Letters

Evangelical Whining?

It was good to see Tim Stafford writing on multiculturalism and political correctness [“Campus Christians and the New Thought Police,” Feb. 10]. But I was disappointed with his answer concerning why Christians aren’t provided the same privileges on campus as ethnic or other minority groups.

Evangelical whining seems consistently to ignore that evangelical Christianity was once dominant in this country. “Our” point of view enjoyed a hegemony never shared by African-Americans, for instance. So our claims to unique and final truth will (and should) continue to be ignored or denied as long as we associate them with this hegemony. We must also stop pretending that oppressive political correctness is something only the other guy can be guilty of.

In his sidebar, Les Parrott III writes, “In PC land, the middle ground disappears. Either you are pro-gay rights or you are homophobic.” But has Mr. Parrott tried to discuss a “middle ground” on abortion with evangelicals lately?

Rodney Clapp

Wheaton, Ill.

I don’t understand Stafford’s complaint. Proselytizing is not any less welcome than it ever was on college campuses. It isn’t that Christians are “dumb” about their religion, as chaplain Russ Roide asserts, not that we are “afraid.” Jesus said to spread the good news, not to hound people to death with it. If people can’t tell I’m a Christian from the way I live my life, and if they never ask me about my religious beliefs, why should I try to shove it down their throats? I think Christians are much more effective as such when they do good works and truly care about others and respect individual cultures and belief systems than when they go around spouting their party line.

Georgianne Herndon Harris

Albuquerque, N. Mex.

Least-Admired Profession

In your editorial “Addicted to Broadcasting” [Feb. 10], you forgot to include results of a survey found in the recent book The Day America Told the Truth, by James Patterson and Peter Kim. The survey asked Americans what profession they least admired. Television evangelists rated number 3, right behind organized crime bosses and just ahead of prostitutes!

Pastor Gene Jennings

Bath First Baptist Church

Bath, S.C.

Heart-Warming Hope

“Praying With the KGB” [by Philip Yancey, Jan. 13] brought home the places and people into which God is moving by his good pleasure and in response to our prayers, producing change we often do not know about until heaven. It provides heart-warming hope and motivation to pray both for the Soviet citizens being touched with the gospel and ourselves who have heard it for so long that the “good news” can seem so-so and old.

Yancey’s moving account lets me peek at how far many of us have slid from the heart of bearish arm-waving Basil.

John W. Morrison

Houston, Tex.

Yancey’s excellent report of the 19 evangelicals who met with members of the Soviet government before it collapsed is not entirely exhaustive; I wish to provide a footnote.

Prior to the meeting with President Gorbachev, the group agreed it would be important to stress the necessity of maintaining full freedom of religion within the Soviet Union. When we met with him, this was done. It was significant that Gregori Komendant, president of the All Union Council of Evangelical Christians in the Soviet Union, joined us to meet with Gorbachev. The Soviet President’s attention was called to Komendant’s presence so as to emphasize that our group represented a form of Christianity similar to his. We used this occasion to highlight the significance of the evangelical component within the Soviet Union.

It was also possible to refer specifically to the dedication ceremonies of the Russian Bible Society, which had occurred three days earlier. Patriarch Alexei acknowledged the presence of the evangelicals at the dedication and indicated that, in his view, the distribution of the Bible requires the cooperation of the Orthodox and the evangelicals.

Joel Nederhood

The Back to God Hour/FAITH 20

Palos Heights, Ill.

I appreciated Yancey’s insight that “No groups of evangelicals visiting [what used to be the USSR] for a week or 10 days or a month will bring long-term change to the country.” I’ve seen many groups come to Russia for short visits. Some, I’m afraid, have come not to learn and see, but rather as people with a “mission” (to save Russia in a week!). Russian pastors (who know what their people need) are constantly giving up their pulpits to guest preachers who have little to no real knowledge of the culture, language, or living situation.

People here do talk a lot about “God” now, but they often understand and mean by “God” a sort of nationalistic, historic civil religion, not what you mean by the God of the Bible. I would not suggest short-term groups stop coming to Russia and the other republics. I would suggest, however, that when they come, they be careful and sensitive, and assume the humble role of learner.

Darrell Cosden

International Teams

Moscow, Russia

It is disappointing that anyone would attempt to evaluate Orthodox spirituality and worship without taking time to try to understand it. Yancey should experience Orthodox worship in a language he can understand. The liturgy is not the creation of “distant professionals,” but has grown from the very heart of the Christian experience. The concept of the priesthood of all believers is not “utterly foreign,” but an essential part of the Orthodox understanding of worship, which is not the work of professionals, but of the people of God. Orthodox worship seems strange to American Protestants because of its emphasis on the mystery of God.

I am offended by Yancey’s criticism of Father Bonifato’s response to his request for prayer for the prisoners. (I refer to Bonifato as Father because I can tell by the vestments he put on that he is a priest.) He should have been flattered the priest would take so much trouble to provide Yancey and his companions with the best kind of prayer he could—prayer that stems from the worship of the church. The good priest could have said a simple prayer without formality. However, he chose to do something special for his guests.

I find it very bothersome that American Protestants feel qualified to judge a church that has suffered and yet preserved its faith as the Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe have.

The Rev. Fr. John W. Morris

St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Is Scripture Proof Against War?

Charles Scriven, in “Second Thoughts About the War” [Speaking Out, Jan. 13], writes as though the Bible can be made to prove the concept of “just” war is unacceptable. But he ignores a few things that might point the other way.

I doubt any right-thinking Christian would say war is good. Every attempt should be made to peacefully settle disputes between nations. If that fails, then sometimes war is the lesser of the two evils. The Bible cannot be used as a proof text against war any more than it can be used as one in favor of war.

Judy Cullen

Reston, Va.

Scriven says Christians should not support and participate in war, and that his is a minority position. Not so! No serious Bible-reading Christian could possibly believe that the church’s work is carried out through war or violence.

William B. Leak

Barrington, N.H.

I find Scriven’s article both naïve and offensive. What makes him think he can or should speak for the many committed Christians who serve admirably in the United States military? No doubt, if God had called him instead of Peter to speak to Cornelius (Acts 10) he would have found it necessary to tell Cornelius to find a different line of work.

Chaplain Ronald R. Huggler, U.S. Army

Fort Sill, Okla.

Language Ability Aids The Cults

Joe Maxwell’s report on the explosion of cultic activity in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union hits right on the mark [News, Jan. 13], Just home from five months in Ukraine, we were dismayed by the visibility and organization of cultic groups. But perhaps the most dismaying aspect of the penetration of the cults into Eastern Europe and the newly formed CIS is the fact that their missionaries and followers are well-trained in Russian language—an educational discipline often overlooked by Christian missionaries.

Dale C. Canner

Russian Language Ministries

Albuquerque, N. Mex.

A Prize For Bias?

Your January 13 report by Barbara Baker [“Christians Fear Jewish Takeover of Old City”] could earn a Julius Streicher Prize for bias. Consider the language used: Conniving Jews win cases in court through “deceptive agreements” and “technical delays”; they “claim” they legally purchased the house through transactions that the owners “insist” are illegal. Jews don’t buy property, they “take over.”

Fair and balanced reporting would have mandated that Baker interview at least one of the many Christians living in Israel who have no problem with renewed Jewish sovereignty in our time. But they would have testified that Christians and Muslims alike, both foreign and local, are unmolested in their worship and other religious activities.

Zalman Gaibel

Chicago, Ill.

Gender A Living Mystery

I read the article “Breaking the Gender Impasse,” by R. Paul Stevens [Jan. 13], in search of an approach to and guidance in relationships between the sexes. Wouldn’t you know that in my insecurity you called me to trust not in some arbitrary delineation, but in a living mystery! What a joy! I found the presentation not only well founded biblically, but also authoritative in a natural sense. I would feel comfortable recommending it to my non-Christian friends.

Steven D. Dill

Seattle, Wash.

Having long been a student of the ambiguous tensions in the Bible, I began to read Stevens’s article with some interest. By the end, I was far from satisfied. Though I agree that mystery is properly approached only through worship, it hardly follows that the avenue to that worship should be paved with doublethink.

C. Winsor Wheeler

Waynesboro, Ga.

Now I forgive you for last year’s J. I. Packer article “Let’s Stop Ordaining Women Presbyters.”

Rev. Alice J. Petersen

College Hill Presbyterian Church

Cincinnati, Ohio

Letters are welcome; all are subject to condensation. Write to Eutychus, CHRISTIANITY TODAY, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

Droning On About Monotones

There is an unwritten rule to which all churches—urban or rural, big or small, high or low, episcopal or congregational—ascribe: “Every children’s choir must have a monotone, preferably the child who sings the loudest.”

It’s a well-intentioned requirement, I suppose. It communicates grace—the important message that acceptance in the church family is not contingent on performance. Hearing sour notes from children seems a small price to pay for this message. Besides, most people think out-of-tune tots are cute. The only problem is that child monotones grow up to be adult monotones. And some of them want to join the choir.

Many a music director has faced the problem of what to do with singers who can carry tunes about as far as they can carry Doug Oldham after a potluck. Some directors have simply banned tuneless tenors and shrieking sopranos from the choir. They cite slippery-slope theory: If we accept choir members who can’t sing, what next? Ushers who can’t ush? Preachers who can’t preach? Elders who aren’t old? Deacons who can’t do whatever it is deacons are supposed to do?

Others have taken a crueler approach, offering the offending vocalists solo after solo until they embarrass themselves into musical oblivion.

As for me, I favor the cruller approach: offering matured monotones crullers and coffee to stay in the nursery with the kids. There they can sing to their hearts’ desire, and the church can rest assured the next generation of the tone deaf is in good hands. Simply put, sometimes you have to get crullers to be kind.

EUTYCHUS

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