Denying our Roots (and blogkeeping)
Hello all:
Lately, I’ve been running into a lot of resistance from people we go to church with about our heritage and history. My wife and I attended the Stone-Campbell Symposim in Eugene earlier this month, and when my wife told someone that we had gone, we were told by someone that they didn’t believe “in any of that stuff.” I was told that if the church of Christ originated from the Restoration Movement, “we are in the wrong church”.
I’ve been talking with someone else, who although they don’t deny our heritage, they seriously question if our heritage matters.
Has anyone else experienced this? I’m sure others question if our heritage matters….but denying that we have a heritage all-together? We all have to come from somewhere, and its pretty obvious that there wasn’t a continous, cogent group practicing just like us that existed throughout history.
I think our heritage matters. History shows us where we come from, shows us our mistakes and shortcomings, and helps to determine our future. Are there things that are more important than our history? Of course…there are many. But that doesn’t negate the fact that we have one and that it has importance as well, in my view. What do you think?
-Clarke
=======================================================================
Also:
I’m sorry I’ve been so inconsistant in writing on this blog lately. I’m going to try to start writing more so that a week doesn’t go by betwen blog posts.
Also, I will be attending the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures May 2nd-5th. I’m taking my laptop and will be blogging on site there. If you are reading this and are going to be there, let me know.
=======================================================================
RSS feed for comments on this post. | TrackBack URI
April 29th, 2006 at 11:04
A very well known preacher in the COC is a friend of my wife’s family. While staying over at our house one evening my wife mistakenly handed him a copy of Discovering our Roots. I knew what his reaction would be. When I got it back he had written in the front cover that the church started in Acts 2 and that we have no history or heritage. That’s for the “denominational” churches.
It’s very sad that we reject such a rich history. We stand on the shoulders of some spiritual giants. Sometimes I think we’re just sitting on their shoulders playing “chicken” in a pool of mediocrity.
April 29th, 2006 at 12:41
Hey Clarke,
Those who deny their heritage are in denial. A great read on this topic is
The Crux of the Matter. Whether we admit it or not, our characteristic beliefs can be traced to Zwingli and the Reformed Church, the Puritans, and of course Arminius. We did not come up with this set of beliefs from a blank slate. Whether we admit it or not, we are a product of our heritage. Generations of people have lived their lives by these beliefs. That heritage should not be lightly discarded.
Alan
April 29th, 2006 at 13:11
The person who responded to you was correct. If we’re part of a (universal) body that has its origin with mere men rather than Christ, we are in the wrong one. It’s the old “Church of Christ” vs. “church of Christ” discussion.
April 29th, 2006 at 13:43
As an someone who has an ICOC background, our heritage (all the way back to 1979! [he said facitiously]) was featured in many ICOC publications and productions.
Unfortunately, it was not until 2003 that I began to investigate our history previous to ‘79. I am very proud of the men God chose to use in the Restoration Movement. Lipscomb, the Campbells, “Racoon” Smith, Stone, Lucas and many more. Admitting (or embracing) our heritage is not a denial of first century christianity.
Alan is correct in using the Crux of the Matter as great study in church DNA. Although the ICOC is distinctive (in culture and practices) it shares the same DNA as the church of Christ. There are those in the ICOC who would rather not admit our history (with the Restoration Movement) and those who wish to investigate it further.
Phil
April 29th, 2006 at 13:46
Oh yeah, one more thing…
BAD CLARKE! - Not being consistant in your blog!
How dare you spend time with family, studying for school, reading, praying!
Where are your priorities?
Just kidding of course. I am very appreciative of your efforts with clarkecomments.
Facitious Phil
April 29th, 2006 at 15:21
Hey Clarke do not worry about your time spent blogging. You have devloped a faithful core of viewers of your blog, we are not going any where. That saddens me when people deny our heritage as well. I have heard the argument numerous times that the Churches of Christ started in Acts 2. Go to preachersfiles.com. You will see what rampant legalism looks like. Its alive and well in our corner. I have been banned from the discussion boards twice!! Too them, I am apart of a denominational CoC, they are of the original church from Acts 2. I once held that thinking, and pushed away many. I understand how they think but I pray that they may come to a better understanding of Gods grace and a better biblical understanding of the bible itself.
April 29th, 2006 at 17:20
I have been reading your blog for a long time, never disappointed in the thought provoking material here. I am an elder in a mainline coc, a little less traditional than most, but we are in west Tennessee, so how progressive can a coc be in this area? Anyway, if one believes he already has all the right answers, his heritage is completely unimportant and irrelevant. Only when we see ourselves as works in progress do we see the need to know where we have come from and why we think the way we do. Amazing how doctrinal correctness can so quickly be thought to equal right standing before God Almighty. May He have mercy on us all. I would like to visit with you while at Pepperdine.
April 29th, 2006 at 20:59
“Progressive” in West Tennessee means you don’t announce all the song numbers before leading them.
Or, God forbid, you sing “off the wall.” That’s waaaay out there!
Maybe we could start one of those Jeff Foxworthy bits with this. “You know you’re in a progressive COC when…”
May 1st, 2006 at 4:03
Clarke
I came from a denomination before becoming a Christian through a ‘Christian’ campus fellowship. The concept of ‘Christian’ only was really the only ‘heritage’ I learned… but at the time it was all I needed to know.
Since then I have found James B. North’s book on the Restoration to be the best one I have read. I wish all would know the roots that started the fire in America.
But another segment of the movement look to their heritage as did the religious of Jesus’ day. It was enough to keep them right with God while they didn’t have to listen to Jesus Christ.
Yes, the heritage is great… or should I say the ideas that drove it. But it has been lost on many because of the legalism they have seen. The best approach. Stick to the words of Jesus… promote the ideas of Christian only and encourage all to listen to Jesus Christ. What more can be done? Some will listen and others will not.
May 1st, 2006 at 5:46
If you study our heritage, you will realize that many of the doctrines we subscribe to are not as based on the teachings of Jesus and the apostles as we would like to think. A study of our heritage realizes that we are a movement birthed out of the Enlightenment and American Democracy. It was from John Locke and other philosophers, not from scripture, that we inherited our primitivist desire to go “back to the Bible.”
That, I believe, is why people refuse to study history. It reveals the truth, and people are scared of the truth because it exposes our hypocrisies and erroneous conclusions. That’s my two cents.
May 1st, 2006 at 8:16
If your roots in the Church only extend to the Stone/Campbell
movement my advise to you is stay out of strong winds.
May 1st, 2006 at 8:49
My parents (I promise they’ll be the only ones there whose last name is “Wuest”) are driving towards Pepperdine as I type. If you meet them, try to keep ‘em out of trouble. Or at least try not to let them get you in trouble!
May 1st, 2006 at 8:53
Heritage has its place and as long as it takes its place down the list I don’t think there is a problem.
We cannot ignore our heritage, or fail to continue to work on the goals of the movement.
We also cannot put our heritage at the forefront of our message. Our message is the Gospel.
May 1st, 2006 at 10:27
Seo:
I’d love to visit with you as well. I’ll send you an email and we can figure where to meet.
Laymond:
The point here is that some don’t even realize/acknolwedge that there is a heritage at all.
If you noticed my banner graphic, it is noticably void of graphics from Stone-Campbell History. That may change at some point, I have a banner that is nothing but Restoration graphics, and I might use a changer and have them switch back and forth…but, the point is this - understanding and appreciating our heritage in the movement necessarily points backwards, and not just to the 1st Century Church. It points to 2000 years of Church History, and to Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and others that have been influential in the growth of our movement and who we are today. So, I must disagree with your comment, to an extent. Our roots in the Stone-Campbell movement extend farther down than an inch or two and are more than capable or weathering a strong wind.
Mark:
If I run across them, I’ll definatly say hello, and let them lead me into temptation not.
Tech:
I agree. Part of what we have done with our history (and sometimes with our church, even) is secularize it. A superior way to view our history is one that is a story of our predecessors sharing the Good News with others in the past.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I’m glad you all still read and contribute here.
-Clarke
May 2nd, 2006 at 6:28
At my church we recently published a document about our congregations faith and practices.
Our faith statements are about what we believe and are centered around the gospel and scriptural instruction.
The second part of the document begins “we practice our faith by…”. This is where our heritage comes into play.
This is not an all inclusive list, and its not held to a standard of a ‘church creed’, but more of an explanation of who we are, and why we do the things we do. This is part of the role our heritage plays.