Herein is Love
R >>
Reuel L. Howe >> Herein is Love
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 +--------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| The original title page verso was as below. |
| |
| Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the |
| copyright on this publication was renewed. |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
HEREIN IS LOVE
by
REUEL L. HOWE
about this book
"God created man to live in relation with the world of things, with
himself, and with his fellow men, and to live in these relationships in
such a way that he will ... grow in his relationship with God," writes
Dr. Howe in this meaningful book. He describes the true significance of
Christian fellowship and how it can come about and exist. Living
responsibly by giving ourselves to one another--parent to child, child
to parent, pastor to congregation, congregation to one another, church
to the world--only in living out the Word of God's love in human
relationships can we experience the love of God.
Dr. Howe wrote this book at the request of the Division of Christian
Education and the Division of Evangelism of the American Baptist
Convention. It grew out of a series of lectures he presented at a
national conference on Christian education at Green Lake, Wis., on the
subject, "Growth in the Christian Fellowship."
It is intended that this book be used in study groups such as parent
groups or parent-teacher groups. Pastors and students of the church will
gain new insights from it. Moreover, any individual who is truly
interested in the Christian life will find that it is addressed to him.
_Cover Design by Alexander Limont_
HEREIN IS LOVE
By the same author_
_Man's Need and God's Action_
_The Creative Years_
HEREIN IS LOVE
A Study of the Biblical Doctrine of Love in Its Bearing
on Personality, Parenthood, Teaching, and All Other
Human Relationships
by
REUEL L. HOWE
The Judson Press
Chicago Valley Forge Los Angeles
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| Copyright (C) 1961 |
| |
| by THE JUDSON PRESS |
| |
| Sixth printing, April, 1963 |
| |
| All rights in this book are reserved. No part of the text |
| may be reproduced in any manner without permission in |
| writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief |
| quotations included in a review of the book in a magazine or |
| newspaper. |
| |
| Except where indicated otherwise, the Bible quotations in |
| this volume are in accordance with the Revised Standard |
| Version of the Bible, copyright 1946 and 1952, by the |
| Division of Christian Education of the National Council of |
| the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and |
| are used by permission. |
| |
| LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NO. 61-11105. |
| |
| Printed in the U.S.A. |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
_To my children_
Marjorie and Lanny
FOREWORD
This book was born out of a living encounter with the members of the
Christian Education Conference to which I lectured at the American
Baptist Assembly at Green Lake, Wis., in August of 1958. As I stepped to
the speaker's rostrum to begin my first lecture to that group, and my
first to so large a group of Baptist lay people, I wondered whether I as
an Episcopalian and they as Baptists had images of each other that would
help or hinder our communication. I shared with them my question and
learned later they had been asking themselves the same question. I
explained that I had prepared myself to speak to them in the hope that
through me some of the truth of God would be heard by them, and I
explained also that their lives were to be their preparation for hearing
what I had to say; that is, that I hoped they would work as hard to hear
me as I would work to make myself understood. They responded in good
spirit, so that the Spirit of God spoke through and to all of us.
I describe this occasion because it produced the experience and context
out of which the present book appeared. _Herein Is Love_ is, I believe,
an outward and visible sign of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
experienced on that occasion; and I offer it as a means of opening to
others the possibility of participating in this fellowship of the Holy
Spirit.
The theme of the book grows out of that experience: As the love of God
required incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth in order that it might be
received by us, so the Word of God's love in our day calls for persons
in whom it may be embodied. The church, as the embodiment of divine love
in human relationships, has tremendous responsibilities and
opportunities in our modern culture. The old and familiar biblical
symbols and stories do not always communicate their meanings to men
today, and we must find a language that does. The language of the lived
life of both man and God is the one that we shall use here in an attempt
to open to us the meaning of the life of man and of God.
Reuel L. Howe
January 10, 1961
CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD 7
CONTENTS 9
I
SOME FRIGHTENED FRIENDS 11
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."
--_1 John 4:18_
II
GOD IN THE WORLD 26
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son...."
--_John 3:16_
III
HEREIN IS LOVE 43
"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and
he who loves is born of God and knows God."--_1 John 4:7_
IV
SOME OBJECTIVES OF LOVE 61
"Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in
deed and in truth."--_1 John 3:18_
V
THOSE WHO WOULD LOVE 82
"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because
we love the brethren."--_1 John 3:14_
VI
LOVE IN ACTION 99
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
--_1 John 3:16_
I
SOME FRIGHTENED FRIENDS
"There is no fear in love,
but perfect love casts out fear."--_1 John 4:18_
"It seems to me that the church has lost its influence. Nobody pays much
attention to it any more, except some of its own members; and they don't
seem to be interested in anything except their own activities. The time
was when the word of the minister carried weight. Some may not have
agreed, but when the church spoke they paid attention. It's not true
now, though."
Mr. Clarke eyed the others in the group as if he were testing their
reactions to the statements he had just made. The church had always
given him a sense of security, and now he was both worried that it
seemed to have lost its power, and resentful that people no longer
listened to its teaching.
He was one of a group of leaders of a local congregation who, at the
request of their minister, were meeting to re-examine the purpose of the
church. Not all of the group had arrived as yet, and the minister of the
congregation, Mr. Gates, had been detained in his office by an emergency
call upon his pastoral care.
Within the minute after Mr. Clarke finished, Mr. Wise spoke up. He was a
thoughtful and compassionate member of the congregation who often raised
the kind of questions that carried the discussion to deeper levels. When
his questions were ignored, as they often were, he would smile
good-naturedly and continue both as a contributor and as a question
raiser. Turning to Mr. Clarke, he said: "I think I know how you feel.
The statements of our ordained spiritual leaders are important, but do
you think we should equate their words with--"
As usual, Mr. Wise's comment was interrupted, and this time by Mr.
Churchill who, with evident irritation, protested against any concern
over what others thought about the church. He said: "The church has got
to be the church, and the world is different from it. I don't like this
'return to religion' business. Christianity and the church aren't
supposed to be popular movements. If people want to join the church,
that's fine; but if they don't, that's their lookout. Let's be the
church and leave the world to itself."
"But why was Christ born _into the world_--" began Mr. Wise.
"I don't agree," exclaimed Mrs. Strait, responding to Mr. Churchill's
comment and not hearing Mr. Wise. "I think we should be concerned about
the world; concerned enough, at least, to set a good example, so that
people will know what they're supposed to live up to and to do. After
all, Jesus told us how we should live, and He did so in such simple
words that even children can understand them. All we have to do--and
it's written there for us to read--is to keep the commandments, imitate
Jesus, and live a good life for ourselves and others."
"Yes, but if it's that simple, why don't church people live better--"
"Not at all! _Not at all!_" pronounced the stately Mr. Knowles with some
disdain. "I don't agree with any of you. Our difficulties today result
from the ignorance of our people, and the answer to the problem is
education. We need to teach, and teach again. Church people must know
their faith and know why they believe in it. When I was a child I was
drilled thoroughly in the knowledge of the Bible, and I once won a prize
for knowing more Bible verses than any other child. We need more adult
education, and our children must be filled with the truth so they can
recite it forwards and backwards. In my estimation, there is too much
emphasis now on persons and not enough on the content of the faith."
"But didn't Jesus say, 'For God so loved the world--'"
"It seems to me," interrupted Professor Manby, "that all of you are in
too much of a hurry. Some scientists estimate that man has been eight
million years coming to his present state of life. In contrast,
civilized man is only four thousand years old. This being true, we
should be more patient. Given time, man will solve his problems."
"But has man's character developed in pace with his knowl--"
At that moment the Reverend Mr. Gates, with several other members of the
committee, came into the room, and after greeting everyone he said: "Now
let's get down to business. As you know, I've called this meeting in
order that we may consider the purpose of our church in this community.
I think we need a clearer understanding of why we are here. I wish we
could be surer that we are serving God's purposes and not our own. I
wish we all would assume as true that God's purposes for His church and
for us are greater than anything we may think they are, and that we
would hold our opinions and beliefs open to His correction and renewal."
"How can we be any clearer about the purpose of this church than to keep
it open and its organizations going, so that people can come to it if
they want to," exclaimed Mr. Churchill abruptly.
Mr. Wise now got to his feet, and with a twinkle in his eye began
speaking: "You've all interrupted me several times, but now I'm going to
speak my piece. I think Mr. Gates is right. We do need occasionally to
rethink the reason for our existence as a church, lest it become a
private club that caters to our own special needs. Our discussion so far
tonight suggests that we want the church to be what we need it to be. We
want God cut down to our own pattern and size. It may be that our church
is too small for God, and that we'll turn out to be a religious, but
godless, club."
"But how could that happen to us?" protested Mrs. Strait. "If we do
what's right, God will love us and use us as His obedient servants."
"I wish Mr. Gates would set us straight on these matters. Were you going
to say anything more, Pastor?" inquired Mr. Clarke.
"Yes, I'll have more to say," replied Mr. Gates slowly, "but this is not
my problem only. That's why I called you together. We need to help each
other think this question through. But to do that, we all shall need the
spirit of Christ to help us. We need to look at the concepts and
meanings that we bring out of our lives in the light of Christ's
teachings and example. He brought the gift of God's love, but He brought
also a judgment that was most disturbing to religious people. Instead of
our judging what is good for Christ, I pray that He will judge us, and
help us to be the instruments of His love."
"But you're our minister and teacher, so why don't you tell us what you
think the job of the church is in this community? I'm sure we'd all
support you in whatever you might suggest," urged Mr. Clarke.
"Mr. Clarke, I am not the church. I appreciate your confidence in me,
but I am only one member of the church. The fact that I am ordained does
not make me any more responsible for the church than you are, and I
refuse to assume your responsibilities for you. Instead, I want to use
my role as an ordained member of the church, and such training and
experience as I have had, to help you find _your_ role, so that together
we can carry on the functions of the church in ways that will serve God
and His people."
When Mr. Gates finished speaking there was silence. The reactions of his
hearers were varied, showing anxiety, irritation, confusion, and
blankness. And no wonder! The spontaneous discussion that had gone on
before Mr. Gates' arrival had revealed how little their understandings
of the church had prepared them to hear the question he was raising. The
viewpoints they had brought to the meeting now closed their minds to the
meanings he was trying to open to them.
What, then, were those concepts and meanings that made it so difficult
for them to hear and understand their minister? Each of them
represented a point of view that is widely prevalent in the church
today and which keeps the church from being fully relevant and
effective.
_Clericalism_
When Mr. Clarke thought about the church, he did so in terms of the
clergy and their work in the church. We might call him a "clericalizer";
that is, one who thinks that only the minister does the work of the
church. This idea is the basis of clericalism, the disease which saps
the strength of the church because one part of the body, the ordained
minister, is made to do the work of the rest of the body, the unordained
members. In the discussion Mr. Gates took exception to this idea, and
rightly so, for it results in a clergy that is overworked and
frustrated. Indeed, they find it impossible to do all that needs to be
done. And yet the idea has a hidden appeal for many of them, for it
feeds their professional pride and arrogance. But the damage done by
this disease does not cease there. It also makes for church people who
are lazy, who feel that the church belongs to the clergy, and who are
not themselves instruments through which God works in the world. God is
kept from doing what He would do for them, because He cannot do through
the clergy what He would do through the whole of His church.
Clericalism blocks the ministry of the church, because it tends to make
lay members second-class citizens who feel incompetent on matters of
religion. When the ordained member makes religious interpretation and
action his professional monopoly, the lay member responds by exhibiting
increasing ignorance and incompetence. Sometimes it seems as if lay
people show less intelligence in the church than in their world. It is
as though the practice of religion had a stupefying effect on them,
whereas in other areas of living they are intelligent, informed, and
perceptive. This clericalizing of the church's ministry produces in lay
members the sense that religion is separate from life. They are heard to
say to their ministers, "You stick to religion and leave the affairs of
the world to us." Religion thus becomes a Sunday business, and Sunday
business is kept separate from weekday business.
Still another and related ill effect of clericalism is that it keeps
laymen from discovering the religious significance of their work.
Parents, for example, are not only parents entrusted with the physical,
psychological, and social care of their children, but also are the
teachers, pastors, and priests of their children. A teacher may serve
God in his teaching, a doctor in his practice of medicine, a businessman
in the conduct of his business, a milkman in the delivery of milk, and
the garbageman in the collection of garbage. It is the business of the
church to help these members find their ministry, but clericalism never
allows them to make the discovery.
Clericalism, like any other concept, is more than a set of ideas. Mr.
Clarke didn't just happen to hold that notion of the church. He held it
because he needed it. His need grew out of his dependency, his timidity,
and his fear of assuming responsibility. He needed to exalt the clergy.
He wanted to be told what to believe and to do; and his "doctrine" of
the ministry, namely, clericalism, justified him in his need. People who
want to be told what to believe and to do inevitably will develop or
drift toward a doctrine that is authenticated by their need.
Ministers also contribute to the prevalence of clericalism. All men have
a very human and understandable need to be centrally important and
indispensable, and ministers are tempted to exploit this need in the
conduct of their work. It is only natural for them to think of the
church as "my church," of the people as "my people," and of the ministry
as "my ministry." These images cause them to function as if everything
depended upon them, and as if they wanted everyone to depend upon them.
Indeed, they may even measure the success of their ministry by the
number of people who depend upon them for guidance and support, rather
than by the number who are achieving mature self-sufficiency. As a part
of this same picture, some ministers are unable to accept suggestions,
much less criticism. The clericalized image they hold of themselves is
that of an "answer man"; that is, one who has all the answers to human
problems, and always right answers.
Thus, clericalism is a condition contributed to by both the ordained and
the lay members of the church, and it tragically diminishes the power of
the church. It is a symptom of Mr. Clarke's fear and of our own. It
shows that we are afraid to trust God and to let His Spirit work through
the whole of His people.
_Churchism_
Mr. Churchill's ideas, on the other hand, represented a different
concept, one which may be called churchism, or pietistic
otherworldliness, a concept which encourages the church's retreat from
the world. It creates an artificial distinction between the religious
and the secular, the religious being thought of as worship and all the
other activities that go on in the church building, and the secular
considered to be everything that goes on outside the building. In its
local version churchism is parochialism, or total preoccupation with the
church as an institution at the level of the local community.
The tragedy of such parochialism is that the creative thought and
energies of people are consumed in the mere maintenance of the church as
an institution, and in dead-end religious activity and worship. Mr.
Churchill, and thousands of others who are like him, think of the church
only as "gathered," as a congregation. They think that the church is
most truly the church when its members are assembled in the church
building and engaged in church work. They think of the church in terms
of "going to church," of working for its organizations, of planning for
its promotion, and of meeting the needs of the church as an entity
separate from the rest of life. What is even worse, these people think
that only when they are doing this church work are they serving God.
Theologically, their concept means that Christ died for the church.
Instead, Christ died for the world! The purpose, then, of the church is
not to meet its own needs but to serve God's purposes in the world. This
forces upon us the position that not only should we think of the church
in its _gathered_ sense, but also in its _dispersed_ sense. This means
that church people should think of themselves as members of the church
when they are out in the world, and that their work in the world is the
means through which God may act through them in the accomplishment of
His purposes. Therefore, in terms of the gathered church we can speak of
"church work," but in terms of the dispersed church we must think of the
"work of the church in the world," the work of the instrument of God's
purposes there.
The relation between the gathered church and the dispersed church should
be complementary. The church, as the people of God, comes together in a
conscious way from out of the world to be renewed, instructed, and
equipped for the purpose of returning, as the body of Christ, to its
task in the world. Then, out of its work in the world, the church
gathers again to worship, to make its offerings, and to be strengthened
anew for its work in the world. Elsewhere I have likened the church to
an army that has been sent on a mission. In order to accomplish its
purpose, it must have a base. In order to have a base, it must assign
certain troops to the task of building and maintaining that base, so
that the rest of the army may be free to accomplish its mission. We
tend, however, to forget the "mission" and wastefully assign most of our
people to building and maintaining bases, with the result that we do not
accomplish our true purpose. More members need to be assigned to and
trained for the mission, where the conflict between life and death goes
on unceasingly.
Contrary to the opinion of Mr. Churchill, therefore, a complementary
relation exists between the church and the world. The world is the
sphere of God's action, and the church is the means of His action. The
church must be found at work in the world, where it will encounter the
tension between the saving purposes of God and the self-centered
purposes of man.
As in the case of clericalism, so it is in the case of churchism. There
is a human reason for the existence of the concept and for its
prevalence in the church. The reason, in Mr. Churchill's case, was to
be found in the conflict that he felt between his human interests and
his church membership. He had certain real estate holdings and other
investments from which he was making an excellent profit. Some of these,
however, were exploitive and in contradiction to the faith which he
professed. It was necessary, therefore, for him to keep the church and
the world separate; and his doctrine of the church made it possible for
him to rationalize the split between his faith and his life. We must not
think that Mr. Churchill engaged in this contradiction deliberately. In
part, his action was the unconscious means by which he held on to two
conflicting values without suffering from the conflict between them. We
must not think that Mr. Churchill is alone in this kind of separation of
belief and practice, of splitting the church from the world. We all have
our own individual forms of it.
It is because of our insecurity and fear that we develop these defensive
attitudes of parochialism and churchism. We huddle like frightened
children behind the doors of the church, whereas, as soldiers of Christ,
we should be struggling courageously on the frontiers of life where the
conflicts between love and hate, truth and prejudice, are being waged.
_Moralism_
The next member of the group who spoke up was Mrs. Strait, and she
voiced for herself and for millions of other church people the
moralistic understanding of the faith. Moralism is perhaps the most
widespread of all the concepts that we are now discussing.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9