Restoring the Fallen
Please thank Kenneth Kantzer for his most helpful treatment of the issue of restoring our fallen leaders [“The Road to Restoration,” Nov. 20], After viewing all sides, I find myself preferring to be led by a restored adulterer than by a malicious gossip who chooses to spread rumors instead of scripturally confronting the offender.
ROBYNE L. BRYANT
Madison, Wisc.
Kantzer’s article was not only timely, but also instructive. The individual points are helpful for all restoration situations. One point, however, I wish was missing from the article. It is the common phrase, in point two, “There, but for the grace of God, go I!” Was God’s grace more available to the one who didn’t fall than to the one who fell? I believe it’s a point of pride to use that statement by anyone—signifying a state of grace already rejected.
REV. LAWRENCE D. CLARK
First Baptist Church
McPherson, Kan.
Are not all converted sinners saints? Are not backslidden saints the same as backslidden converted sinners? Are you implying leaders are saints and laymen only converted sinners?
ELIZABETH AKERS
Gray, Tenn.
God’s “whole law”
David Neff in his “Are All Sins Created Equal?” [Nov. 20] omits the most tragic of all the many consequences of sexual sin among Christian leaders: the “whole law” of God is broken in the process: see Matthew 22:34–40.
Sexual sin uses another for personal gratification we should be building up unto maturity in Christ, hence that one’s fellowship with Christ is destroyed—not enhanced. I pray often for myself and my brothers in the gospel ministry—that God will protect us from falling into sexual sin. I pray it for the above reasons, however, not so that we’ll not “lose our ministry.”
REV. JOHN WADE LONG, JR.
Altadena Valley Presbyterian Church
Birmingham, Ala.
There may be a divine foresight in the order in which the Ten Commandments were given. James says that breaking one actually involves breaking them all (2:10). It is impossible to break the seventh unless one has broken others as well.
ROBERT J. WIELAND
Mendow Vista, Calif.
Just Say Maybe
The “Just Say No” slogan seems to have caught on and helped the fight against drugs. The objective of the campaign, as I see it, is to provide a sort of “reverse peer pressure” for people who really want to say no.
I’ve been so impressed by the concept that I’ve started a small group in our church based on the same principle: “Just say no when you really want to.” The group has attracted a variety of people. The chairman of our Constitutional Revision Subcommittee, the former leader of our “Interpreting Revelation” study, and the chaperones from our “Junior High Goes Crazy” weekend retreat have all been regular attendees. And while no one admits being there to resist financial commitments, the subject of pledging does seem to come up quite often.
Two of our long-time board members and our pastor’s wife considered joining for a while, but I think their sense of guilt or commitment was too strong. They started their own “Just Say Maybe” group, and in almost no time most of our group switched over.
But the “Just Say No” group will go on. After all, there’s still me and the judge from last year’s Ladies’ Pie
EUTYCHUS
Avoiding statistics
The David K. Winter review of James Hunter’s book [Evangelicalism, the Coming Generation, Nov. 20] allowed one of the “defendants” to evaluate the work. The review does not deal with what should be disconcerting to all Christian colleges; for example, the teaching that the human race does not go back to Adam and Eve and that Jesus Christ is not necessarily the way of salvation for all men. The statistics Hunter gives are not discredited; they are evaded where they score their point most effectively.
CARL F. H. HENRY
Alexandria, Va.
Whose repentance?
Philip Yancey states in “God Isn’t Fair (and I’m Glad He Isn’t)” [Nov. 20] that we should not give in to being” tempted to see God’s hand behind such actions as plane crashes, lightning bolts, and AIDS outbreaks.” Such a convenient dismissal of the retributive hand of God in our wicked day is disturbing. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira began the Christian church with a clear note of warning from God, and Acts 5 records that these deaths caused the church to be filled with the fear of God. Since then Christians have consistently responded to tragedies—especially large-scale public ones—by calling all people to self-examination and repentance. But today, instead of calling for repentance, evangelicals proclaim that God has repented of his Old Testament ways.
REV. TIM BAYLY
First Presbyterian and Rosedale Presbyterian Churches
Pardeeville, Wis.
Those “tiny hymns”
Don Hustad makes an important point in his article on praise and worship songs [“Let’s Not Just Praise the Lord,” Nov. 6], This new music can be used very effectively when interspersed with the great hymns of the church.
But let’s not be too hard on the “tiny hymns.” Hustad’s example, “Let’s Just Praise the Lord,” is probably one of the tiniest. Yet, many hymns included in today’s hymnbooks are not great. They contain tediously simple or unsingably difficult music with obsure, archaic texts. Why not choose the best of the old hymns and infuse the fresh expressions of faith that our best new music provides.
ROBERT S. ZAWOYSKY
Bainbridge Island, Wash.
Whether we sing “Alleluia” or one of Calvin’s hymns we may be guilty of what Jesus described in Matthew 15:8–9. I question whether God cares which we sing. He is concerned with our hearts: Are we loving God and our neighbor? This love, not the form in which we choose to convey it, is what makes our worship acceptable to God.
LOIS ARCHER
Shelton, Wash.
How I miss audience participation in the great hymns and gospel songs of the church, and how bone-weary I get with the cutesy little repetitious ditties. So many of our church musicians show by their body English that leading congregational singing bores them to tears. I remember musicians who could get a great deal of music out of a congregation—rousing, soul-stirring, harmonious music. But they loved to do it, and their enthusiasm was contagious.
DALE CANNON
Tempe, Ariz.
Hustad makes a comparison between a so-so modern chorus and several excellent classic hymns. A similar comparison could be made between a mediocre old hymn (there are many) and a solid, well-written modern song; but to what end? We would not be comparing styles or types of songs but the songs themselves. I believe the author may be in for a surprise when he arrives in heaven and is invited to sing simple choruses of praise and worship to our God.
TOM KRAEUTER
The Psalmist Magazine
St. Louis, Mo.
I was so impressed with Don Hustad’s article that I made copies for the rest of the music committee as we consider our extensive use of choruses in our worship services. I, too, have found them sometimes empty and redundant.
Then I went to choir practice and found myself singing Pergolesi’s “Glory to God in the Highest.” In one pass through the song, I sang “Glory to God in the highest!” 22 times (plus a few extra “Glories!” and a couple of “Peace on earths”).
Then there’s the “Hallelujah” chorus. Is there nothing new under the sun?
LEWIS FLAGG III
Milford, Mass.
An untapped reservoir
A thousand thanks for printing Tim Stafford’s article “The Graying of the Church” [Nov. 6]. He rightly points out that the seniors in our churches are largely an untapped reservoir of leadership and wisdom. Yet among believers we have more often encountered attitudes toward the elderly that ranged from fear about their influence to outright disrespect from the pastor. How sad.
DALE AND KAREN GLASS-HESS
Mesa, Ariz.
Tim Stafford mentioned that older citizens are better off financially than the population at large. Where did he perform the survey—West Palm Beach, Tarrytown, and Scottsdale? I have never met a retiree on social security who was or is better off than working people. Perhaps Stafford should interview more people on his next assignment.
DONALD W. GOEBEL
Las Cruces, N.M.
On the cover of the November 6 issue is a picture of my late husband, Thomas F. Lockyer. Tom would have been delighted. He was 82, very active, independent—but always there for others. He was a challenge to all who knew him.
ARDEL K. LOCKYER
Castle Rock, Colo.
Godly fathers
I want to thank Walter Wangerin, Jr., for giving me one of the most clear and meaningful explanations of our eternal hope in Jesus Christ that I’ve ever read. As I read “Gentle into that Good Night” [Nov. 6] my tears flowed as his hope for his father, and himself, became my hope for my father and myself. I thank God for fathers who share their faith with their children.
JIM KENNON
Community Baptist Church
San Mateo, Calif.
Ignoring the basic principle
Charles Colson’s “Spying on Henry Hyde at Mass” [Nov. 6] fails to come to grips with the basic principle underlying “separation of church and state.” That principle, lost in the bumper-sticker brevity of the motto, is ignored here by Colson and elsewhere by others. A more complex form would read, “Thou shalt not attempt to enact into law a theological stance.” The Hyde Amendment would be ethically acceptable if it were passed with a total absence of religious conviction as a motivating factor. If the religious motivation could be shown to have influenced the deciding votes, then the amendment should be declared unconstitutional.
Brokaw’s question, “Weren’t many sponsors of this bill religious people, doing this for religious reasons?” sought to reveal a potent danger—that religious people, acting on religious reasoning, and becoming a majority, are as great a threat to freedom and democracy as any other villains. Colson quotes Hyde, “Some powerful members of the cultured elites in our country … go to Gestapo lengths to inhibit religious expression.” Conversely, some powerful members of the Congress go to Falwellian lengths to enforce arbitrary religious doctrines on the unwary electorate.
HAL EATON
Mouth of Wilson, Va.
Nonprofit political support
I question Kim Lawton’s comment in the article “Powerhouse of the Religious Right” [Nov. 6] that stated “Due to its nonprofit status, CWA [Concerned Women for America] cannot endorse a particular candidate for public office.” Are you telling me that all the other groups like the National Organization for Women who do endorse candidates aren’t nonprofit?
PRESTON HOLLISTER
Oronoco, Minn.
Editor’s Note: CWA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt group, barred by law from engaging in partisan political campaigns, NOW, also nonprofit, has 501 (c)4 status and may endorse political candidates.
