Thoughts on Being a Christadelphian – Part 2
July 20, 2009
Dear Friends,
So who is a Christadelphian? Some answers are predictable while others are not. A key question is: what needs to change and what needs to remain the same? We all are guilty of setting our own standard by which all other things are measured. Anyone who drives slower than me is an idiot. Anyone who drives faster than me is a maniac. This is human nature.
I had the pleasure of attending a gathering in Africa a few weeks ago in which whites from conservative meetings, whites from more progressive meetings and blacks from non-traditional meetings met together. It was modern Christadelphia in a microcosm. We had brethren in ties. We had brethren in t-shirts. We had brethren singing from the green Christadelphian Hymnbook. We had Praise the Lord hymns, We had African praise songs accompanied with dancing. The topic for the weekend was a little off-beat with some people being very familiar with the nuances while to others this was new information. Some people (such as me) were thrilled to see the diversity. The reason I was thrilled was that this was a great demonstration of what the Christadelphian body can be. We were there praising one God, teaching one Gospel and worshipping with one moral code. All of the essential basics were there. At the same time, stylistic, cultural and procedural differences were secondary to bringing everyone together. No battle lines were drawn over the non-essentials. But that begs the question: What is essential and what is not?
I fear, like the brethren at the Christadelphian Magazine, that if something is not done, calling oneself a Christadelphian will become meaningless. This, to me, would be a great tragedy. It would mean that legendary Christadelphian hospitality would decline. It means that speakers coming in from afar might bring every wind of doctrine. It means that, like the Corinthian ecclesia and their misuse of the spirit gifts, the message that the Christadelphian body sends to the world will become an incoherent mixture of contradictory nonsense.
The solution to all of this is simple, but not easy. We have got to get back to the Bible. We are in a situation where a “spiritual triage” is in order. We handle the critical, life-threatening issues first. Those issues which we have already lost need to be packed in ice and moved to the morgue. The non-essential issues need to wait until more critical issues are handled.
My top five list of critical issues are as follows:
1. We need to study the Bible in a healthy, practical manner. I believe that more than any single religious body on the planet, Christadelphians study their Bibles. However, I think the way that we do it is not always the best way. We too often tend to miss the forest for the trees. We all know brethren that could give you an hour lecture on the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse, but couldn’t give a coherent discourse on the Biblical principles raising children or building a Godly marriage. As Jesus aptly said, “these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matt. 23:23) Yes, we can all go off into our “specialties” whatever that might be (prophecy, types/shadows, etc.), but we all MUST be able to give a reasonable answer to anyone that asks about the basics of our faith including our first principles and moral code.
Two of the most dangerous words in the world are “I feel.” One of the hallmarks of Christadelphian teaching has been the nature of man and the deceitfulness of the heart. We have been one of the few that loudly proclaim Jeremiah’s warning: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:9) Yet, despite this historically strong teaching position, it is amazing to me how many brethren lead with heart-thinking versus Bible-thinking. We are not suggesting that we do not operate in a compassionate, loving manner. Far from it! We are suggesting that to act according to God’s word IS the compassionate and loving solution even if we don’t see it immediately because “God is love.” His ways are not only far superior to our ways, they are for our good. It therefore pains me to see so many Christadelphian discussions start with those two dangerous words “I feel” rather that “thus saith the Lord.”
Have a great week,
