Freedom in Covenant

Reflections on the Distinctive Values and Practices of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Cornwall

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498223249
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

In an age of decreasing denominational loyalty, questions of identity have become important. Both church members and inquirers wonder what to make of a denomination's core values, mission, and common practices. Because the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was born as a movement of reform on the American frontier during the early nineteenth century, it is marked by the time and place of its birth. The message it offered at the time was one of Christian unity rooted in theological simplicity and freedom of belief and practice. This message influenced the way the tradition came to understand biblical interpretation, theology, the sacraments, ministry, and its eschatology. As the movement matured, many recognized that this message of freedom could lead to unfettered individualism and tended to undermine congregational life and cooperation beyond the congregation. In response, Disciples leaders turned to the biblical idea of covenant to balance the message of freedom and link congregations with other forms of church without creating hierarchical systems. If, as some have suggested, this is a movement whose time has come, then it is important to understand the movement's identity and core values, which have been formed within the fulcrum of the tension existing between freedom and covenant.

1

Disciples Set Free

Years ago I attended a Disciples seminarians conference. During one of the sessions a seminarian from Harvard reported that the Disciples of Christ as a denomination was an unknown entity in New England. In fact, most people in that part of the country seemed to think that his denomination was some kind of exotic cult. Now, I’ve never thought of the Disciples as either exotic or cultic, but of course it doesn’t really matter what I think about my denominational home. Even if I don’t think of the Disciples as cultic, it’s quite possible that outside our own circle people could get the impression that we are a rather odd bunch. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never lived in the Disciples heartland that I have found it necessary to regularly explain who the Disciples are. While my questioners are often good Protestant Christians, they seem to have little knowledge of my tribe. They know who the Presbyterians and the Baptists are, but as for the Disciples, we are an unknown quantity. This seems to be as true in Michigan and California as it is in New England.

There was a time when I could count myself among those who didn’t know anything about the Disciples of Christ. That is due to the fact that I’m not a lifelong Disciple and didn’t encounter Disciples churches until I enrolled in a Disciples-related college after high school. Before I became a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), I had been an Episcopalian and a Pentecostal. Even since my first embrace of the Disciples as a college student, I’ve sojourned with several other denominations. Despite my religious wanderings, I have found a home among the Disciples.

So, why am I a Disciple? What attracted me to this tribe and kept me a member of the tribe? The answer can be found in the core values that define the movement’s identity. I’ve come to appreciate these values, especially its witness to the importance of Christian unity. I also have embraced its affirmation of the New Testament witness to the lordship of Jesus and the longstanding commitment to the principle of freedom, especially as it regards to the interpretation of Scripture.

A Commitment to Christian Unity

We have often used Barton Stone’s metaphor of the polar star to describe the Disciples emphasis on Christian unity, but one could ask whether the pursuit of Christian unity truly stands at the center of the Disciples’ life. Are we truly committed to unity as our founding vision? Ronald Osborn spoke of the need for Disciples not to evade our vocation, but to affirm that despite our schisms we “believe that God wills the oneness of his people” and “that emphasis on Jesus Christ provides the basis for Christian unity with the widest range of diversity and freedom.”1

The founding pastor of the congregation that I currently serve, Edgar DeWitt Jones, was a committed ecumenist, both locally and nationally. He strongly affirmed this vocation to pursue unity. Not only did he participate in local ecumenical efforts and provide leadership to the denomination’s ecumenical agencies, he served as President of the Federal Council of Churches (the predecessor of the National Council of Churches). In a sermon he preached, perhaps in the early 1940s, entitled “A Personal Confession of Faith,” Jones declared:

Progressively interpreted, the Disciples of Christ embody a noble plea and an arresting program. They cherish the dream of a reunited church, and make Christ central in teaching and in life. They emphasize unity but not uniformity. It is a roomy fellowship, holding to a universal creed: “I believe in Christ as the Son of God and my personal Savior.”2

It is this commitment to Christian unity that Jones exemplified in his own ministry that drew me to the Disciples. The Disciples seemed like a natural fit, considering my own faith journey, which has run the gamut from Episcopalian to Pentecostal. When I joined up with the Disciples I was looking for a tradition that would allow me to retain much from my rather mixed bag of faith experiences. What is true for me seems to be true of many others I’ve met over the years.

The Disciples commitment to unity is rooted in the experiences of the founders with frontier Christianity in the early years of the nineteenth century. It was a time when most Christians not only believed that their brand of Christianity was the only acceptable version, but they were known fight with each other, often calling each other names that would make modern politicians blush. It was in that context that the Campbells and Barton Stone asked the question: If we as Christians claim to follow Jesus and affirm the Bible, why are we divided?

Thomas Campbell called the divisions among Christians a “horrid evil” and “anti-Christian.” Barton Stone spoke of the divisions among Christians as “drinking up the spirits of the godly, destroying the influence of Christianity, and barring the way to heaven.”3 That sense of calling has fueled the Disciples movement to this day, even if we’ve had our share of divisions. Our history records two major breaks, leading to the existence of three major branches of the Stone-Campbell Movement.4 Our commitment to Christian unity can be seen in the fact that although we’re a rather small denomination, we’ve produced a significant number of important ecumenical leaders, including Paul Crow, the first general secretary of the Consultation on Church Union; Michael Kinnamon, who served as general secretary of three unity organizations, the Consultation on Church Union, Churches Uniting in Christ, and the National Council of Churches; and Richard Hamm, who served as the executive director of another broader coalition of Christians, Christian Churches Together. If you take a close look at the history of the ecumenical movement over the past century, you will find Disciples featured prominently among the participants and the leaders.

Unfortunately, our witness to unity gets diluted when we begin to think that unity equals uniformity. Although uniformity may make unity easier to achieve, such a narrow vision doesn’t accomplish the goal of uniting a diverse body of Christians together in Christ. Our witness as Disciples is this: We can be of one mind in Christ without agreeing with each other on every issue! Therefore, if we keep working on the task of unity, then we’ll be true to our calling as Disciples. And as the psalmist puts it: “How good and pleasant it is, when kindred live together in unity” (Ps 133:1). Indeed!

A New Testament Witness to Jesus Christ

If unity is the Disciples’ polar star, then the question remains: On what basis do we unite? Our founders believed that when we get hung up on boundary issues—rules, regulations, and doctrines—we will end up dividing over them. If we focus instead on the New Testament witness to Jesus Christ, then we will find our source of unity. This hasn’t proven to be an easy road to trod, but the founders believed that the best course of action was to embrace Peter’s summarization of the gospel: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” They concluded that if this confession was good enough for Jesus, then surely it is good enough for modern Christians!

There is simplicity to this Good Confession, but it leaves many people wanting a more precise definition. They are concerned about the substance of that claim. The statement itself is broad enough that it gives a great degree of freedom to define the meaning of who Jesus is and how we relate to God through him. For those who want to have a degree of certainty about the truth inherent in the confession, this broadness can be troubling. Of course, the question of truthfulness is an important one. As Jesus said: “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Disciples have always believed that this liberating truth is to be found in Jesus, even if not in specific belief statements about him. There is an assumption that beliefs about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit have evolved over time. For many Disciples, the focus is less on doctrinal definition and more on living out the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus. The message is simple, but it’s not simplistic. Instead of placing the emphasis on boundaries, Disciples have generally focused on the center, allowing the boundaries to take care of themselves.

Call to Freedom

If unity is the polar star and guiding force of this movement, it is set in the context of freedom. There is common agreement that Christians have been called upon to unite around a common confession that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of the Living God. If this confession is to be transformative, however, it cannot be coerced. It has to be freely chosen. It should not surprise anyone that such a belief would emerge in a movement that formed soon after the birth of a nation that promised freedom of religion. The message of the founders was that each believer had the freedom to read and interpret the biblical text for themselves.

As a movement born on the American frontier just decades after the founding of the American nation, freedom was in the air as Barton Stone and Thomas Campbell began their ministries of reformation, animating new visions and opportunities for Christians to experiment with new organizational forms and theological perspectives. Freed from government and even denominational restrictions and interference, churches of all kinds sprung up on the frontier. Competition was the order of day, along with theological heterodoxy. In some ways, spiritual anarchy ruled the day! It was in the midst of this increasingly chaotic context, which produced movements such as the Mormons and the Shakers, that the Stone-Campbell Movement, out of which the Disciples emerged, was born.

The founders came to believe that it was essential that people have the freedom to read, interpret, and apply Scripture for themselves. With this in mind, they questioned the authority of creeds and religious hierarchies. At the same time, they encouraged laypersons to take control of their own spiritual lives. They communicated this message through sermons, debates, newspapers, and books. Just as blogs offer people today the opportunity to share a message to a broad audience, newspapers did the same for that generation. It was often said that although the Disciples didn’t have bishops, they did have many editors! These editors and preachers encouraged everyone, whether preacher or layperson, male or female, to educate themselves so they could effectively interpret the texts of Scripture.

It is important to note that the earliest Disciples colleges were not designed to train clergy. They were founded by reformers who hoped to provide all Christians with the necessary tools for reading, understanding, and interpreting the Bible, even as they prepared for careers outside the church. In time educational institutions, including seminaries, were established to provide the churches with an educated (and even professional) ministry.

Due to the fact that this new religious movement reflected the cultural and social dynamics of the age, it was in a good position to grow quickly. It worked because people were hungry for the opportunity to think for themselves about the things of God. Yes, it could be messy at times, but the results wer...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preamble to The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1. Disciples Set Free
• 2. Personal Freedom and Biblical Interpretation
• 3. Disciples and the Question of Authority
• 4. Unity—the Disciples’ Vocation
• 5. Harbingers of the Realm of God
• 6. The Sacred Ordinances
• 7. Ministry without Hierarchy
• Epilogue: Disciples Living in Covenant Relationship
• Bibliography