In Matters of Opinion

by

John D. McArthur, Jr.

"As long as I am an elder," he proudly proclaimed, "we will never have that loud guitar music at church!"

"We left that church," the young couple confided, "because the minister was so domineering. Did you know we wanted red carpet for the sanctuary but he convinced the board to buy blue?"

The church newsletter reported on the new guidelines for servers at the table. The first item clearly stated, "Anyone not wearing a coat and tie to serve communion will be asked to sit down."

On the surface, these three examples seem to be petty, insignificant events. But, as many of us are only too painfully aware, attitudes and statements like those have not only caused problems but have led to conflict and division in the church. Writing in his book, "Real Christians Don't Dance", John Fischer said, "...No one but Christians care about what Christians do or don't do...What we have is clearly an in-house problem."

Look around at the churches in our brotherhood and notice that much of the fighting, bitterness, problems and divisions are not caused by serious differences on theological issues but fall somewhere in that gray area known as "matters of opinion."

Could it be the movement that grew from around 20 people to nearly 1 1/2 million people in 100 years has bogged down in her outreach, growth, and community impact not because of who we were but because of what we have become? Have we hidden the power of our plea by majoring in the minors? When did the type of songbook we use become more important than our worship of God? When did the length of our service supercede our need to commune with our Savior? And when did discussion over who can use our building become more important than telling our friends about Jesus?

"We often obscure the gospel by our scruples." Jim Petersen said, "For some unfortunate reason, we Christians are generally known for what we abstain from. If our reputation was one of abstaining from immorality, injustice, and dishonesty, it would be wonderful. But the list is not that noble." As John Fischer pointedly put it, "Well, it's time to get a few things straight. The world isn't waiting for Christians; the world doesn't care." You see, there are many things we wrestle with as a people that are not only unimportant to the world but can be seen as trivial, out of touch with people's real needs, and even make us look ludicrous to outsiders.

Consider some of the issues we have struggled with, written about, and preached on throughout our history and in recent years. First, who do we call that person who is paid by the church to preach, teach, call, administrate, and care for our needs? Is he the preacher, minister, pastor, evangelist, priest, or reverend? In some quarters, the semantics of the adjectives used define, qualify, and pigeon-hole your whole theological system of belief and become a test of fellowship. For the world, the words are inter-changeable and simply describe a profession.

In our own unique history, the question of using instruments in worship ripped apart our unity movement and still presents a gulf that separates our people. Granted, the issue may be deeper than the church owning a piano, but to the non-churched it is not something that makes a difference. And the problem may be seen as a pretty silly reason to split.

Even the name on our door or denominational status is not really important to the world. The concept of being independent is appealing, the idea of local autonomy is applauded (and sometimes envied by those trapped in an uncaring religious hierarchy). But people today do not go to church because it is the "Christian Church" or the "Church of Christ" or even "Baptist", "Methodist", or "Lutheran". George Barna's research indicates people who come to church today "...have less loyalty to religion, to denominations, (and) to the local churches with which they affiliate..."

The list could go on and on. Some issues more serious than others: the use of gifts, singing modern chorus instead of old hymns, church polity and programming to name but a few. The question is: if so much of what we consider important is not really important, what is important?

When I served as Associate Minister with the Windsor Rd. church in Champaign, Illinois, we noticed an interesting trend. This congregation is located in the southwest corner of the city, about as far from the University of Illinois as you could get and still be in the same community. At the time, we had no formal college ministry in place. The college-career class had recently disbanded because no one attended. Then suddenly, we began to see an influx of students attending worship. These kids, from all denominational backgrounds and involved with a variety of Christian campus ministries, came and brought their friends and they brought their friends, Christian and non-Christian. When I left Champaign in 1990, more than 50 students attended worship. Today, the numbers continue to grow.

While there, I took an informal survey to find out what we were doing right. I knew it wasn't location: it was a weekly struggle for some of the kids to make arrangements and attend. Was it our building, or our family atmosphere, or our programming? Time and again I got the same answer: "I come because the Bible is preached."

Jim Petersen, working with the Navigators ministry, has said what we in the Restoration movement have long claimed to believe, "What we need is someone who will teach us the Bible only." The real issue for all of us today is not if we should use the latest mass marketing appeal or if we correctly understand the function of a deacon. Those things might be important but the real issue or challenge is: will we teach the Bible only?

The world really does not care about our theological hair-splitting or what extra-curricula programming and activities we may support or might believe in. The world today, like the Greeks who approached Philip, have one request of the church, "...we would like to see Jesus."