As we’ve thought about the charges leveled against Churches of Christ by a minister on the Nancy Grace show, we’ve had to face the truth: there is much in our heritage that is honorable (and that makes us want to scream “that’s not fair!”) and much that isn’t. (For example, is it any wonder that some consider us exclusivistic?)
We’re learning how to love a flawed heritage.
We don’t want to love our heritage like a two year old loves his parents: “Mommy and Daddy are perfect.” Nor do we want to respond like some adolescents: “My parents are mindless aliens.” But we want to respond as mature adults, recognizing both the strengths and the flaws of those who came before us.
I like these words from N. T. Wright:
“Paying attention to tradition means listening carefully (humbly but not uncritically) to how the church has read and lived scripture in the past. We must be constantly aware of our responsibility in the Communion of Saints, without giving our honored predecessors the final say or making them an ‘alternative source,’ independent of scripture itself. When they speak with one voice, we should listen very carefully. They may be wrong. They sometimes are. But we ignore them at our peril. . . .
“It is important for Christians today to be aware of the tradition(s) within which they themselves stand. Each tradition has much about it for which its adherents can be thankful. None is complete in itself — including those . . . that pride themselves on being ‘biblical.’ A way of assessing how valuable, and how incomplete, any tradition may be is to discern the extent to which each tradition can find itself at home in both public reading and private study of the scriptures, without resort to selective readings and exegetical trickery. That is precisely where the proper task of historical exegesis (as opposed to the improper one of trying to undermine Christian faith altogether) needs to make itself felt again and again. The challenge of living with tradition is not so much, as in official Roman Catholic understandings, that one should let tradition and scripture flow together straightforwardly into a single stream, but that trradition should be allowed to be itself; that is, the living voice of the very human church as it struggles with scripture, sometimes misunderstanding it and sometimes gloriously getting it right. That is why the challenge comes fresh to each generation. Traditions tell us where we have come from. Scriture itself is a better guide as to where we should now be going.”
(Taken from The Last Word, pp. 117ff.)
I love this quote. It helps me keep it all in perspective. The reality is like in any family we ARE aware of our flaws. We just have to be sure we are giving our family a good name in the ways we can control.
Good Morning:
I wonder, considering the following portion of N.T. Wrights quote from above:
“Paying attention to tradition means listening carefully (humbly but not uncritically) to how the church has read and lived scripture in the past.”
how much time is given to a consideration of the writings of the 2nd and 3rd century church fathers?
It is a very good exercise to consider the steps one takes today with the way our early brethren lived and thought.
Their commentary, with their lives lived so closely to that of our Lord’s and His apostles, needs to be taken very seriously.
What they have to say, for i.e., about entertainment, baptism, war, etc… may just blow you away.
We are so prone to just accept things the way they are today religiously, without doing any research.
It is easy to speak of a flawed heritage, but how much research have we done to ensure we are not a part of making it more flawed? What serious steps are we taking to be sure that our beliefs are truly in harmony with those of Christ’s and the early church?
This is not an attack, and please do not construe it as such, this is just something to think about …
In the love of Christ,
John
I appreciate N.T. Wright more and more. Did I miss which book he wrote that in?
I live in a region of the world where ANYONE who goes to worship regularly and takes the Bible seriously, who gives generously to the church and who looks to Jesus for forgiveness and moral guidance is obviously a member of a cult.
Discernment to know when we smell bad just because we smell bad, or when we are an odor of death because of who Christ is essential in times like this. Question yourself? Go for it. An identity crisis? Hardly worth it.
On a much less important topic but one that’s more urgent….Happy Opening Day Everybody! Go Braves!
You simply can’t go wrong with N.T. Wright.
I would echo John’s comment that our view of tradition must be broader than the past 200 years. Of course, it was the church fathers that ruined me for protestantism, so maybe I’m a bit biased.
Thank you for sahring this quote. We have a rich heritage that is filled with poisitve and some negatives as well. I am thankful that we are learning to be honest with our flaws and admit that we do n ot have everything right. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
John - Good words. I was speaking primarily about our “immediate family,” but yes, we could certainly be instructed by considering the larger communion of saints.
Brady - It’s from The Last Word.
Ed - Millwood is opening for the Rangers today. For $60,000,000 (five years), I hope he’s good! Last year’s Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter opens for the Cards.
Hey,
Thanks a lot for that post. I think that is a balanced way to view things. I recognize as well as anyone some of the problems that we’ve had, but I think it’s unfair to paint everything about us in a negative light (as a teenager might do about his/her parents). Rather than spend all our time lamenting our past errors, let’s maintain the positives, and rely on God to help us grow past the negatives.
From the top of yesterday’s Abilene Reporter-News:
“DON’T FORGET: Did you remember to set your clocks back?”
No wonder we can’t get people to church on time!
I think it was Jaroslav Pelikan who said “Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”
Regarding heritage/hermeneutics/1906 division, etc–Paul and Barney can be framed as multiplying the number of mission teams instead of dividing (Can 1906 split be framed accordingly?); My dad used a slide rule approach to seek answers–my daughter seeks same answers not knowing what a slide rule is; The Rangers have a flawed heritage but I luv em anyway; I hope their differing styles of pitchers (Millwood/Dickey) can bring success; I still wish innovation of DH never happened; I wish playing baseball was as easy as commenting about it. My flawed love for my flawed heritage results in me acting like a royal pain instead of the king’s child. Still appreciate Mike Young–go from All-Star 2nd base to SS for sake of team unity (Shortstop has to move to his left AND right and of course keep opposition from left field.) Praise God for Pujols!
Wondering if the cofC would look different if we traded in our heritage passion for a Jesus passion? Probably being too simplistic.
I second Ed’s thought for today. Going for 15 straight!!!
I appreciate today’s post. Wouldn’t it be great, though, if ultimately we could get away from ‘church’ and ‘tradition’ and ‘heritage’ and simply (echoing KentF here) be people crazy about God and madly in love with other people, just as Jesus of Nazareth was? I wonder if that is even desirable for many. But perhaps understanding that we are a ‘tradition’ is a huge step in a right direction–a step which many haven’t taken yet. And those who haven’t are not bad or evil, just carrying a huge burden.
Mike-
There is a lot of good in our heritage, and a lot that is not so good, but it has always been so. John (in the comment above) noted that the early church fathers give us valuable insights to living. I believe this is true. I am also aware that the early church had its own set of difficulties, and that each congregation was unique. If the early church, being so close to the life of Christ and the apostles, really had a grip on getting it right, we would not have the epistles recorded for our instruction; they would not have been needed.
We are left to interpret our own church life through those epistles, the Gospels, the OT, and those disciples who have come before us. The light we use to read those texts should be the Spirit. Our mistakes, I think, arise out of an attitude similar to the attitudes of the Pharisees. If it’s in print, then all the bases are covered. We should all be able to understand it (exactly, by the way, as I understand it). Not possible.
Jesus preached at the Pharisees because they nit-picked the Law without allowing it to bring them to God. They got the form right, but missed the point. God wanted them to tithe mint and anise and cummin because of who God is, and because of WHOSE they were. If we really understand those two issues, then maybe the weightier matters of the Law will fall into place easier. Jesus desires the fulfillment of the prophecy where his name will be on our hearts, indicating ownership.
Where does the Spirit lead us when we consider who God is and WHOSE we are?
What heritage are we leaving to our children and grandchildren?
Are we guilty of trying to follow the letter of the Law because that is so much easier to do than giving the Lord our hearts? To put it bluntly: Do we drive the speed limit because we don’t want to get a ticket, or because God owns our hearts and wants us to respect governmental authority? Our children watch our driving, and they will know.
As we add our own chapter of heritage to the history of the church, may we seek to be led by the Spirit in love, remembering who God is and remembering whose we are.
And when we blow it from time to time….isn’t the Grace of God a marvelous thing?
I had the opportunity to teach this past Sunday morning on Acts 4:30 and following. Luke describes the church as being one on heart, one in mind, and that much grace was upon them. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be one in heart — for these baby Christians to have such an emotional to the Savior who just died for them, and to share that with each other. To be one in mind — to be living for Christ while majoring in the majors — serving one another in love. And for God’s grace to be among them — I believe a supernatural grace above and beyond the “normal” experience. Grace was both the enabler for oneness in heart and mind (it was grace that saved them) and a gift (charis) that God blessed the church with.
It has been posted many times recently of the balance that exists between doctrine (geeting our practices in line with God’s Word) and love (getting our hearts in the right place with respect to our fellow man, including brothers in Christ). We need to be praying for God to lead us to one in heart/one in mind mentality, and that he would cover us all with His supernatural grace (thus enabling us to walk humble with each other.)
(Just the shallow teaching of a substitute Sunday sermonizer)
I always found it interesting that we often speak about the “invisible,” “perfect,” “universal,” “eternal” church. I guess we do this because we feel guilty for how broken we are and want to believe that somewhere beyond the blue there is this perfect church untainted by humanity. The fact is, the church is what it is. It has always been the link between the divine and the human. It has always been messy. At our best we are fragile, vulnurable, and an incomplete expression of God’s intent for the world. At our worst we lie shattered and in ruins. That is why this text is so stunning: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
Nothing profound from the right coast, though it does seem to me that flawed humanity will always beget a flawed heritage. It doesn’t matter whose heritage is under discussion.
Conversely, regardless of heritage, flawed humans sometimes say and do astounding things—things that warm our hearts and stir out souls.
IMO, our greatest challenges are very basic: To act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with God—and give others the space they need to do the same. We can then spend our spare time learning what Jesus meant when He said: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
Echoes of flaws from Ephesians..Corinthians…Galatians..as long as man has anything to do with it, there will be flaws. What gets disheartening is when one group doesn’t want to admit the flaws and the other only sees only flaws. Great reading.
Quoting a friend:
“I am very thankful to have a religion [heritage]to get over. It beats the alternative.”
Go Red Sox!!
‘Traditions tell us where we have come from. Scripture itself is a better guide as to where we should now be going.’
Why can Bishop Wright say something so succinctly in two sentences that I have to think through in my mind and four paragraphs to process?!?
Church traditions and family traditions are tied closely together, which in some ways reminds me of the relational affect of each of our traditions. When a couple enters into a marriage, each one brings traditions into the new union, to be interwoven and passed down to the new generation they will create and impact. Along with weaving in traditions that are special and filled with nostalgic memories are those that are irritating and upsetting to harmonic texture. Both partners move their baggage into the new house, and some of the baggage is excess and cumbersome to the relationship (I will always be a pack rat!). Which of this excess baggage needs to be eradicated before it is carried across the threshold? Which takes time before its individual significance proves ineffective once over the threshold?
I grew up moving around a lot and experienced many forms of churches, some from the fellowship of the COC and some from other fellowships. Every body of believers is different is some way, and certain traditions are held and ascribed to as more precious, or dare I say more ‘scriptural’, than others. Groups that hold on tightly to those traditions that make their personality as a church exclusive and difficult for newcomers to blend in with are found in every church fellowship, whether denominational or non-denominational. They can be resistant to the change a new partner can bring into the marriage of the body of Christ. Or they can react in a way that will add new beauty through the gifts from Christ the new partner has to offer. Assimilating new talents and gifts can be viewed as threatening to those family members who have been so passionately involved that they are blinded by what others can bring to the table. Or these new talents and gifts can be welcomingly embraced.
Our traditions can be wonderful starting points for getting to know one another, and we can certainly learn and grow by sharing what each of us can carry across the threshold. I have learned, as I work and serve in other fellowships that some of the traditions and beliefs I acquired from the COC are strengths and absolutely lovely to share with others. Other believers and cultures continue to teach me which of these traditions and beliefs are best kept out of sight until God has either okayed the items as relevant and needed, or decided that the journey together is better continued without some of the surplus.
The scriptures can, as Bishop Wright teaches, be that guide to lead us onward, and to encourage us when we mourn our traditions as we discover they hold no value or spiritual relevance to those God is leading us into relationship with.
Millwood is good, but not that good! I’m anxious to see how my Braves staff does without Leo Mazone and how well Baltimore is improved with him. We start on the West Coast so I actually won’t get to see a full game until next week. BTW…watch the D’rays…they could sneak into the wildcard this year!
In what sense is scripture itself simply or also a record of the traditions dveloped by those past pilgrims and disciples who responded to God and to their experience and understanding of God by recording the truth as they understood and received it?
Surely, Paul’s rabbinic background played a role in the manner in which he spun out directions and opinions about women, slaves and congregations. We see the same reality in the Hebrew Bible do we not?
Traditions are the stuff we work with. The question is what is the nature, the fundamental quality of our traditions?
Do they exclude or include?
Are they of grace or of regulation?
What affect do our traditions have on individuals? On groups?
Do they unite or do they divide people?
Do they incite us to argument and judgment or to love and good works?
Do they cause us to feel superior or do they bring with them humility, service and justice?
Do they lead us to major on the main things? Or, do they distract us, conveniently at times, from the weightier matters?
Our experience during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s provide us a sort of litmus test.
Where were we?
In the streets battling for justice?
Or in our church houses teaching about the sin of using instrumental music in worship?
Traditions are inevitable, inescapable. The basic nature and practical direction of the traditions we embrace and defend will tell us much about the path we are on and much about our hearts, it seems to me.
We do ourselves no favor by ignoring the dark shades of our past and our present. The only way out is to face truth as we craft new responses, new traditions by which to order our lives.
Yes, I think we must learn to love our flawed heritage, because really, does any one have an unflawed heritage? I also thnk you can love something while still recognizing a need to grow, change, and adapt away from it. Great quote here Mike!
This has to be what God sees when we bicker and fight with each other in the church. http://youtube.com/watch?v=4cSRpu7bI04
My spiritual journey has been such a blessed one!
Talk about being raised in a CofC tradition, that was my fortune and in some respects, misfortune. But that tradition taught me to fear the Almighty, to know He is, was and always will be, to know He established His church, and most importantly and gloriously, that through the sacrifice of Jesus, there is salvation and promise of eternal life with Him. I learned what He has done.
The past 14 years have found me in other traditions, same basic beliefs, but different decor, if you wish. This part of my journey has taken me through the doors of less traditional CofCs and also those of the Evangelical tradition. These two fellowships have brought me through the pain of recovering legalist, to “in Jesus there is freedom” /o\ PTL!
These later years have shown who Jesus IS, not only what He has done - I’ve heard the heart cries for unity in the body of Christ, in HIS church, have participated in quite different ‘decors’ including types of music sung, played, in worship and praise. These later congregations had one overriding aim - reach the lost through following Jesus in all we do and say. In none of these congregations have I heard a demand that we be the first, last and only voice of full truth. Central, core Christian beliefs became even more precious as the trappings were stripped away, leaving room to rejoice in those beliefs, to explore them more deeply.
These have been ministering congregtions - loving and serving the needy and those in pain and difficult areas of life, including divorce recovery, single parenting, addiciton recovery, living with the affects and effects of AIDS/HIV, et al. These congregations have been far more concerned with knowing more about Jesus and mirroring His love in service to the neediest and lost in their communities than they have been in furthering a tradition. May I say Hallelujah! and Thank YOU LORD, for congregations such as these. May their numbers multiply!!
Danny, That Crazy Dog video is just plain scary……..
I have often been tempted to leave the old CoC because of our humans traditions but I keep going back to the Word and a belief that we really do respect and try to follow it as the Word of God. We are imperfect at best. Our arguments are shoddy and biased at times. Our heart is sometimes prideful. But deep down there is a love for God that drives many of us to seek truth over tradition, love and mercy over correctness, and mission over status quo.
Many of our returning missionaries have trouble finding a place in traditional churches because we have had to study and discern the difference between Biblical christianity and white, middle class, North American christianity. God is there if we will seek him. He loves his church and so should we. Where else can we go?
I just finished reading The Last Wrod. One of the best books on scripture that I’ve read. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Wright is one of “us”. It’s amazing that you have to travel half way around the world to find someone as knowlegable and eloquent about matters that are so central to what we are about as the Restoration Movement. Every person in our fellowship should read this book.
Thanks for your comments Mike.
I just found Pastor Tom Rhukala’s e-mail address. How about all of us write him a note repenting of our attitudes and asking his forgiveness.
tom.ruhkala@kolumbus.fi
My wife and I left the CoC for the Indie Christian Church about a decade ago because of what we perceived as stifling legalism and the cognitive dissonance that it engendered. But we haven’t wandered far, largely because I find this heritage so rich indeed. In fact, since I began work on an M. A. in Theology at ACU this past January, I have been exposed to a lot of what Abilene seems to be about. It is astounding. I used to think of ACU as being one of the institutions whose mission was to preserve CoC orthodoxy at all costs; and what I have found, in contrast, is a Graduate School of Theology that does not make “challenging orthodoxy” its central focus but that is singularly unafraid to do so when and where it’s needed for the sake of the Kingdom and its integrity. And I’m also finding that some of the very best, most topical and relevant Biblical reasoning and writing being done today is coming out of the CoC tradition - by my reckoning, anyway, for what it’s worth. It is greatly encouraging and heart-warming to see it close-up.
So carry on, folks. I love what I’m learning from you. qb
There is much to learn from anyone’s flawed past. Mine, yours, your marriage’s , your family’s, your individual church’s , your career’s, your nation’s, your state’s, etc.
If we were perfect people with a perfect past, we wouldn’t need Jesus.
So praise God for our flawed past experiences! It’s there at His perfection is magnified.
Alot of these accusations aren’t the church of Christ’s fault. Case in point: “101 Questions to Ask Campbellites” by Pastor A.A. Davis of the First Baptist Church in Nowata, OK. Denominations spread false information about the church of Christ.
I have a sense of great joy in how we are helping to shape our CofC traditions for the people who will follow us. God is doing great things…
History shows us that no generation has NOT been judged harshly by the next and I don’t think it’s reasonable to think, somehow, that our generation will escape that criticism. That’s a very humbling thought, and one that reminds me to focus MORE on my own walk with the Lord and less on criticism of the past and of others.