Groups do good; individuals often do better
I have never had much hope that Christian
churches would someday throw aside differences and unite in one
big mushy religion with flexible doctrines and practices. How would a committee of committed Chris-tians
fashion a church government that could handle the authority of
the pope on the one hand and the tolerance of some Protestant
denominations on the other hand? Let’s say the Catholic church elected
a hard-line pope who wanted a strict adherence to old-line Christian
doctrine. Then some wishy-washy group comes along and decides
it’s going to declare palm-reading an official practice of
their denomination. Where would it end? Certainly not in a cozy
sit-down chat. More than likely, it would create another church
schism that would embarrass religious people for generations. I think the dialogues are a wonderful witness
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ — a commitment to love one’s
brothers and sisters in spite of all the human barriers. But the
idea of creating a massive, wiggly, gelatin-style religion, wobbling
this way and that, should not appeal to us. So the National Council of Churches and
the World Council of Churches were created. It was an exciting,
hopeful time for Christians around the globe. Now the National Council, worried about
finances and loyalty, is ready to disband and join forces with
the National Association of Evangelicals, an organization that
has focused on conservative Christian groups. The plan is to form
a brand-new group that will overlook some issues, such as homosexuality
and abortion, because those topics could be divisive. Instead,
the new association allegedly would focus on common concerns,
such as world poverty. But those international organizations are
always fraught with difficulty. There are loyalties to all kinds
of ghostly alliances. The real ecumenical work, the stuff that
just makes a person’s eyes water, is the efforts that happen
in the neighborhoods. Across the nation, churches are working
together to tutor aspiring youth, solve neighborhood crime, transport
seniors, build low-income houses, feed the hungry, shelter the
homeless and comfort the sad. It doesn’t get any better than
the neighborhood ecumenical efforts. It’s a joy to behold. Clark D. MorphewSeptember 28, 2000
