Pictured are Kyle and Joan Bartholomew from Hilo, Joe and Mary Santos from Honolulu, Matt and Terri Wirgler and Ryan Casarez from San Francisco. All of these church leaders encouraged us by visiting our congregation last week.

“God’s Not Finished With Me Yet” by Gerald Crabb

If you don't like the way I am, don't judge me yet just hang around

God's not finished with me yet

Now I'm not what I used to be, there's still work to do in me

God's not finished with me yet

He's working on my feet so they will walk straight

He's working on my heart to keep it pure

He's holding my hand so he can lead me and teach me to endure

When the going gets tough I get frustrated and I start to forget

Then I'm reminded that God's not finished with me yet

One day I thought I had arrived till the good Lord brought me down to size

He said I'm not finished with you yet

Now I am on the potter’s wheel he's molding me to fit his will

God's not finished with me yet

We are all works in progress! Apollos was sincere in what he preached. In fact much of what he preached was powerful and Biblical, but in some convictions he was sincerely wrong. When he had the Word explained to him more adequately, he accepted it. He changed his mind and thus helped change the world.

Like anyone else, over the years I have changed my mind on some things and kept my convictions on others. As a young movement in the 1980’s, all of us were filled with optimism and idealism. This was especially true when we considered our children becoming of age and being baptized into the Kingdom. We believed they all would be baptized and remain faithful. Yet if a child was baptized and later fell away, I believed that the parents must have sinned grossly. I drew this conclusion because I had failed to read Proverbs 22:6 closely. This Scripture teaches, “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” I overlooked that little but all so important part of the Scripture which says, “when he is old.” With all my heart I believed that if the parents did everything to train their children, their children would not fall away.

Before 2001 when I was considered the “leader of the movement,” I used this misconception to gauge whether or not many should be in the ministry, or at least what level of leadership they could serve. I influenced many people and whether they all agreed or not, my associates went along with my opinion, which was in error. A number of people stepped down from various roles of leadership when their children decided to leave the church. But when my children began to struggle spiritually, I realized my mistake. Yet, it was too late. Since I did not apply the same standard to myself, my apologies to others seemed shallow and their lack of forgiveness seemed unchristian to me; an altogether demonic trap. It was at this time that many leaders felt I needed to resign. However, the pain inflicted on everyone’s children is the hardest thing to bear.

Through this difficult time I came to realize my opinion did not align with God’s use of Aaron, Samuel and David himself. I believe the Lord allowed me to walk this lonesome path so I would fully turn to Him as well as empathize with those that had likewise been unjustly judged for whatever reason. Truth is often painfully discovered, yet our God gives mercy to the brokenhearted. I believe with all of my heart that almost all disciples try their best to raise their children in the Lord. Therefore, I encourage all parents to claim the promise, “when a child is old” he will not turn from God.

From late 2001 to November 2002, not only were my failings and weaknesses used to disqualify me, but almost all of the World Sector Leaders felt a similar scrutiny and judgment and by November 2002 in Long Beach those who had not already stepped down or been “taken out” did so there. From where I see things, in my humble opinion, with the World Sector Leaders gone, those with a more mainline Church of Christ theology, became the most influential voices in the International Church of Christ. Among these were most of the Kingdom Elders and Kingdom Teachers and even a few of the former World Sector Leaders. Introduced and embraced at that time:

1. The dream to evangelize the world in one generation was renounced as “false doctrine,” “a good idea, but impossible.”

2. ICOC Churches became totally autonomous. In other words, the final decisions for a congregation rests solely on the local church leadership.

3. The leadership paradigm in local church leaderships shifted from the evangelists leading the church to elders leading the church. In many cases, a “lead” evangelist was called “unbiblical” and a consensus group with no “one” leader was embraced.

4. In almost all ICOC congregations, there was a marginalizing or elimination of discipling. Thus Discipleship Partners and Bible Talks as methodologies were abandoned.

5. The distinctive name “International,” which distinguished us from the mainline Church of Christ, was dropped from most International Churches of Christ. Thus in name and theology most congregations reverted to “Church of Christ.” At least one Kingdom Teacher, that embraced a more mainline Church of Christ theology, publicly denounced the collective methodologies of World Sector Leaders, Lead Evangelists, Women’s Ministry Leaders, Bible Talks and Discipleship Partners as the “evil system.”

As I travel around the world, many sincere disciples are still perplexed and ask why convictions that were held dear from the beginning of Boston in 1979 to the completion of the Evangelization Proclamation in 2000, were so quickly dismissed as “unbiblical.” I think the fundamental issue centers on one’s view of the Scriptures.

In the more conservative of the mainline Churches of Christ, the prevalent view of the Scriptures is “to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” In other words, there must be an explicit command or example in the New Testament for something to be accepted as church doctrine or methodology. In the extreme, this was why many churches split long ago over having kitchens in the church building, instruments in the worship services, or more than one cup for communion. (Interestingly, “church building” is not even in the Bible either.) Therefore for some of our brethren who grew up with this view of Scripture, they concluded that since World Sector Leaders, Lead Evangelists, Women’s Ministry Leaders, Bible Talks and Discipleship Partners are not explicitly stated in the New Testament, they decreed these titles, roles and methodologies “unbiblical.”

When I was in Boston in the 1980’s, I began to have trouble in my conscience with the old adage and eventually came up with my own version, “Speak where the Bible is silent and be silent where the Bible speaks.” It seemed to me then, and still does now, that we are free to implement any methodology that is not explicitly forbidden in the Bible. If the Bible is silent on it, we can comment as long as our “comment” does not contradict other Scriptures. If the Scriptures specifically command an action, we have no liberty to “speak,” there is no discussion, we must obey it! I still think that since there are no Scriptures against World Sector Leaders, Lead Evangelists, Women’s Ministry Leaders, Bible Talks and Discipleship Partners we are free to implement these methodologies, roles and titles, especially if they promote the gospel.

Another concept adopted in November 2002 from the mainline Churches of Christ is their plea to “restore the New Testament Church.” Though noble sounding, my conviction was and still is that the Lord’s Church is an “Old and New” Testament Church. I understand that Jesus has “canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross.” (1 Corinthians 10) However, in Romans 15:4 Paul teaches, “For everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” We do not have to sacrifice animals to be pleasing to God anymore, but Mark 16:20 likewise teaches we should learn from the “examples” of the Old Testament not to “commit sexual immorality,” “test the Lord” or “grumble as [the Hebrews] did.” (Colossians 2:14)

Since 1979 my plea has been to build “Bible Churches.” My experiences with the mainline Church of Christ has led me to believe that many of them almost eliminate the use of the Old Testament as a basis for building the church. Yet Paul’s admonition to Timothy seems to contradict the notion that we can just discard the Old Testament. He tells Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” as well as “how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Proverbs 22:6) Does not the term “Scripture” here refer to the Old Testament? In fact, it may be that over half the New Testament was not even written at the time Paul penned these words to Timothy and certainly could not have been around while Timothy was growing up. Most scholars agree that the first of our New Testament books was the first letter written to the Thessalonians, around 50 A.D. If the letters to Timothy were written after 64 A.D., while Paul was imprisoned, and the first gospel, Mark, was written sometime later, as well as the writings of Peter, James, John, and Matthew; which “Scriptures” would Paul be speaking of? The Old Testament was the “Bible” for the early church, while Jesus was being confirmed by the preaching of His “Word [and] by the signs that accompanied it.” (1 Corinthians 4:17)

Therefore, principles that were condemned in November 2002 such as delegating authority from World Sector Leaders to Lead Evangelists to Regional Evangelists to Sector Leaders to Bible Talk Leaders are validated by such Old Testament passages as Exodus 18:13-26. Jethro says to Moses that “God so commands” the delegating of authority so as to not wear out the leaders as well as to meet all the needs of large numbers of God’s people. Also, the concept of calling out a remnant is clearly seen over and over again in the Old Testament.

I am like anyone else in that I have my own opinions about what happened to our fellowship. Years of unresolved bitter feelings, insular leadership, infantilizing people coupled with a lack of emphasis on God’s grace eventually dried out our fellowship. Then, one match in February 2003, the “Kriete letter,” was all it took to ignite a fire that refined almost everything. Since God is sovereign, my conviction is that either God set the fire or allowed it to be set.

In all of church history few groups, if any, have enjoyed over 20 years of united success like we did. So whatever explanation you come up with in regards to what happened to us, the reality is that we are still here, the world still needs Jesus and we have to decide what to do. As for me, my ambition is to motivate men and women to be totally sold-out for Jesus Christ and to at least agree that every member in every church is supposed to be totally committed to His mission. Like Paul said in Romans 15:14, “This is what I teach everywhere in every church.” I am not saying that Portland is a perfect church. I do not think there ever has been or ever will be a perfect church. How could there be if you and I are in it? But, God help us please, the standards have lowered so much in most ICOC congregations. Where once we all agreed on what it meant to be a disciple, men who know better are tolerating members not showing up for services, not giving their money, not sharing their faith, dating non-Christians and the congregations suffer because of it. Sadly, though there are a few baptisms, the multiplication of disciples and churches has stopped and our cities are getting more lost by the minute.

Yes, we are far from perfect in Portland. Many of my members get embarrassed when I brag about them. But I will keep on, not because they are perfect, but because we have all agreed for the ideals of the Bible to be our standards. Otherwise we become cynical and allow our shortcomings to enable people to sell short what God can do with us. Only one thing can be guaranteed, I and those with me will make a lot of mistakes again. But this time we will have more grace and mercy with one another as we try to fill each city and the world with the teachings of Jesus.

So, I have a question for you. Who’s your partner? What will your partnership produce? My prayer is that one day we all will become partners with one another and with the Lord. “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain…now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:1-3) If we start with the Lord as our partner, our fellow worker, we may just end up in the same field.

Remember, He isn’t finished with any of us yet.

Kip McKean