1. Free As Sons
   
2. Does "Go Ye" Mean "Go Me?"
   
3. Are We Really Born Again?
   
4. The Sacrifices of Cain and Abel
   
5. Silence Says Something
   
6. Body Language
   
7. Repentance Before Faith
   
8. I Wonder
   
9. Can I Know?
   
10. Ultimate Logical Conclusions
    
11. Errors in Peter's Sermon
    
12. Did Timothy Need Admonition?
    
13. Jesus' Youth Sermon For Adults
    
14. Why Didn't Paul Reform?
    
15. Christmas
    
16. Let The Unmarried Marry
    
17. A Dialect of Division
    
18. Our Traditions
    
19. Adding Our Safeguards
    
20. According To The Pattern
    
21. A Creed In The Deed
    
22. Samuel Did Not Know The Lord!
    
23. Response From Our Readers
    
24. Cries Of A Troubled Church
    
25. Sharing Without Fellowship
    
26. I Joined A Church
    
27. Open Membership
    
28. Another Last Will And Testament
    
29. Sad Thoughts About Church Growth
    
30. My Four Retirement Homes
    
31. Hook's Points: A Potpourri
    

CRIES FROM A TROUBLED CHURCH

Every organization, institution, or endeavor is subjected to criticism from some of the very persons involved in them. We cannot afford to draw conclusions hastily based upon the judgment of objectors. Good food can draw flies just as spoiled food can.

To insulate ourselves against criticism is foolish and arrogant. Sometimes the critics are right! The cries of the concerned may save us from the fate of Challenger and the Titanic.

Too many cries of concern, distress, and desperation are being heard in the Church of Christ to allow us to blithely ignore them. Courageous men among us have cried out for redirection, placing eternal welfare, reputation, and job security on the line. I joined in also, using the pulpit as my forum, but little call for change is allowed from the pulpit by people who already have all the right answers. The pulpit should be a symbol of truth rather than party loyalty. It usually allows only a defense of what is already accepted as truth-those distinctions which made the party. Any proclamation of corrective doctrinal teaching is suppressed to the point that it becomes intolerable to one who has a burning message on his heart.

After leaving the professional pulpit, I put my concerns about our legalistic, oppressive, exclusivistic system on paper, giving positive, liberating solutions. Other concerned people joined to enable me to publish Free In Christ for free distribution. Immediately, I began to receive excited calls and letters from across our nation from hundreds of others who have been crying out in frustration and desperation.

Read this agonizing cry from a talented preacher of prime age and ability in Tennessee. He verbalizes the hurt of so many who have dedicated their lives to an ideal, only to meet the angel of frustrated conscience in the night of disillusionment, and to wrestle until they are victorious though crippled:

"It is unreasonable to expect to change a system you perpetuate. Even though I give lip­service to reform, I accept a paycheck generated by those who have no real intention of doing so. I became a preacher so that I could proclaim the truth-and yet I dare not. Staff, pavement, roofing, and professional proselytizers all clamor for a piece of the pie that should be given to the hungry. What would Barton or Alexander do? I think I know.

"I cannot continue to promote a system of theology that leaves most bankrupt spiritually. If someone prospers, it is in spite of what they are taught, and may God bless them.

"With 30+ potential years left in my sojourn, I MUST find a way out of the professional, locally owned and operated ministry. With God's help I will NEVER cease to proclaim the good news, but I must confess that I don't know where or how. Please pray for me in this matter."

With hurt and tears, a loving, middle­aged Texas brother who could no longer remain in the pulpit at the expense of his liberty to speak writes:

"Cecil, you have challenged my thinking, strengthened my faith, and given me courage. And, all of this when my thinking was troubled, my faith was weak, and I was fearful about expressing my doubts and questions. I once again want very much to share the message of faith and hope with others who, like me, find the constriction of their doubts and fears in our present fellowship unbearable. The freedom, hope, and joy in Christ and our faith in Christ must be allowed to flow to all who are bound into a narrow legalistic trap. We must provide Jesus and not law, so that His bride may truly be one full of the beauty of love for her betrothed."

A man in New Mexico, known for his writings and many years in the pulpit, being frustrated and defeated in his efforts to replace legalism with grace, love, and unity, expresses what other preachers, both young and old, are feeling and saying. They, too, are leaving the pulpit for more private ministries. You can relate to this:

"One of the saddest things is that our people are so blind and they do not recognize their blindness; they are slaves to those who intimidate and threaten to withdraw from any who study the Bible for themselves. Again, they do not recognize their slavery to a system rather than to Christ. This is not to say our people do not respect and honor Christ; they do. I believe that many of us are in the same position as were the Pharisees.

"In a church or religious group that forces every member, by the threat of excommunication or withdrawal, to conform to established norms and official interpretations, legalists and conformists may find a comfortable haven; but for the Christian with a creative spirit who wishes to study the Scriptures afresh, drawing a conclusion with the help of the Spirit of God and discussions with other Christians of like determination, such an environment is only a little short of hell."

These three men have spoken what many others are saying and feeling with varying degrees of intensity. In recent months, other preachers have expressed their lack of hope in being able to find a congregation where they can proclaim God's liberating grace. University students, training for the ministry, are asking despairingly, "When I graduate, where will I find a congregation with which to work that will permit me to teach the truths that I have learned?"

These cries are not the shallow criticisms of malcontents. They are not the barkings of jittery poodles responding to each other's bark. These are men of dedication who have paid for educational training for a work which will sacrifice salary annually. They have studied and drunk deeply of spiritual wells. Now, they cannot dispense the good news of grace which they have learned except in the old wineskin of legalism. Theirs are not the complainings of the disgruntled, but the cries of a sick and troubled church.

With dismay, a venerable disciple of age and spiritual ripeness, wrote of what happened in his home congregation, a large church with a gifted preacher: "Our elders have just fired our preacher because of his attacks on legalism and his burning messages of grace through faith." Does that not sound all too familiar?

Many members of the Church of Christ can, in varying degrees, relate to the experiences of this deacon in a sizable church in Tennessee. He began to lead his high school class from legal justification to grace, but "The elders at church, after having talked with me on several occasions, decided to ask me to ( I ) not teach a class at church, (2) not teach what I discussed with them to any member of our congregation, (3) resign as a deacon, (4) not serve in any capacity in our congregation, and (5) submit to Bible studies with one of them along with the preacher. My family has been torn up and quite upset at the severity of the punishment..."

Another man of the same city lays this indictment: "We have developed an authoritarian institution called 'the eldership' which rules the average church with a rod of iron. Most of them cannot teach, but how they handle the money and decide who can and who cannot participate in the church life! I am of the strong opinion that, until this institution is destroyed and a new kind of elder who leads by example and limits himself to teaching and shepherding, the Restoration Movement is doomed."

Does this Texas woman just have a bad spirit? "I have been suppressed, depressed, and oppressed for over twenty years, but when God began to teach, I too was set free. You are so right; it is painful to know you have hurt others by attacking their faith. God forgive me. For lo, these many years I could not ask others to come to hear what I was hearing."

From Oklahoma: "I have read your book and all I can say is 'outstanding!' Every time I read a page, I kept thinking that my wife and I had experienced most of the nonsense you described in the book and we did not like it while we were part of it. Our life has definitely changed since we moved to (name of church) and began genuine open Bible study. I never say never, but we do not ever plan to go back to the legalistic religion we once were a part of."

A young lady in Illinois puts it bluntly, "I came from a very, very, almost cult­like Church of Christ. I was so burdened with all the 'rules.' It was too much and I disliked God very much, yet was so afraid of Him."

House churches have been the refuge of many, as this man in Ohio tells us about: "I am part of a group which decided that the traditional church was not meeting our needs or being open to change of any kind, let alone acknowledging truth. We started meeting in our homes several years ago and wonderful things started happening. I am impressed especially with the approach to Biblical command which I saw in your book."

There's a glimmer of hope for this Texas man: "I am a 41 year old adult who was born and raised in 'The Church' and have been frustrated by our legalistic attitudes, and more alarming to me is the frustration I see in my children which I fear may be apathy, which is even worse. For years I have stayed in the Church of Christ hoping to work toward the restoration and freedom you speak of. It is truly a long and slow process, but I'm encouraged that renewal is under way."

Yes, many are serving Christ now instead of a set of doctrines, and this Texas mother tells of its effects: "I can't begin to tell you what a profound effect your book, Free In Christ, has had on my life and on the lives of some of those around me. For the first time in my twenty-nine years as a baptized believer, I am beginning to feel the power available to me as a child of God. No longer do I care one whit for whether or not I have dotted all the i's or crossed all the t's. What I care about is whether I have Jesus Christ in my heart and whether or not I commit my life to him daily. This new attitude must be showing somewhat, because all of a sudden, people in grocery stores, bakeries, etc., are talking to me about Jesus. I no longer feel sorry for them because they don't have the 'complete truth.' I just feel blessed that Christ is being glorified."

These heart­rending testimonials go on and on. They are from preachers, elders, long­time members, new members, young, and old. Many feel trapped in a system they cannot change. Some try to change it and suffer extreme rejection. All too many have died spiritually and are with us no more. The freedom of house churches has given a breath of life to others. To our great shame, many devout, sweet­spirited disciples have had to abandon their heritage in the Church of Christ and unite with some other group to save both their sanity and souls. These are all victims of an oppressive system which we have developed in the name of the Lord of love and freedom. Our ugly, sectarian, judgmental spirit is choking our life out as we hover the edge of the black hole of decline and extinction.

I know from the calls and letters that I get and from what I am reading that change is working among us. That is cause for optimism. I wish that there would be such widespread openness for change that all could work for redirection and be able to stay with our beloved heritage. Continued rigid resistance to reform will continue to dissolve our members into other less judgmental bodies where Christ and brotherhood are emphasized more than dividing issues.

These cries of anguished people are the cries of a hurting church. To shut our ears against the agonizing cries of a troubled church is foolish, arrogant, and self­destructive.