Vol.
XL July 1, 2008 No.
7
The Great Transition
by Tom
McLemore
Many
of us are very concerned about some of the changes which are being introduced
in the congregations which once were devoted to scriptural faith and
practice. While it is well and good to
consider the changes in particular, perhaps it would be of primary importance
to consider the fundamental issue which is at stake in all of them.
At the bottom of every last change lies
a concern for what people desire, what they like, how they feel about it, and
what they think others whom they wish to include desire, like, and feel. I hope that you can see that all of these
concerns involve the realm of what the Bible calls the carnal. When people attempt to justify catering to
these concerns, they often make an appeal to a religion of carnal ordinances,
viz., that of the Old Testament and Judaism.
There are no attempts to justify these things on the basis of setting
our affections on things above and not on things on the earth.
A fundamental, clearly defined, and unmistakable shift
occurred with the appearance of Christ and the articulation of his message–a
shift is from carnal (physical) to spiritual.
In fact, the mission and message of Jesus mark the spiritual
FULFILLMENT, not only of the carnal ordinances themselves, but even of the
fundamental theological principles reflected in the carnal ordinances of
Judaism.
As the result, Paul can call the
We enter not into some temporal location to draw near to a
likeness of God’s glory (as in Judaism’s tabernacle and temple), but into
heaven itself by the new and living way prepared by Christ our high
priest. Once and for all he made
atonement for our sins by his death. The
incense we offer is our prayers. Our
sacrifices are the spiritual offerings of the contents of our hearts and the
giving of our own selves and our means for the service of our brethren and all
men. Our instrument of musical worship
is likewise ourselves, viz., our voices, our lips, and our hearts. And we eat with Christ and all the redeemed
at his table on his day, rather than at the altar of animal sacrifice.
All of this is contained in essence in the phrase spoken by
our Lord: “in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23, 24). That phrase is both in contrast to the
SEMBLANCE of realities manifested in Judaism and the PHYSICAL/CARNAL nature of
its ordinances. Because in Christ we
commune with God in SPIRIT, we commune with him in TRUTH (i.e.,
“reality”–“true” in the sense of “real”–rather than in shadows). There may have been a time when God was
satisfied with carnal ordinances, but that was then, and this is now. Christ has come and has led us to a higher
plane.
Is it not inexplicable for someone who understands the
transition which Christ has provided from Judaism to the ministration of the
Holy Spirit to desire to return to “the weak and beggarly elements?” (Yet that is PRECISELY what some of our
brethren are doing, seemingly without realizing WHAT they are doing).
This explains why the early church practiced none of the
carnal ordinances of Judaism (including the use of instruments) and practiced
rather the spiritual versions of them.
This is the thing that needs to be pressed. It is clear and unmistakable THAT the early
Christians did not practice the carnal ordinances of Judaism (including the use
of instruments). The urgent question is
WHY did they not do so? Once this
question is answered, any move toward practicing the ordinances of Judaism
(including the use of instruments) is FORSAKING Christ in the very essence of
his revelation and rejecting the Spirit in exchange for the flesh. Having begun in the Spirit, will we now be
made perfect by the flesh? We (and they) did not so learn Christ!
NOW, having made this point, the corollary is this: if we are not going to follow Christ (and his
New Testament revelation) in this fundamental transition...if we are
going to hold back from following him completely and all the way in this
transition from the carnal to the spiritual, AND if we can still be his true
followers without following him in this major, epoch-making transition....THEN
WE CAN BE HIS FOLLOWERS WITHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT AND WITHOUT THE TEACHING OF
THE CHRIST TO WHOM IT BEARS WITNESS.
This is the ultimate conclusion which our erring brethren
must accept if they are determined to follow the course they presently follow. If these brethren trust, believe in, and
love Christ, I don’t see how they could accept this necessary ultimate
conclusion and still think they are exhibiting faith in Christ and commitment
to him. Only if they can see these
implications of the present course they are following, it seems to me, will
they be able to resist the influence of their present (misguided) principles.
Once the principle of the great transition has been
ignored, rejected, abandoned, and pushed out of view, there is no limit to the
changes that are possible. Once the
choice has been made in favor of the flesh, the essence of the worship revealed
in the New Testament is of necessity dispensable and expendable, and anything
goes.
The most serious failure among us, in my opinion, both on
the part of those imposing change, and on the part of those resisting change,
is the attempt to justify either position by a legalistic approach. That approach results in an inability to see
the forest for the trees. That is to
engage in endless controversies which minister questions rather than godly
edifying which is in faith. On the other
hand, I hope you can understand that no one who is willing to see the big
picture will call for such changes as we are witnessing. Therein is clear and unmistakable guidance,
and therein is the ground of a more probable unity. Whatever may be indicated by the silence
of the scriptures, it behooves us to heed the implications of the loud,
large, and clear message of the great transition from carnal to spiritual.
Where do YOU stand?
Will you acknowledge the nature of the transition from a religion that
is essentially carnal to one that is essentially
spiritual in Christ? Will you admit that
there was a very good reason for it (we are destined for the eternal rather
than the temporal realm) and that Christ intends for us to be shaped by the
truth to which this good reason points?
Designed and maintained by Houston Park Church of Christ Copyright © 2000 by Houston Park Church of Christ 2 Crescent Hill Drive Selma, Alabama 36701 334-874-7941. All rights reserved. Revised: 31 Jul 2008.