our congregations into a denominational brand of religion that has little connection with the religion of Christ.
What is your reaction to this voice within our brotherhood?
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Darn those "agents of change"
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9 comments:
The website says it's purpose is to examine these changes... I assume coming in the near future. I will be interested in seeing these discussions rather than speaking in generalities.
One flaw I always think of when people speak of our restoration forefathers is the belief that they actually attained a new testament church as described in the Bible. Personally, I think they taught a Pharisaical doctrine that Jesus fought against his whole ministry. They chose to leave out teaching that are inconvenient, ADD items of convenience and BLAST anyone who would dare to go beyond their narrow scope of additions.
As stated in their website, they seem to have appointed themselves as the ordained overseers of preachers and elderships throughout the world.
I guess overall, I'm not to impressed.
You make a good observation about the belief that our Stone-Campbell forefathers attained NT Christianity. Restoration is a process in which we must always be engaging, it is not an achievement that we must defend.
This gentleman obviously thinks very highly of David Lipscomb. I do too! I admire how he bravely engaged his tumultuous times. There is a lot about the life of Lipscomb that demands our admiration. However, Lipscomb was not very tolerant of those who did not share his specific convictions. He even became critical of Campbell, as Campbell tended to become more flexible in his thinking toward the end of his life.
I think if we left the leadership of our fellowship to Jesus Christ, rather than to "agents of change" or Lipscomb or Campbell or Harding or McGary or Tant or anyone else, most of the differences in doctrinal interpretation would cease to exist.
Jason, I did not bother to go to the website. I see that publication come in to our office every now and then. I usually throw it in the basket. Why? Because the last thing we need at Sunshine is a fight over doctrine and tradition and innovations and the like. Paul told Timothy to avoid such controversies, to keep his focus on preaching the word and saving souls. Which is exactly what I think we should be doing. Which brings me to this point--Why are we using the blog to focus on this controversy? We are on the verge of building something very good here at Sunshine, and it seems to me we are importing trouble and controversy into a congregation that is largely unaware of the controversy and has no need to become engaged. We have finally got our focus on the Lord and on something positive and good. We are not bashing our religious neighbors. We accept them as Christians if they are baptized believers. There is nothing wrong with our traditions and teachings. People are able to accept them. I sat with a young couple Tuesday night from the Baptist church. I went over the differences that exist between the typical Baptist church in Scioto County and our own congregation. They had no problem with anything I pointed out. They were interested in Sunshine because of the positive, upbeat atmosphere that pervades our congregation. They loved the singing. The idea of an eldership ruling the local congregation was very important to them. They had just come from a church run by a business meeting. Big blow up, preacher was run off. Hurt, controversy, ugly things. Sunshine looks like a place they can come and worship and raise their children to know the Lord. I quit debating a long time ago. I make my best case. I simply explain and point out why we believe and do the things we do. Very few times that I know of have our "distinctives" hindered our work. But I do believe what will hinder our appeal to the lost in our community is to force these issues before a congregation that has enjoyed peace, unity and growth for some time. The hermeneutic we use is sound even if it is not absolutely consistent with everything I read in the Bible. I have preached this before the congregation. I realize that our hermeneutic is in part subjective, but I still accept it and preach it because the alternative hermeneutics that are being proposed take subjectivity to a new level. I clicked to Mike Cope's blog per your blog the other day and read some of the comments--The one that caught my eye was the one that said (paraphrasing) "The church doesn't need anymore theologians; what the church needs are prophets." I understand what the guy meant. While our "theologians" are expending huge amounts of energy and time trying to reeducate the rest of us, the real work of reaching the lost for Christ suffers. I want the theologians to go off to their room and talk among themselves. And let the rest of us get on with the work. But as for keeping the controversy that is now brewing in our brotherhood as a dominant theme for the blog, I see no positive result. Steve Miller
The key issue here is trust. If, I don’t trust someone, I’m prone to read all sorts of malevolence into every word or action of theirs that I don’t understand. In all this is an important question, “Is it worth my effort to try and understand them?” That question is tricky. The answer is really a function of love.
My favorite poet, Bruce Springsteen, writes (and sings) these words, that have relevance and application far beyond the context of a relationship between a man and woman:
Oh girl that feeling of safety you prize
Well it comes at a hard hard price
You can't shut off the risk and the pain
Without losin' the love that remains
We're all riders on this train
Wayne said testing !!!!can't get this site to work
OK Got it to work so here goes !
I agree with Steve's comments. One of the practices that we are proud of and one that has basis in the bible is that each local group of belivers is to be lead by elders that are responsible only to that group of local belivers and to God. Why when do we concern ourselves with what some congregation is or is not doing in Huston or Nashville? We have been very blessed at Sunshine for many years with peace and cooperation and I see no benefit or furtherance of our goals by inserting discussions and questions that are not presently before the group. Why go looking for trouble - there are plenty of problems to solve in our community and in our local congregation. We need to focus our engergy and abilities toward ways to reach Scioto County for Christ and to help Sunshine grow closer to God.
I enjoy reading the blog but please lets have a more positive tone. Thanks, Wayne Gampp
OK Got it to work so here goes !
I agree with Steve's comments. One of the practices that we are proud of and one that has basis in the bible is that each local group of belivers is to be lead by elders that are responsible only to that group of local belivers and to God. Why when do we concern ourselves with what some congregation is or is not doing in Huston or Nashville? We have been very blessed at Sunshine for many years with peace and cooperation and I see no benefit or furtherance of our goals by inserting discussions and questions that are not presently before the group. Why go looking for trouble - there are plenty of problems to solve in our community and in our local congregation. We need to focus our engergy and abilities toward ways to reach Scioto County for Christ and to help Sunshine grow closer to God.
I enjoy reading the blog but please lets have a more positive tone. Thanks, Wayne Gampp
Titu 3:9
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
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