Editorial
November/December, 1995
Volume 30, Number 6
Today I received the new Church of the Brethren statistical report for 1994. Once again the denomination’s membership has declined. The Church of the Brethren is at risk of becoming extinct. The Church of the Brethren had 2,873 less members at the end of 1994 than it did at the end of 1993. All but six of the 23 districts experienced a loss of members.
Membership in the Church of the Brethren peaked in 1964. There have been 30 years of decline, with about a one percent membership drop (on the average) each year. An average of eight members a day are being lost in the Church of the Brethren, and by the year 2044 the denomination will have no members left at all, If the present rate of decline continues at the same pace. Conservative Church of the Brethren congregations are not good examples of growth either, but for the most part they are examples of stability rather than of decline.
The brotherhood’s membership drop is merely a symptom of problems that have deep roots. Something is wrong and we need to try and find the source of the problem and seek to correct it.
Theological pluralism is one of the major problems. The term “theological pluralism” is used to describe the attitude which says that one may believe anything (or nothing) and still be a member in good standing. Theological pluralism designates the setting in which there is room for any person, any idea, any concept, and any practice. It speaks of broad doctrinal diversity where there are no limits to what one may believe.
In the Church of the Brethren not much is required for church membership. The authority of the entire New Testament is not taken as seriously as it ought to be. The teachings of Jesus make little impact on many of our lives. Most Brethren have very much embraced the values of this world. Membership in the Church of the Brethren is often like joining a club which does “good deeds.” There is a lack of carefully expounding the Word of God in many pulpits, and a failure to clearly stand for Biblical moral principles.
Why should anyone be eager to unite with the Church of the Brethren? We don’t stand firmly for anything. You can believe anything you want to and still be a member of the average Brethren congregation. Each has his (or her) own idea of what constitutes Christian belief and practice. There really is no appeal to join a group whose principal mark of identification is that nearly everyone disagrees with everyone else!
Mark Twain once pointed out that some churches fail to gain members because they make the way too easy, and conversely, the church that is hard to get into is the one that Is likely to prosper numerically. Most missionaries know that a book or Scripture portion that is given away free, will be less valued by the receiver than if a small price had been paid for it. Jesus called people to follow Him, but He never made the way look easy. In fact, He made the way appear extremely hard. He says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Jesus expects the denial of self, the radical giving up of self to Him. “Taking up one’s cross” means putting one’s old self and all that it means to death. That kind of rugged Christianity is embraced by only a relatively few.
Many of our congregations today tolerate a soft form of Christianity that must be fed a diet of harmless fun to keep the people interested. They know very little about theology. They have very few strong moral convictions. They seem not to understand that to accept Christ, it becomes necessary to reject self. They seem to be unaware of the New Testament truth which says that to be a friend of the world-system is to be an enemy of God (James 4:4).
It has long been stated by some leading Brethren thinkers that the small growth of the Church is due to the high standards which have been held through the years. Yet all history proves that such thinking is a false philosophy. Every church that has made its mark for God, has done so when it held high the banner of Bible standards. In spite of this fact, there are still those who insist that for us to grow as a denomination requires that we lower our standards make it easier for people to get in. Jim Myer’s message which follows is a dissertation on religious pluralism without naming that term. Read on.
So, Who Is Welcome At The Table?
By James F. Myer
The Moderator’s address at Charlotte this year was clearly given, but I was a little bit shocked when Judy Mills Reimer compared the Church of the Brethren to a ship that is sailing on a smooth sea. At first I wasn’t sure if she said it the way she wanted to say it, but then she made the comparison a second time, and so I assume the statement was meant to be taken seriously. That does not happen to be my perception of the Church of the Brethren.
My experience at Annual Conference began in the early 60s when I came as a delegate representing my home church. During those years the Church dealt with a number of issues related to Inclusiveness. In the 1960s the issue was, “How can we include people of various races in the church?” Then in the 1970s it was, “How can we include and use women in the life of the church?” In the 1980s the issue pretty much centered around how to include homosexuals in the life of the church. In the 1990s, I’m beginning to believe the Issue is whether or not Jesus Christ himself is to be included in the church. And if you want a prediction of what it will be like in the early 2000s, it could well be whether or not anybody at all is included in the Church of the Brethren. The issue then may very well be the survival of the denomination. The statistics that we have garnered in the last 30 years give a lot of evidence that concern about survival is real. The loss of members and resources and leadership is a serious challenge.
Brethren Revival Fellowship believes that there Is a proper and an improper approach to the subject of inclusiveness. It is obvious to us that the purpose of Christ’s coming to earth was to tell the whole wide world, ‘You are included.” That is a basic tenet of the Gospel. From beginning to end, the whole world Is included. I would like to suggest a little exercise for all of us. Let’s quote John 3:16 in the King James Version, and when we get to the word “whosoever,” all who believe that you are included, stand and quote the rest of the verse. That is a little exercise to lot us know that God does include everybody.
1. THE GOSPEL CONTAINS A UNIVERSAL CALL AND WELCOME
The universal call is obvious in the Gospel message. The welcome mat is out. A common analogy found in our home settings, is that when a new child is born into a family, before very long another chair will be set at the table. It begins with a high-chair, and then a child’s seat, and then an additional chair which becomes a permanent fixture for the next 18 or 20 years. Children learn that they are included In the family because they have a spot at the table.
There is a man in our congregation who works for a home improvement business firm. He says that in more and more cases the kitchen table is a vanishing piece of furniture in the American home. So many people just run in and out of their homes. They grab a bite to eat, stick it in the microwave, heat it up, eat it perhaps in front of a TV or on the way. They are in and out and on the run. One of the casualties of this format is that people do not have the sense of belonging at the table like we had when there were regular times to sit down as a family, surrounding the table and everyone was in place, seated on the chairs provided. Just as in a natural sense, the child feels a welcome at the table, so God wants all of us, every one of us, one hundred percent of the world’s population, to feel that there is a welcome mat at God’s table.
There are a few appropriate Scripture passages to examine. Isaiah 55:1 extends an Invitation to everyone, and those who come don’t even need to bring their wallets. The text says, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat.” In Matthew 22:9-10, we read that the servants were to “go out into the highways and gather together all whom they found, both bad and good.”
For many years I have been thrilled at the “whosoevers” in the Gospel message which lifts up Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. That is one of the things which gives the preacher assurance when going from place to place to preach in revival and evangelistic services. We stand before audiences made up of people we don’t know. We are not farnlliar with their backgrounds. We don’t know their lifestyles, but the Gospel preacher has no hesitation in preaching a “whosoever” Gospel because he knows that is God’s plan. No matter what the individual background, there is a welcome for all at the table. Acts 10:43 says that “All the prophets give witness to him (Jesus), that through his name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins.” First John 5:1 says, “Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” One of Christ’s wonderful invitations near the end of His earthly ministry was the appeal to His disciples to “Come and dine” (John 21:12).
Jesus was even accused of too much association with the social and spiritual outcasts of the day, because He wanted to convey the truth that there is a “whosoever” welcome to the Gospel. Romans 10: 13 is another affirmation of the “whosoever” welcome of the New Testament.
2.THE CHURCH CONTAINS A HOLY CALLED OUT CHARACTER
There is another important concept that needs to be lifted up along with the teaching that the welcome mat is out for all. The other major line of thought is that the church is to maintain a holy called-out character. One of the reasons we are getting into trouble in the Church of the Brethren is that we are failing to separate these two major truths that are a part of the Gospel message. If we overemphasize one of the concepts and neglect the other, we are bound to get into trouble. We are bound to have an unbalanced message. We can stress the welcome so much that we lose the true character of the church. Or we can dwell so much on the character of the church that we become Ingrown and so exclusive that we lose the “welcome” of the Gospel.
The two major lines of thought need to be kept in tension so that we don’t take extreme positions on either side. Through the preaching of the Gospel the call goes out, and all are welcome, but as the church is formed, it must be remembered that God’s people are a “called out” holy people. The basic understanding of the word “church” itself (“ecclesia”) means “the called out body.” Even Jesus himself says, “Many are called but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). Apparently there are some conditions related to the call to discipleship.
We believe in the initial invitation and call of the Gospel. There is a “whosoever” attached to it, but the Bible just as strongly teaches that the church is not an “everybody” body. It is a “called out” body. It is a separated and select body. The call of Christ goes to all, but the church is a called out body that needs to come to grips with the teachings of Christ and the apostles. This simply means that the call which goes out to everybody has some conditions attached to it. A closer look at some of the Scriptures cited earlier indicates that the universal call has some very clear conditions set down.
In Isaiah 55:1, for example, the whole world’s population gets lined up to come and take a drink, but when we read on into verse 7, we hear words like this: “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” That is not a welcome without any conditions.
The parable of the marriage of the king’s son, where the servant was commanded to go out and compel everybody (bad and good) to come in, has admonitions about those who were there that did not have “a wedding garment” (Matthew 22:1-14). And so that invitation was not a wide open proposition either.
I am distressed when I read articles like the one in the January, 1995 Messenger, entitled “Who Sorts the Fish?” It is based on the parable in Matthew 13:47-50, where Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a net that is thrown into the sea, and fish of every kind are caught. When it was full they drew it to shore and sat down. They put the good fish in the baskets, but threw out the bad. Then the writer gives an application of the parable: He says that the drag net does not discriminate, and that it catches up all kinds of things but that our energy and effort must be directed at casting out and drawing in the net; we are not expected to sort the catch or clean the nets.
As I understand the Bible message, it is true that the Gospel has a universal call, but somewhere along the line there needs to be some sorting of the fish. There is a final sorting which we have no business taking part in. God will do the final judging. But there are some Scriptures that instruct the church to do some sorting. We will examine them on the following page.
Listen to this paragraph now taken from the Church of the Brethren Agenda. It is about an invitation to a denominational gathering in May, 1995. The call said, “Those invited to attend have been selected so that all voices of the denomination regardless of sex, age, geographical location, ideology, and sexual orientation will be represented.” Note that this was not a drag net being thrown out into the world. This was an invitation given within the church. The invitation is to everybody, regardless of ideology, theology, or sexual orientation. It sounds like any kind of belief is acceptable within the church. God have mercy on us if within the church we are no different from the world. Somewhere along the line we have to deal with both concepts of truth given in the Scriptures-that there is a welcome to all, but there is also a “called-outness” for the church.
There are a number of Scriptures which talk about exclusion as a function of the church. One of the Church of the Brethren’s points of emphasis from the beginning has been Matthew 18:15-17. Those who are received as members in many Church of the Brethren congregations are asked to make a commitment to settle conflicts according to the pattern taught in Matthew 18:15-17. A brother or sister who has something against anyone should first confront that person privately. If this does not effect a positive result, the offended party is to go to the offender accompanied by two or three witnesses. If the first two steps do not work, the offended person is to take the matter to the church. If the guilty person will not repent, that member is to be considered like a heathen or a tax collector-cut off from the fellowship.
In Matthew 19, we are given the example of the rich young ruler, who was unwilling to give up one thing that Jesus knew was the source of his departure from wanting to be faithful to God. Jesus did not run after him and say, “We’ll call another meeting of the disciples.” Jesus was firm in His call for the commitment of our lives. We are saved from our sins, not in our sins. There are Bible standards for church life. To become a part of the church there is the requirement of repentance, the need for genuine change. The sincere believer becomes a new creature, and increasingly develops inner purity of heart and strength of character.
Where does the new emphasis on inclusiveness come from in the Church of the Brethren? BRF would say that the Church of the Brethren over the years has changed its belief about the inspiration and the authority of the Bible, and this has affected our views about inclusiveness. A half century ago, the Church of the Brethren started to buy into the notion that we want to be like everybody else. We started to include other ideologies. We wanted to shed the sectarian image of being different. We embraced the ecumenical market and were very much a part of the formation of what is now known as the World Council of Churches. Fifty years ago we started to change the rules for church membership in order to make it easier to include everybody into the church. We said it is no longer necessary to be baptized by trine immersion. That will surely let a number of additional people come in. We said it is okay to have communion without feet washing. That will surely make it easier for some others to come in. We will approve the practice of divorce and remarriage. That will let a number of people come in.
Fifty years ago we started down this road of changing the rules for church membership in order to include more and more people and to make it easier to become a member of the church. BRF had its start 36 years ago, not too many years after the denomination began to change the rules for church membership. Can you make a connection between those two factors? The need for BRF to get started followed soon after the desire to make it very easy to include people in our membership. How has this policy of making entrance into the church easier affected the Brotherhood? Starting about thirty years ago we have gone down the road of losing about one percent of our membership on the average each year. Relaxing membership requirements has not in the end increased our membership rolls. Instead, there has been a declining membership. This is what wide open inclusion has done for us.
It is not only in BRF circles that there is concern about the declining membership. There are two new Brethren books which have recorded and interpreted trends in the Church of the Brethren. The one is called Brethren Society: The Cultural Transformation of a “Peculiar People” by Carl Bowman. The other is titled: Moving Toward the Mainstream: 20th Century Change Among Brethren of Eastern Pennsylvania by Donald Fitzkee. These books were not produced by BRF, nor written with BRF input, but they could really become a mission statement for the existence of Brethren Revival Fellowship in the Church of the Brethren. It is not just those who are well known BRFers that tend to put “a foot on the denominational brakes.” There are others also who are observing what is happening to us as a denomination. The weakness of the two books named above is that they only tell us what has gone on in the past. They have no prescription for solving our problems in the future.
BRF intends to be a witness for the long haul. We love the Church of the Brethren–the doctrines, the history, the heritage. We are not about to give up on its doctrines and practices. BRF would probably have some suggestions about how to begin putting the Church of the Brethren “humpty dumpty” back together again. For example, there are some questions which need clear answers. I am going to list a few questions and propose the answer:
Is it all right to be a member of the Church of the Brethren and refuse to believe that Jesus Christ is the only way of eternal salvation? Is it all right for a minister to be ordained in the Church of the Brethren who believes that there are a multitude of ways to achieve salvation and heaven? Is it all right for a homosexual to continue as a member of the Church of the Brethren and refuse to stop practicing homosexual conduct? BRF would respond to those questions by just saying “no.” It is not all right.
Are we going to see in the life of our denomination that we bring together the two major points that I have tried to explain–that we become more zealous with our “whosoever” invitation, and that we become equally more zealous to call all of us to a higher and holier personal standard of morality and separation from the world? The Bible surely encourages both concepts. See 2 Corinthians 6:17, Ephesians 5:11, and John 15:19. May God bless the Church of the Brethren and move us to this holy calling.