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 An
elder of a church once told me he was “so tired of hearing
about gravy on the Lord’s table.” He spoke of the
oft-repeated statement that “adding instrumental music was
like putting gravy on the bread of the Lord’s Supper.” He
thought the illustration was inept, inappropriate.
But
oft-repeated illustrations and statements (other than sound
exegesis of scriptures) may have far more disastrous effects
than the offending of aesthetic tastes. Such phrases, well-put,
“catchy,” and perhaps accurately descriptive of a given
situation, may be repeated from pulpit to pulpit until they are
“standardized” as the way to state a particular case. This
becomes orthodoxy, and further objective analysis or study is
stifled.
I
suspect “dominates the churches” (as applied to the
Missionary Society) is such a phrase. The colorful history of
this charge goes back to Catholic hierarchy and councils, and
the Protestant Reformation. It is easy to see how reformers
(especially those who advocated a “free” or non-historical
approach to church identity) would be wary of any hint of “domination.”
Then, when England’s parliament passed “Acts of Uniformity”
binding the State Church upon protestants, the Independents
rebelled, and felt the burden of “domination.”
Restoration
preachers (Stone, the Campbells, etc.) contended with
creed-bound Synods and Associations that “dominated the
churches;° and this was one of Campbell’s chief objections to
Baptist Associations. Later, when Campbell advocated “cooperation”
for the general organization of churches he should not have
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been surprised to hear it charged that
his Missionary Society “dominated the churches.” The Gospel
Advocate and the conservative south fought the Missionary
Society for many years on this basis, and indeed there are some
preachers today who can think of little more to say about these
“church-hood” organizations. We are not saying this charge
is untrue. But it satisfies and pleases the ears of people who
do not understand the basic issue of all multi-church
collectives, and the governmental machinery necessary to operate
them.
We
usually think of “dominate” as an abuse of power. If
folk come to think of the Societies only as abuses they are
vulnerable to those who advocate the same basic error, but offer
various safeguards against abuses. In his early writings
Alexander Campbell made many strong attacks upon “domination”
and “coercing councils;” but by 1849 he wrote, “I have
before intimated my approval of the Baptist associational
formulas, pruned of certain redundancies and encroachments upon
faith, piety, and humanity.” He had been opposing the abuses,
not the basic error of multi-church combines. He became the
first president of the American Christian Missionary Society.
We
should not reject
old ways of saying things
because they are old; but we should welcome re-phrasing and
explanation that makes us think, that makes our knowledge
something more than chalk circles and empty (to us) clichés.
Otherwise, a grandchild may ask, “What’s wrong with gravy?”
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