My Part of the Conversation

I guess I knew this before, but it’s even more clear now.

I don’t write this blog for you.

Sometimes I would trick myself into thinking that I needed to say something to add to the conversation or set the record straight.  Truth is, I just need a place to help work out my own thoughts on things.

In looking over my last “Why I Stay” entries, I found some interesting observations:

1.  There aren’t that many reasons.  If I stretch, I could come up with a couple more.  I could even break down a couple  I already listed into multiple reasons.  Truth is, there aren’t that many.  I don’t stay because of a ginormous number of reasons.

2.  The pull is personal, not theological.  Joel Maners made a great point in his comment.  Sometimes we say we study and come to conclusions.  Truth is, our own emotions play into it more than we give them credit.  This was especially clear to me in that my theological reasons for staying are not particular to churches of Christ.  I have theological reasons for staying, but there is a greater pull to stay because of my own personal feelings.

3.  I stay because I’m committed to stay.  I don’t mean this in a “grin and bear it” kind of way, but similar to the commitment I made to my wife.  Marriage isn’t always easy, and I get frustrated with her for getting upset with me when I’m difficult.  There are areas and issues to which we cannot agree and would not seem to be compatible.  But, my love for her and commitment to her overshadows those areas we sometimes have to work through.  With church, there are areas I’m not happy with, but am happy to work through because I am comitted to a lot of great people.  The good overshadows the difficult.
4.  This one might sound incongruent after the others, but people are often full of incongruencies.  While writing, I was reminded that I am not set in staying here, and if God calls me to a different ministry with a different name, I’ll go there whole-heartedly.  I don’t feel strongly that everyone should stay, or even that I should stay no matter what happens.

Why do you stay where you’re at?

I stay because I have friends here.

A church is group of believers, a body, a team, a family. Just like groups you have been a part of, we don’t always get along. But, we have a commitment to each other.

Sure, I could go somewhere else and still have a commitment to my friends, still view them as part of the body, and part of my family. But there’s just something special about sharing that same heritage, the same traditions, the same triumphs, and the same frustrations.

My friend Matt and I met when we pledged the same fraternity at Harding. We shared experiences with our club, lived in rooms next to each other, and later were roommates for 2 years doing mission work in Italy. We shared a lot of the same experiences up till a few years ago. He now lives in Little Rock and I’m in Baton Rouge. We still talk and get together for short visits when we can, but our lives are quite different. We’re both married, but I have a child, he doesn’t. I’m in full time ministry, he works in advertising. We have different friends, different jobs, different churches, and different lives. The history we have in common bonds us forever, but it’s not the same as sharing a common present.

I stay because I have people I love and care about in churches of Christ who are sharing a common experience with me. We differ many times in what that experience should later be molded to, but we’re on the journey together. The commitment to people close to me trumps my desire to align myself with groups that share my preferences.

Okay, I’ve just got to get this off my chest.

I’ve desperately wanted to finish my “Why I Stay” series, but this is just slamming into my head every time.  And believe me, I don’t want to join this discussion.

However, I need to say it:

“Chill Out”

I’m talking to you, DaVinci Code protestors.  Why are you protesting a book you haven’t even read?  Why are you making such a big deal over a work of fiction?  Why are you suddenly so worried over these “allegations” that Jesus was married, that his disciples changed the message, and that Jesus has a bloodline?

Because frankly, this isn’t “BRAND NEW INFORMATION!!!”

I remember watching a documentary on “The Historical Jesus” about 10 years ago.  I was in high school, and I remember being pretty amazed and shocked by the comments these “scholars” were making about Jesus.  Up until then, the only people I had heard talk about Jesus were preachers and Christians.  This was new for me to hear what people said about him who didn’t deny his existence, only his deity.

Truthfully, they make a pretty good case that he could have been married.  And frankly, that shouldn’t threaten you.  Unless you happen to be Catholic, then you have problems.  But it is not sinful to get married, or have children.  Why would it bother us to have a Savior who did the same thing?  I don’t really think he was married, but there are interesting arguments.

As far as the other stuff, why are we surprised?  Why would we expect the world to teach that Jesus is Lord, the Son of God, and our Savior?  Why do we get upset when the world does exactly what it’s expected to?

I’ve been hammered over the last few weeks by emails, ads, brochures, billboards, books, movies, tv shows- you name it- trying to let me know “the real truth” and how I can tell my neighbors “the real truth”.

Reality check: this anti- Davinci Code blitz is not going to help anyone.  It’s not going to save anyone.  Its going to send more people to the theaters.
The world thinks we’re unintelligent reactionaries.  We freak out over the slightest of things.  We act like this movie is a threat to the Cross.  People, the Cross has stood up to much bigger threats than blockbuster movies.  It’ll stand up to this.

And let’s give the average movie watcher a break, and credit him with a little bit of brain to know the difference between fact and fiction.

This one is similar to the last one:

I stay because all members can be considered members. There’s no special degree, seminary, coronation, document, ceremony, or ordination that makes you a minister- simply God’s Calling and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (given to all believers). I realize that experience and education play a role in getting hired at different congregations, and in some cases can seem like a hierarchy, but the actual authority to preach, conduct wedding, perform baptisms, and other various “rites” that we have, falls to all baptized believers. (Gender can be a limiting factor in certain settings for certain roles).

I never knew this is a big thing for me until a few years ago. I was studying with some Mormon missionaries, and it was our first meeting. Mormons have extremely different beliefs and faith in extra-biblical sources, but what the missionaries presented to us that first meeting was very similar to what we believe. They talked about faith, repentence, baptism by immersion as choice for forgiveness of sins, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the necessity to live a righteous life. They quoted lots of Bible verses, and we were in total agreement.

So, near the end of our discussion, I said, “It looks like we believe a lot of the same things. I’ve done all that you mentioned. I believe, repented, was baptized as you described, and live a righteous life. I study my Bible regularly and am currently a missionary myself. So, would you consider me saved?
Silence.

Then, one of them replied, “God wants you to have the opportunity to be baptized by an ordained priest.”

What?

They believe that Joseph Smith reinstated the priesthood, and that you can’t receive the Holy Spirit unless you are baptized by someone who has it, and you can’t be saved without it.

But I’m not here to talk about Mormons. The point is, I’m glad that my salvation rests between God and I, and not the presence of “special” men. The right- and consequently, the responsibility, falls on all members.

I stay because our congregations are autonomous.

I specifically don’t use the term “non-denominational” because that is misleading.  Denominate means “to name” or “to call”.  Denomination is “the act of calling”.  If we weren’t named a certain way, I wouldn’t even be able to write this series, so we must be a denomination of some type.  Over time, the term “denominational” as come to be applicable to church groups who are all under the authority of one particular group of leaders.  In that sense we are “non-denominational”.  But we still share a name.  We’re a grouping or tribe.  But we still share a name.

I think this is true to God’s intention for the church as we see it in Scripture.  Each congregation takes care of its needs and the needs of the community around it.  Not only does Scripture model this form of leadership, it also makes the most sense.  People in Houston shouldn’t make decisions for churches in Portland.  There are just different things to address.  We would be bothered if people in Nigeria were making decisions for our churches in Baton Rouge.  Likewise, churches in America shouldn’t make decisions for churches in Europe (we still have some learning to do in that area, though).

I realize that’s not always possible, and has some obvious problems.  However, I think it leads to a healthier church body overall, and is something I’m proud to be part of.  We have leaders and influential people (just like in NT times) that offer guidance and wisdom.  On top of that, Jesus sent his Holy Spirit for such guidance.  It’s nice to know that when the group seems to get off base, that we don’t have to change the whole structure- we can start right where we are.

Here’s a quote from Troy today: “The rats come out when the mice have all gone home”.

My quote to Troy’s quote: “What?”