Doctrines with Power – Part 4 – The Principle of Accommodation
March 23, 2010
Dear Friends,
The prophet Isaiah wrote “mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” (Is. 56:7) Is this what we should strive to be – a house of prayer for all people? If you look at the actions of ecclesias throughout the world, there appears to be a wide variety of answers. This is not a doctrinal question that will ever make it into the Statement of Faith, but there is so much power in the answer that it may be the single greatest determining factor in whether or not our own ecclesia survives to see the return of Christ.
How do we view our ecclesias? Do we see them as bright, shining lights reaching out and welcoming in the people around us or are they conclaves that shutter us in from all those without? Do we make accommodations for people or do we make people make accommodations for us? Do we rush to welcome people when they enter our doors or do we look at them with suspicion wondering “what do they want?”
If you look at first world countries such as the US, England and Canada, there is a discernable pattern. Ecclesia halls were opened in city centers many years ago. As time progressed, the city center transformed economically and ethnically. The ecclesial halls that once drew from the local community now pull from miles away in the suburbs. These ecclesias typically follow one of three paths. 1. They have their ecclesial lampstands extinguished. Rather than change, they died. 2. They sell the building and moved out to the suburbs. 3. They reached out to the community they are in and try to reflect the new demographic.
I was told the story of one of these typical intercity, graying ecclesias that a young couple decided to support. They arrived with their small children in tow. The young sister, who spent most of her week without adult company, decided that rather than going off to the “cry room” was going to keep her children in the back of the mostly empty meeting. The children were quiet, but the sister needed to nurse her infant which she did both discretely and modestly in the corner. This offended some in the meeting and they demanded that she not be allowed to remain in the meeting. Rather than cause a stir, the young couple simply left. This meeting didn’t want their ecclesia to be a house of prayer for all people and, unless they change, will eventually become a house of prayer for no people.
When we talk about accommodating people, we are not talking about changing our fundamental doctrines or morality. We are talking about the traditions. We are talking about leaving our comfort zone so that others might be more comfortable.
Suppose we had a person come into our midst for whom English was a new language. Would we insist that they read from the King James Bible which can be a bit of a challenge for those of us for whom English is our first language? Would we make them switch from their modern translation to accommodate us or go buy what they had to make them feel more comfortable?
It doesn’t mean we are an evil person if we give in to these prejudices. There are plenty of examples in the Gospels of the disciples trying to keep people away from Jesus though not in a malicious way. They put values on people which Jesus obviously didn’t share. Jesus talked to the woman at the well. Jesus wanted the little children to come to him. Jesus dined with sinners. The disciples were still works in progress and didn’t quite grasp as yet the changes required of them.
A sister in Christ once was traveling abroad. While visiting another ecclesia, she forgot to bring a headcovering. The presiding brother, in the middle of the service, stopped the proceedings and asked someone to provide her with a headcovering. The sister was embarrassed to tears. Immediately afterward, she and her husband headed to another country. In the airport the sister purchased a headcovering to avoid a repeat of the previous debacle. Upon arriving at the new locale, the sister and her husband were immediately whisked to a Bible class in which her husband was asked to teach. As they began, all of the sisters put on their headcoverings. This sister to her complete mortification and who had literally just arrived from the airport had her new headcovering safely packed in her bags. She was about to cry when the sisters in the Bible class noticed her obvious discomfort. One by one each of them removed their own headcoverings so as to accommodate their distraught sister. Such is the love of Christ.
I remember a brother in Christ now asleep in the Lord telling me about moving to a new ecclesia when he was a young man to find that this ecclesia – GASP – had the memorial service first and then had Sunday school. His ecclesia had always done it the other way around. He was appalled. It took him a while, but he finally realized what difference did it really make? This issue is never mentioned even in passing in the Bible and he was all worked up about it. He realized how silly it was to get worked up over such trivial matters. It is easy to do, though, isn’t it? How many meetings have actually split over such trivial issues? It is hard sometimes to back up from the issue at hand and take a look at the big picture.
If there was ever a story about changing to make our ecclesias a house of prayer for all people, it is the transformation that has happened in the last 10 years in South Africa. This country had been torn asunder by apartheid for years. When it ended, the ecclesias in South Africa were white, middle class islands surrounded by a sea of black. The brethren there would have no more thought about entering a black township than fly to the moon. There were vast cultural and economic differences not to mention issues of security. Yet, despite the vast gulf, the brethren decided that it was a Scriptural mandate for them to preach. They needed to look like their community despite their discomfort and lack of understanding of how to make that happen. What has happened since then has been nothing short of a miracle. Immeasurable cultural divides have been conquered. Lives have been changed on both sides of the color barrier. Ecclesias which once were on their last breaths have been given a new lease on life. Young people have been energized. The love of Christ has blown apart years of distrust, stereotypes and hard feelings.
The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev. 22:17)
Have a great week,
