By Mark A. Taylor
A longtime reader of CHRISTIAN STANDARD paid us a wonderful compliment earlier this year.
“Thank you for giving us a magazine that makes us think,” he said.
This likely would have seemed a small achievement just a generation or two ago. There was a day when many in the Christian churches and churches of Christ spent more energy defining orthodoxy than questioning tradition.
But fresh winds are blowing today””new churches, growing congregations, multisites and multimedia and external focus””all of it energized by a crop of younger leaders sold out to finding new ways to evangelize.
“It”s true this crowd isn”t interested in our recent history,” said Brian Mavis, creator of our new feature, Stake. “But they do care about our founding values” even though “they aren”t for or against an idea just because it did or did not come from our heritage.”
This group, a larger group than some of us realize, is not going to stick with the fellowship of Christian churches and churches of Christ just because their parents did. And their fresh ways of seeing and saying things sometimes create separations between them and the movement that gave them birth. As Brian sees it, both younger and older leaders may feel alienated; the old may see the young as unappreciative, while the young feel pressure to “get in line.”
As we reported in our introductory installment of Stake, February 6, many of them are viewing the Restoration Movement in general and CHRISTIAN STANDARDÂ in particular as irrelevant. And as we indicated that week, our goal with Stake is to re-engage these leaders, to listen to them, and to allow them to express ideas unlike those we might expect in Christian Standard. By welcoming differing viewpoints, we encourage a culture that allows everyone”s ideas to be refined.
The tagline for Stake is “challenging Christian risk-takers,” and perhaps no one is taking a greater risk with Stake than CHRISTIAN STANDARDÂ itself. We risk implying that we”re endorsing an idea just by reporting that someone expressed it. We risk driving away some longtime readers by seeking dialogue with younger leaders.
But Christian Standard”s mission is to serve this whole fellowship and to help its various factions and tribes connect with each other for the sake of penetrating our culture with the gospel. Many of those we”re reaching out to with Stake will shape the future of our movement. It seems to us there”s greater risk in ignoring them than in allowing them now and then to say things we can”t quite swallow.
In the process, we hope to achieve a goal for every reader””longtime and new””that one admirer says we”re already accomplishing. We hope to make you think.
I grew up in “Restoration” churches. I attended a “Restoration” Bible College. I’ve supported “Restoration” churches all my life and expect to continue doing so. I feel that those who wear the name should support the positions which drew our pioneers together. Unity must be “in Christ.” Our only hope is in Him. I’ve considered it good that Bob Russell and several others have encouraged growth in particular congregations. What I can’t see is how we can continue supporting the North American Christian Convention when it costs so very much to attend. What I can see is that Restoration Herald and the Christian Standard should help us cohere. Anything which will encourage young church leaders to continue in the path of restoration to BIBLE teachings and practices is good. We don’t want to forget that JESUS is Lord and He has spoken through His apostles and other selected writers to provide the guides which will keep us in His one body. Every effort made to encourage faithful service to JESUS should be encouraged. So we will pray that STAKE will accomplish good while building up the movement for unity in Christ which engages our hearts.