Hooray For Lost Causes!
Though I am not hooked on obituaries, as the manner of some is, my heart has been warmed by the delightful sentence: “He espoused lost causes with unfailing regularity.” It might have been that incredible man who, during the past thirty years, has had 9,000 letters published in newspapers and magazines. He wields a fearsome pen against entrenched iniquities like gossiping women, mini-skirts, hitch-hikers, long hair, and husbands who are “weekend slaves” in the home.
A similar espouser is Bernadette Devlin, who, impatient youth confronting the Mother of Parliaments, said: “It has been as much as I can do to put up with the games they play in the House of Commons.” Another incorrigible was the layman who publicly proposed that his church’s financial support of the WCC and local subsidiaries be ended because “these bodies make mischievous statements which only do harm to the work of statesmen throughout the world.” A shocked silence was his portion.
A friend of mine has a thing about church bulletin boards. When business takes him to a strange city, a Saturday-evening inspection ensures he will never be found next morning in a church where the board outside displays even a misplaced apostrophe. “You can learn a lot from that,” he affirms. “Like the lights of Broadway, some bulletin boards would look marvelous if only one couldn’t read.” And the more evangelical churches, he contends, have the more illiterate boards. For years he pointedly ignored a building that advertised a “mens’ meeting.” When at last there was a repainting and the spelling was rectified, he rushed up to congratulate a bewildered deacon on more effective witness.
A writer quoted in this journal last April loathes church committees and legislative bodies, likening participants to the sailors in Paul’s shipwrecks who trusted to achieve their salvation on boards. This rebel attitude might find encouragement in an Australian news item, rightly interpreted. In the agricultural diocese of Willochra they were having difficulty in choosing a new bishop. Things dragged on and on. Clerical top brass was locked in combat. Finally a special synod meeting that was getting nowhere lost a sizable segment of members. Explains the news report: “Many lay representatives could stay no longer in view of the urgency of the wheat harvest.” To me, that suggests not only a confounding of the establishment and a blow struck for lost causes everywhere, but a clear parable for our times.
EUTYCHUS IV
Wow Witnessing
For a long while now I’ve been perturbed about the soul-winning syndrome that seems to afflict so many of us evangelicals, which, in some cases, is none too short of John Tetzel’s flippant soul sales-pitch, the object of Martin Luther’s vehemence:
When a coin into the coffer rings,
A soul from purgatory springs!
Professor Barrett (July 17) has been brave to expose some of the false motives underlying our soul-winning ventures, and has dared to protest the glamorizing of the Church’s great commission. I am wholeheartedly in agreement with him. A girl in our church just returned from a youth institute where they conducted a “W.O.W.!” (Workshop on Witnessing).
GARTH HYDE
Church of the Nazarene Delta, Colo.
I was surprised that Barrett never once touched the Acts 1–2 base, nor even so much as alluded to the Holy Spirit as the source of power or perfecter of motives for witnessing. My understanding is that only he can give me the kind of broken heart, filled with a divine love, that Barrett sees as the sine qua non of successful witnessing.
JACK D. RICHARDSON
Associate to the General Secretary
The Pennsylvania State Sunday School Association
Harrisburg, Pa.
It is going to take more than compassion. Those with compassion are not garnering them in either. The Church must go to her knees for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that the lost will be convicted of sin against Christ.
JOHN CROSS
Free Methodist Church
Tonasket, Wash.
The article … is outstanding. When we get away from competitive motivations and seek the “Christ way” of compassion, then we will have his blessing and fruitfulness can be expected.
WILLARD WILLIAMS
Colonial Woods Missionary Church
Port Huron, Mich.
‘Protest’ Protest
I have for several years been very much impressed by the articles written by D. Elton Trueblood. I offer this critique of “The Protest Mentality” (July 17) out of love.
Protest demonstrations, the responses of an educated but largely soundproofed segment of our society, are perhaps so suddenly popular because new electronic media provide no opportunity for feedback. Demonstrations are not intended to be rational discourse; like music, poetry, graphic arts, fiction, and much religious communication, they only express internal psychological states. Communication needs not be in the language of science or philosophy to be legitimate.…
Property-directed violence erupts when what was said before was ignored, in most cases. People get hurt when police or Guardsmen, armed and armored, confront a peaceful group such as the one in St. Petersburg on April 15. It was obvious that the police intended to make the scene violent; one speaker was grabbed and beaten without explanation of the charge or his rights, and suddenly over a hundred police with helmets and clubs surrounded a few hundred scared and helpless kids, ganged up on arbitrarily selected individuals, clubbed them, and booked them for resisting arrest. I saw it.
PHILIP D. TOWNES
St. Paul, Minn.
The article contains a few “tragic flaws” of its own.… The charge of moralism is a straw man. The same charge could be leveled at anyone who believes in justice and condemns evil, whatever he conceives it to be.…
Do we need reminding that it was a protest mentality that led Luther to nail his Ninety-five Theses? And that it was the protest mentality that finally martyred Bonhoeffer? Or that it was the protest mentality that finally started the judicial machinery rolling to rid this country of discrimination? Without it I fear the black man would still be riding in the back of the bus.
An article deploring the protest mentality seems at least a paradox coming from a “Protestant” magazine.
STEVE BISSET
Deerfield, Ill.
Elton Trueblood is like a man being attacked simultaneously by a gnat and a lion. He ignores the lion and flails away in indignation at the gnat. He is mightily concerned about $100,000 worth of broken windows but seems not at all concerned about the direct support he gives to billions of dollars’ worth of killing in Southeast Asia.
WALTER SHWETZ
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
On Target
Triggering this letter is my special appreciation for your editorial “The Paradox of Contemporary Christendom” (July 17) and for the assurance that evangelical faith has not expired in the old-line denominations. Such a movement as COCU could bring it to light, and with considerable damage to denominational structures.
ELMER L. BROOKS
Cimarron, Kan.
Faith And Security
Papal infallibility is clearly, as you stated (editorial, July 17) a stumbling block to Christian unity and even to unity within Rome itself. I was surprised therefore to see you try so unsuccessfully to escape the logic of your own critique. “To desire infallible pronouncements by some human person or organization, is to reveal a basic discontent with the certitude that God himself, in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, implants in the hearts and minds of those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and the Scriptures as the inspired and infallible testimony to him.” How you can logically tack on the underlined clause to the foregoing is truly amazing! The Scriptures are always to be included among pronouncements by human persons and the subsequent canonization as action by a human organization. The man of faith must avoid all forms of idolatry, Roman popes and “paper popes.” There is no difference in the basic human discontent which manifests itself in the search for external security in a human pope and that which manifests itself in a search for external security in the form of infallible human tests. Faith in God must never be anything other than faith in God. If one chooses to believe in God, he must know that he has nothing external at his own disposal in which to build his faith. He who abandons every form of external security will find true security.
THOMAS WRIGHT
Associate Pastor
Brooklyn United Methodist Church
Minneapolis, Minn.
That Irish ‘Revolution’
The news reports about “near revolution” in Northern Ireland to which you refer in the Editor’s Note (July 17) are grossly exaggerated and present a warped picture of events.
The reports covered two matters: (1) Violent protests against the refusal of the appeal of Bernadette Devlin by the highest court in Northern Ireland against six months’ imprisonment for a petrol (gasoline) bomb offense; in these protests all of the six people killed (with one exception) were Protestants. (2) Searches by troops in the Catholic Falls Road area of Belfast for arms, yielding over one hundred rifles and revolvers, provoked rioting in which a similar number were killed (including two men suspected of sniping at the troops).
The peaceful state of Northern Ireland over the Twelfth July parades is the most effective reply to the highly sensational accounts circulated by the press. These parades have been traditionally quiet in the past. The exception was last year in Londonderry, when a returning parade was stoned in the city center, giving rise to the disorders.
S. W. MURRAY
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Split-Level Christians
James Daane’s report on the Christian Reformed Church Synod (News, July 17) deserves supplemental comment regarding a decision Synod made on a racially related issue.
During the lengthy discussion, delegates made it clear that liberty, justice, and sacrifice stand higher on the ladder of Christian values than does the preservation of self and property. By a resounding vote of 120-to-20, Synod proclaimed that there is something terribly inconsistent with the racial policy of its church leaders in Illinois. This policy professes to be interested in saving black men’s souls while it sides with white racists who are determined to prevent children of black converts from attending Christian schools in Cicero.
In effect the Synod said to its ministers and elders in Classis Chicago North: Get rid of your dualistic theory of religion whereby you separate “things spiritual” from “things natural.” This message has profound significance for all Christians. Evangelistic outreach to the disadvantaged must be coupled with genuine Christian concern to promote justice and liberty.
MARTIN LAMAIRE
Ebenezer Christian Reformed Church
Berwyn, Ill.
Insensitive Suburbs
Thank you for including the timely article “Christian Sensitivity” by Myron R. Chartier (July 3). Modern suburbia, in its unmerited selectiveness, false independence, and unwarranted criticism, has become insensitive to the needs of the poverty-stricken world and is attempting to withdraw from responsibility much as the early disciples to say, “This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat” (Matt. 14:15b, 16).
ROBERT W. NEIMAN
Minister and Chaplain
“Operation Nightwatch”
Seattle, Wash.
Insight: Inside—Or Out?
The July 3 issue is a good one.…
Especially perceptive was Bruce Lockerbie’s “The Theater of Deceit.” Ever since Stony Brook days, where he was a dorm master and scarcely older than the oldest senior, I have been nourished by his insight.
JOSEPH MCDONALD
West Chester, Pa.
He expressed no sense of outrage at having been assaulted by vicious, degrading propaganda, possibly because of a sense of guilt at being present in such a place. It is hard to conceive of a spiritual and committed Christian seeking entertainment at a production like this. Mr. Lockerbie’s dissertation could be summarized by: “If you go searching through garbage cans for something good, don’t be surprised if you find trash.”
WILLIAM R. GREENE
Felton, Calif.
If the film causes the Christian to see an insight into the depravity of man or to see a contrast between the restrictions of sin and the freedom of Christianity, what is the harm? A film which causes the Christian to think about the motivations and needs of the non-Christian man is certainly better than an evening of television. It must also be noted that a discussion with non-Christian friends concerning the claims of Christianity can be sparked by a discussion of secular films. The film has become a significant part of the lives and thinking of many collegians. Mr. Lockerbie’s discussion of Easy Rider reveals that some films do present the possibility for seeking Christian beliefs. It would seem that the non-Christian needs someone to interpret the film in light of the beliefs of Christianity.…
Unfortunately, Mr. Lockerbie made no mention of the possibilities of using drama for the cause of Christianity. I feel that religious drama is too often ignored by church leaders because they feel the stage is inherently evil. I hope your magazine will offer an occasional article on religious drama.
ROGER SMITTER
Tiffin, Ohio
Read The Word
Dr. Burton L. Goddard’s article, “The Crucial Issue in Bible Translation” (July 3), is good but not good enough. Of course it is important that the Bible be translated with the words to give the most exact meaning in the language of today. The most important thing is that no matter what the translation that it be read, for the Bible is the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit can and does use it no matter what the translation, however faulty.
HENRY W. LAMPE
Springfield, Mo.
Freedom For All
I want to thank you for the editorials on “Academic Freedom in Evangelical Perspective” and “The Responsibilities of Denominational Publishers” (July 3). I think you have brought to your readers’ attention a problem that we often overlook in our cry for academic freedom, and freedom in general. The rights of both the Christian academic institutions and the denominational publishers should be protected and guaranteed. I may not agree with their positions, but they do have the right to exist and to speak up on issues as they feel led of God to do. Especially when we see in this country so much freedom for the liberals and the leftists to speak up as they please, we certainly should allow the groups that are really trying to do some good for the people and this country to speak as they feel their conscience leads them.
STEPHEN LIANG
Chinese For Christ, Inc.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Students As Teachers
Your editorial on Frank Laubach’s fight against illiteracy (July 3) was well done, but the “Each one teach one” he made famous was used by missionaries regularly, perhaps as far back as two hundred years ago.
The most remarkable application was made in London starting in 1798, when Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker, opened a school for the underprivileged, at a time when only the rich sent their sons to school. Eventually he was teaching 1,000 boys, and their progress was far beyond that of any other system. Using the Bible, he taught English (and math) fundamentals to a few of the most promising older boys, and they in turn taught others, as well as doing the mechanical jobs involved in a school. Eventually Lancaster went broke, but his method was copied widely.…
This very powerful system could be used by the churches to teach about Jesus Christ, and would probably be well used if the churches, faced with secular immorality in the public schools, turned to a complete new program of parochial schools, at very low unit cost. I don’t know how they’d get around the politicians and the educational empire’s demands for certified teachers, but if results were the criterion, that would be no problem.
THOMAS S. BOOZ
Plantation, Fla.
If Wesley Rode Again
My reaction to “Jane Fonda in Church” (News, July 3) is that your writer’s insensitivity to the Rev. Mr. Williams’s concern for persons is exceeded only by his abysmal lack of knowledge about John Wesley.
The pulpits of the Church of England certainly were not closed to Wesley because he went along with the establishment; they were closed to him because he was determined to bring the Gospel to persons even if it meant breaking old patterns.
And, rather than the “happenings in Glide Methodist these days [setting] John Wesley aghast,” they more likely would suggest to him that he ought to trade his horse in on a “hog” and ride from Big Sur to Palm Springs ministering to the outcasts of our society.
MARVIN A. JOHNSON
Point Loma United Methodist Church
San Diego, Calif.
Whose Bible?
In “Southern Baptists on the Spot” (News, July 3) you made an erroneous statement in the second-to-last sentence, a mistake which unfortunately is made much too often.
Members of Gideons International Camps, in eighty-six countries around the world, place Bibles and Testaments … where people may come in contact with God’s Word, but there is no such thing as a Gideon Bible. These copies of God’s Word are Gideon-placed—made possible by, and, for the most part, paid for by the prayer and financial support of Christians in the United States and Canada.
HENRY M. KLEEMAN, JR.
Gideons International
Huntsville, Ala.
‘A Child Shall Lead …’
I anticipate the arrival of CHRISTIANITY TODAY with childlike eagerness; the articles are so superbly written that even a country boy with little education can receive a blessing from them.… “Eutychus and His Kin” receives close reading by this subscriber. By some of your mail, it is apparent that many sections of the faith have fallen away. One would think the prodigal son was ministering to some churches.
D. M. HUIE
Gadsden, Ala.
As a missionary, I find your magazine most helpful in keeping abreast of developments in the world of theology. I find the articles stimulating, as a rule.… I must write a word of hearty thanks to L. Nelson Bell for his sane and scripturally based comments to be found in each issue. I always find something good in “A Layman and His Faith.”
PAUL S. WHITE
Strasbourg, France.
