I don't think I would survived Churches of Christ in the 1950s. Endless debates about whether church members could support orphan's homes, Christian colleges, or have pianos in a house would have driven me to Red China. I'm grateful that we aren't that so divisive today, though I wonder whether or not we have much of a pulse at all. Is it better to endless bicker about something peripheral or talk about nothing at all?
I thought about this as I looked through our church mail today. In our mailbox was a 60 page booklet that appears to be part of the surprisingly still active debate about whether or not churches can use multiple cups in the Lord's Supper. And it's not out of nowhere, it seems...it's a response to somebody else's pamphlet on the same thing. Do I know which side this new mailing is on? Was I at all familiar with the initial debate that led to the initial pamphlet? Not really. But here, on the very edge of the Bible belt several states away from the author, we get to be drawn into this debate. The cost of mailing what must have been thousands of pamphlets to thousands of churches was probably enough to furnish a reasonable size soup kitchen for week, but hey, what's more important? Continuing to debate issues to an apathetic audience that hasn't cared about this issue for half a century? Sign me up!
Funny thing is, I actually probably have sympathy for the one-cup argument. I think there's a lot more Biblical foundation for this position than there is for defending the absoluteness of acappella music, and there's a lot more Bibilcal foundation for this position than there is for paying located preachers. But are any of these things core gospel issues? Absolutely not.
And I will probably take some time over the next few weeks to read this pamphlet. Maybe I'll learn something. Probably not...it will soon end up in the recycle bin, but I'd like to think that I'm kinda open minded.
