Eutychus and His Kin: May 29, 1981

Wheels That Are Wheels

Unknown to religious journalists, a quiet battle has been raging among fundamentalist leaders over where to build the “Bus Ministry Hall of Fame.” I would not know about this matter myself, except that I happened to board a Canton (Ohio) Baptist Temple bus while visiting Detroit. (I thought the bus was going to the airport. Live and learn.) Anyway, the bus captain was quite garrulous and gave me the details of the conflict.

“Some people vote for Hammond, Indiana, since the world’s largest Sunday school is there,” he said. “But I understand those folks are leasing their buses now. Isn’t there something in the Bible about God hating leasing?”

I assured him there was such a verse, at least in the King James Version. I checked my concordance later: Psalms 4:2 and 5:6.

“Some people are voting for Akron, Ohio, because there are big Sunday schools there. But there are big Sunday schools all over the country. So what?”

“Where do you want the Bus Hall of Fame built?” I asked.

“In Canton, Ohio, of course—where the Christian Hall of Fame is (never mind football). Our bus ministry will match anybody else’s!”

Later, I did some quiet research to discover just what would be displayed in the Bus Ministry Hall of Fame, should it be built anywhere. I will not reveal my sources, but they are unimpeachable and inerrant—and at war with each other. There will, of course, be portraits of the most successful bus captains, as well as hubcaps from the most successful buses. Posters will give statistics from various ministries. There will be one room devoted to various gifts and premiums that helped to lure riders on the buses.

Each large Sunday school is donating one part from a leading bus, and all the parts will be assembled into one superbus that will represent all the great buses in busdom. Sad to say, everybody wants to donate parts that can be seen—fenders and wheels—and there seems to be a shortage of parts that make the bus run. One church is preparing a multi-media presentation that shows the actual dispatching of the buses, complete with exhaust smell and horns.

Nobody wants to admit it, but one honest pastor plans to send in a display of a gasoline pump, with the sign on it: “This is where it all ended.” He will probably be outvoted, but at least his heart is in the right place, even if the Bus Hall of Fame isn’t in his city.

Driver! Driver! Stop—you’re going past my corner!

Your correspondent on the go,

EUTYCHUS X

Fruitless Effort

I was impressed with the April 10 issue—the clean, bold format, so easy to read—showing concern for the practical as well as the aesthetic. The choice of articles was good, too. I especially appreciated “Perfectionism: Fraught with Fruits of Self-destruction” and the reminder of the importance of the grace of God. How refreshing after “How to … How I did it … How you should do it,” which make us feel we could be perfect if only we tried.

NETTIE CHALSON

American Missionary Fellowship

Villanova, Pa.

The perfectionism David Seamands appeared to address was not the holiness theology of entire sanctification, but a humanistic perfectionism. The confusion is increased since Seamands himself is in the “holiness” camp. Entire sanctification in no way encourages human effort at self-transformation, but insists that God has graciously provided for heart purity as well as forgiveness in Christ’s atonement. This is only realized through faith, not works, as the believer consecrates his entire self to God, loving him with his whole body, mind, and soul, thereby receiving cleansing of his heart. This “second work of grace” in no way resembles the perfectionism described.

REV. JOSEPH LIDDICK

Hess Road Wesleyan Church

Appleton, N.Y.

Perceiving The Pitfalls

What joy it was to read the article by Francis Schaeffer on 50 years of denominational ins and outs [April 10]. We stand on the verge of leaving the liberal United Methodist denomination. To read of the pitfalls of such action was helpful. To recognize the general latitudinarianism that develops in those who stay was even more helpful. I have seen this problem, even in the seminary I graduated from. I can no longer be satisfied with hollow victories. Dialogue has been a means of keeping evangelicals quiet. The efforts of thousands at our last general conference to install ordination of practicing homosexuals caused us to allow World Service to pass from asking to apportionment. The world needs Christ and I’m tired of wasting my time. We leave with sadness but, because of Schaeffer, with a deeper understanding of the problems and joys we face.

REV. RONALD R. PINARD

United Methodist Church

Peterborough, N.H.

Thoughtful Involvement

Public schools are required to respond to more societal demands than any other American social institution [“Values in the Public Schools,” April 10]. To respond to these pressures we need more rather than fewer Christians involved in American public schools. If we are to influence the nation’s youth, we must not abandon our schools. Evangelicals are needed as board members, teachers, and administrators. Unfortunately, public schools usually experience evangelicals in the role of gadfly; they appear only when upset and against some aspect of the school program.

When there are valid reasons for leaving the local public school, the motives of some conservative Christians are far from biblical. The schools they seek offer sterile, dogmatic interpretation of our social, political, and economic history; critical thinking is viewed as dangerous. Racist beliefs are frequently a latent motive for a private school.

Evangelicals can be productive, positive, influential citizens. Public school education welcomes thoughtful involvement of citizens concerned about the values and knowledge our children acquire.

DAVID W. SMITH

Director of Secondary Education

Noblesville, Ind.

You have made no attempt to present the case of Christians who believe it is sin to send our children to public schools. Crater’s article [“The Unproclaimed Priests of Public Education,” April 10] was a good example of the compromise conservative Christians have made. Crater exposes well one of the best kept secrets in our land today: humanism is a religion. However, he maintains that we must fight to improve the quality of education in the public school so that poor people won’t be deprived. His goal is to get the public schools back to “traditional” values and morals—an appropriate goal for a moderate humanist but not for a committed Christian. He states “we should make it known that we do not accept the attempt to use the schools to promote a particular religious viewpoint—theistic or non-theistic.” That is compromise. We who are Christian must support a thoroughly Christian viewpoint of life; the Christian school is part of the means to that end. The other part is the church, and by all means sincere and godly parents.

MICHAEL M. CHISM

San Diego, Calif.

In Defense Of Gibbs

I regret your attack upon attorney David Gibbs [“Does David Gibbs Practice Law …,” April 10]. I have not met Gibbs and Craze in person, but have corresponded with them, talked with them by telephone, and read their court transcripts and decisions.

If your most substantial allegation is true—that Gibbs and Craze frequently defend cases without adequate preparation—it is serious. But cases involving Christian liberties are mushrooming, and there are so few Christian lawyers willing and able to handle them. Most involve Christian churches, schools, or pastors who are unable to pay the costs of a proper defense. In their zeal to defend Christian liberties, Gibbs and Craze may well have become overextended. CT should exhort other Christian lawyers to relieve them by taking up the cause and representing some of these cases, and exhort Christian people and institutions to support these legal battles with their voices, finances, and prayers.

JOHN A. EIDSMOE

Tulsa, Okla.

The article was most helpful and accurate in one specific area. It pointed up clearly the philosophical differences that divide attorneys such as Ball and Gibbs. One believes there is a difference between a church and its school ministry; the other believes all ministries of a church are integral and thus inseparable. One holds the state has a right to some intervention in education; the other believes any state intervention involves tampering with the church. One believes there are limits on constitutional guarantees of religious freedom; the other believes there are none. It is unfortunate the philosophical issues could not have been dealt with. It appears that objectivity was abandoned while the author “took up sides” and launched an attack on the “other guys.”

REV. CHARLES R. WOOD

Grace Baptist Church

South Bend, Ind.

Not Mandatory

Your news story, “United Methodists Oust Clergy Who Fail to Promote Funding” [April 10], has factual misrepresentation that in fairness needs correction. No United Methodist church is “required to supply funds for the World Service apportionment.” Obviously, no local United Methodist church can be forced to pay any or all of the nine apportioned funds.

The 1980 United Methodist General Conference only eliminated the obligation of the district superintendent to inquire of each annual local church conference what is the local church acceptance of the World Service Fund apportionment. That inquiry is not now mandatory, bringing this in line with all general apportioned funds of the church. This is not making mandatory what was voluntary.

Further, the two ministers were quoted as having said that too much World Service funding went to causes they could not support, such as the World and National Councils of Churches. Reports indicate that the World Council of Churches received no World Service Funds in 1980; the National Council of Churches received slightly over one-half of 1 percent of the World Service Fund.

EWING T. WAYLAND

General Council on Finance and Administration

The United Methodist Church

Evanston, Ill.

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