Here is another piece of feedback I received from my blog/email entitled "My Secret Life of Discipleship." I'm only attaching one, because it has become special to me. For the following reasons:
1) My essay made him feel judged and unaccepted. And he was fearful it made others that he loves feel judged and unaccepted, too (including our Church of Christ heritage).
2) His response made me feel judged and unaccepted. And I was fearful it would make others that I love feel judged and unaccepted, too (including many who want to stay in the Church of Christ heritage without being bound to certain beliefs unnecessarily).
4) We both want the same things, but couldn't recognize it in each other without connecting relationally, speaking courageously and listening graciously.
5) So...it represents what I want to happen for all of us. We came together, found our common ground in Christ, and then addressed our meanings, motives, differences, and perceptions in an agreed upon safety. We didn't have to "win an argument" or "prove a point". We didn't have to agree upon every thing we dealt with (although we may have both been surprised at how much agreement we found). We told the truth with a healthy expectation that when Christ says, "the truth will set you free," that it may actually do so.
"[I wonder if] because of a bad experience in a church (in your past), some type of baggage, wound, or otherwise, you have developed an agenda to change your now present church, or split it trying. Although I didn’t want to believe it, there is a secret (your words) inner circle, an elite group, that have all been wounded as well, that have taken it upon themselves to either a) make other members conform to their ideas, or b) run them off. Is this letter promoting unity or division? Does it bring generations together or separate them even further? I resent the implication of higher understanding. My grandfather was a gospel preacher for over 60 years. He shared that gospel with thousands of people and converted hundreds to Christ. He worked with several churches over the course of his ministry. I assure you, he did not get along with everybody. He did not agree with everybody. He ministered through tragedies, discord, and church splits. I have never disagreed with the restoration of discipleship, becoming more like Christ, or any of your other teachings. The only thing I have ever questioned is the motives behind the teaching. If it is, in fact, because we want and need a deeper relationship with the Son and the Father, and the Spirit, I am completely sold out to it. However, if the motives behind the teachings stem from a rebellious spirit against the church of the past, I will have to stand up and speak against it. This letter makes me question your motives. And I don’t want to!!!! I want to be more like Christ. I want to show that to my sons. I want to be filled with the Spirit. I have no bad experiences growing up in the church. I have no wounds that I have had to overcome. I fondly remember people who, although they were not perfect, they loved one another and loved other people. They loved me and wanted to see me grow in Spirit and in Truth. I would never defend the past mistakes of the church, but I have no interest in beating up grave stones! But this letter leads me to feel distrusted and not fellowshipped by your “group”, whoever that may be." -- 30ish brother, life-long member of the Church of Christ
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7 comments:
I'd like to speak just a bit concerning the secret inner group. I too am a part of a group of men and women who meet together outside of the organizational church. About 5 years ago we began to meet in each other's homes, share meals, go on retreats, fast together, pray together, celebrate life together, cry together, help each other raise our children, provide accountability for each other...and just generally spend time together. There have been those among us who have been in need and instead of giving to the "organization" we gave to the members of this small body.
If any of us did feel elite when we first began meeting, that lie is long gone. We now only feel immense gratitude for the deep spiritual connectivity that we have with each other through Christ. We have no doubt that the indescribable relationships we have with each other is a DIRECT result of Christ calling to us. We know that all we're doing is simply responding to His continuous, gracious and loving promptings.
I always felt as though there had to be more to the Christian life than what I was experiencing - I just had no idea how wonderfully much more there was!
It seems as though God has "re-created" me through these deep, spiritual, intentional relationships. But I know that He has simply used His children to make more of what He created me to be nearly 40 years ago. I've come to realize that I was incomplete without these intertwining relationships with the other members of Christ's body. I was getting through life okay on my own - I was most assuredly saved - but, as I said, there was just something missing. I've since discovered the difference between "getting through life okay" and beginning to "live life to the full". And what a tremendous difference there is!
I came to Christ in a very dramatic fashion and have been a Christian for about 20 years (all 20 yrs spent in the Church of Christ). I attended a Church of Christ Christian university (ACU) for 4 years (as a bible major). But please hear me when I say that these last 5 years have done more to mold me into His image than any of that - BY FAR. There are no words to describe what God has done in my life through being as deeply connected as I know how to be with a handful of His beautiful children.
Please understand that I'm not being derogatory when I say that this quite biblical "new" experience of "church" was never taught or facilitated by any professor, teacher, preacher, elder or church staff member within any Church of Christ institution I've ever been a part of. Until 5 years ago, church was something I went to and from. Now church is quite literally something I'm an extremely valuable and cherished member of.
How does one communicate this incredible experience without sounding arrogant and/or elitist? I'm not sure. Hopefully I didn't come across that way....
Brian:
I have followed your "Secret Life of Discipleship" post and the comments that followed with interest.
Today I came across this recent article by Leroy Garrett. Thought you might find it interesting.
CB
http://www.leroygarrett.org/soldieron/number143.htm
Essay 143 (9-29-06)
FUTURE OF CHURCHES OF CHRIST
(Al Maxey, who writes provocative and resourceful essays on the Internet, plans to do a series on the future of Churches of Christ. He asked me, along with other of his readers, to submit our observations on this subject. Once I did so, I decided you might be interested in what I had to say.)
Here are a few observations on how I see the future of our people in Churches of Christ, along with some of my concerns. This should be seen in the backdrop of a changing world, and that all denominations are in a state of transition. So, any problems or possibilities that we have are not unique to us. The jury is still out on what "the church of tomorrow" will be like.
As has been the case in recent years, I believe the Churches of Christ will continue to outgrow and reject their sectarian past, though there will continue to be a substantial minority of congregations that will react against this change, and they will preserve our sectarian posture of past generations. We will have a substantial right wing, but a less substantial radical right wing. Sects and factions, if they do not progress, tend to have their day and pass on. I do not, however, see any further divisions or open splits, except that our far right wing will have little or no contact with the rest. But we will have "conservatives" and "liberals" -- as all denominations have -- and hopefully with some semblance of unity.
We will continue to become more grace-centered, more ecumenical (fellowship with other churches), more concerned for social issues and world problems, and a more compassionate, loving and caring people. Yes, "a cruciformed church," as some have put it, Spirit-filled and Cross-conscious. We will increasingly become the Christlike people that we were called to be, both by Scripture and by our Stone-Campbell heritage.
We have already begun to exemplify once more the thesis of H. Richard Niebuhr -- that new churches over time generally move from sect to denomination. While we will for sometime yet avoid the word denomination, we will de facto accept that we are a denomination, and will therefore be more inclined to create agencies in order to function more effectively. We will then have more cooperation among our congregations and a more pragmatic and realistic polity.
But as our heritage would have us, we must be "a denomination in protest" – looking to the time when all sects and denominations can say with our pioneers, "Let this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the body of Christ at large."
We will view evangelism more in terms of reaching the "unchurched" rather than converting members of other churches. We will at last be – hopefully -- what our heritage has called us to be – Christians only, but not the only Christians.
While instrumental music is already a dead issue in terms of being a test of fellowship, we will for the foreseeable future continue to be acappella. And yet the instances of congregations using instruments for "special" occasions – such as a Saturday service – will increase. The more progressive churches will have wedding chapels with instruments.
I suspect we will always preserve some acappella tradition, for it is such a grand tradition and it works well for us. There are a few congregations that have become completely instrumental, at least for one Sunday service, and are still Churches of Christ. Their number will likely grow, but very gradually.
But I have concerns for the future. Some of the changes, or lack of change, already evident, trouble me:
(1) In the past we virtually ignored our roots in Stone/Campbell. We were "the true restored church," so we ignored the intervening centuries. In recent decades we have made monumental progress in overcoming our ahistorical mindset. But in our "progress" there are signs of rootlessness, such as some congregations opting to drop the name "Church of Christ" in their resolve to escape our sectarian past. In doing this they also divorce themselves from those Restoration principles that called us into being. We should seek to be what we believe a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled Church of Christ should be. We may deny who we are but we can’t change who we are. We can be what our heritage has called us to be – part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church – and we can meaningfully do that as Churches of Christ.
(2) I'm concerned that we might not be the biblically responsible and resourceful people that both Scripture and our heritage call us to be-- a biblically-centered people. We should allow no people to be more biblical than ourselves. We must resist the temptation to give people what they think they want rather than giving them what we know they need. We must rely on the power of the gospel rather than fads and gimmicks, and be wary of "principles of church growth." We are to be the body of Christ, not an entertainment center. We are called to be faithful, not "successful." If it comes to that, we should not fear being the "little flock" to which our Lord referred.
(3) I see no danger in our becoming fundamentalists, which would be tragic, but we might be tempted to become "evangelicals" -- or join the evangelicals, if they would have us, as some would have us do. Our heritage again -- we should be simply Christians, "Christians only" and nothing else. That is our historic call for unity. We can all be just Christians. The evangelicals generally do not believe the unique Restoration principles basic to our heritage.
(4) I'm concerned that the two ordinances -- baptism and Lord's supper -- that go far in identifying our unique heritage will slip in significance. Our more progressive congregations seldom refer to baptism anymore, and Communion is hurried through rather than being central. We must develop a more responsible theology of both of these ordinances.
(5) While I am persuaded that we will in time become less male-dominated in our assemblies, I am concerned that we are so slow -- perhaps more than any other church -- in giving women their equal place in ministry. This is usually the case even in our more progressive congregations where 60% of the members still have no leadership role in the assembly, not even of the humblest sort, such as serving Communion or leading a prayer.
(6) While I rejoice in our numerous efforts toward internal unity in our Restoration tradition, I am concerned that the Disciples of Christ, the parent group of our Movement, are sometimes excluded. When they are included – such as in the Stone-Campbell Dialogue and the publication of the monumental Stone-Campbell Encyclopedia – their contributions are significant. If they are "the liberals" among us, that is all the more reason to reach out and include, for we are more like Christ when we include those to our left. It is easy to embrace those to our right. Tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners, the marginalized, and the liberals are to our left. Those like us – some more so – are to our right. We of course are in the center!
But overall I am an optimist about our future. Churches of Christ are poised for a great destiny, just as they have a great heritage. This will come mostly through leadership in the congregations themselves, which is the way it should be. This is our great challenge, for each congregation, in its own unique way, to be "the body of Christ in that place."
Why is it that you all feel the need to be part of a "secret" group? Aren't you by that very nature making yourself elite? If it is so great, why not offer it to everyone? It seems like it is just one more way to divide our churches.
Brian,
When I initally received the email, I set it aside to read later. I have folloewd these comments closely and have since sat down to read this. I have never questioned the motives behind your teachings, and I don't question this one, but it does cause me alot of concern.
I have been a member of the Church of Christ for 10 years, and recently have quit attending for many reasons, but the one thing that influenced me the most is the division in the church. What I don't understand is how these divisions began or why.
I must say that I am scared to raide my children in the environment where this "Inner Circle" exists. I want to be able to bring them to church each week and have them experience the love and spirit I did as a teenager. But instead we are hardly even spoken to, even by those whom I have know for years.
Fellowship, and discipleship aside Christ instructed us to love EACH OTHER which I take to mean ALL. Not just a select few. I pray that this amazing conversation you have started is able to unite church families instead of divide them further.
Actually Brian, I was referring to Mr. Griffin's comments not to yours. He in fact did talk about meeting in secret in an elite group, although he said it wasn't elite. They have made themselves elite by hiding. Sorry that you thought that I was referring to you Brian as I was not. Thank you!
Nikki,
Please forgive me for sounding secretive or elite.
It's really ironic - one of the heaviest burdens on my heart used to be how to more effectively extend the invitation to others. The invitation to please join me in relationship outside the 4 walls of the building on Sunday morning. It pains me to think that somebody who wants more than a Sunday morning relationship might be excluded...
I've come to believe that the only "burden" God wants me to carry (at least right now) is to extend the invitation to those I come into contact with - and leave the rest up to Him. So that's what I do - in emails, face to face, on blog sites, Christian websites, via phone calls, in the church parking lot, at the church coffee bar, in between church service and Sunday morning Bible class, in Sunday morning bible classes, even in the church bulletin for a while....
At times, myself and the people I'm in relationship with sit and talk for hours and hours about how to get more people to come and bless us with their gifts, talents and life experiences. We pray, fast, and beg God to send more people who need the kinds of Christian relationships we've discovered with each other.
My elders know about the relationships and meetings we have outside the 4 walls - the invitation has been extended to all of them to PLEASE join us - repeatedly. Our preacher has started joining us...
I won't apologize for meeting outside the walls of my church building with other Christians. Or for being deeply involved in their lives. But I will ask you to please forgive me for not having the right words to effectively communicate what it is we're experiencing with each other.
Your brother,
Chuck
And Nikki - by the way - I probably should have put quotations around "secret inner group" in the opening sentence of my first post. I debated it - and decided against it.
My first post was a response to the feedback by the "30ish brother, life-long member of the Church of Christ" Which Brian posted. In this brothers post he referred to a "secret inner group".
Sorry for the confusion.
Chuck
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