BLOG 5/30/17. “I FORGOT THE MESSAGE!”
A New Yorker cartoon some years ago pictured the runner Phidippides standing before the elders in Athens with this humorously bewildered and befuddled look on his face, declaring: “I forgot the message!” He had just run 26 miles from Marathon, where the Greeks had won a significant victory over the Persians, with the sole purpose of bringing the message of their victory to the elders sitting before him. But he had inexplicably forgotten the message.
I kept that cartoon pinned on my bulletin board when I was the denominational staff person responsible for encouraging evangelism in our Presbyterian Church. I had found that in the scores of congregations and regional presbyteries (even theological seminaries) there was scant knowledge of what our message was, or there was some confusing caricature of it—certainly nothing like the assured knowledge of Jesus Christ, his life, work, and mission. The church and its constituents had created a whole church institution which bore his name but had forgotten the message and the mission.
The reality of the church’s proclivity to forget its message, certainly not to be thrilled and formed by it, has always been one of the wiles of the devil. Our old gospel song says it well: “Tell me the old, old story, … tell me the story often, for I forget so soon, the early dew of morning has passed away at noon.” Remembering is a never-ending discipline.
Another astounding episode in my career was when our denomination had gone through a major merger, which required that our regional presbyteries be reconfigured, and define themselves again for their mission in their particular regions. My readers need to know that the quarterly meetings of our presbyteries are composed of something like an equal number of lay and clergy presbyters/elders, who (note) have all taken an ordination vow to be guided by scriptures primarily, but also by the church’s official Book of Confessions, and Book of Church Order, which assumes that the individuals have some knowledge of those documents they are committing themselves to. … But forgetfulness is relentless.
I was made co-chair of the committee charged with providing our new presbytery with its mission design statement. It was a wonderful committee, made up of bright and eager folks with many skills: school teacher, social worker, accountant, textile executive, pastors … racially diverse, and who quickly bonded. After a couple of initial meetings to appraise ourselves of our task, we became aware that our Book of Church Order contained in its opening chapters, a chapter entitled: The Church and Its Mission, which was superbly and clearly stated, and made abundantly clear what our particular mission in our region was to accomplish. So, we reported to the presbytery and requested that we have an order of the day, and have break-out groups look at that chapter and discuss it. What we didn’t count on was forgetfulness.
When the break-out groups reported back, what was the common response was that almost none of the presbyters had ever read the constitutional document they had taken an ordination vow to be guided by, i.e., the Phidippides cartoon demonstrated in spades in that governing body of the church. No wonder that the traditional church institutions and denominations of Christendom are fading to the margins of influence in the culture.
We do so desperately need to return continually to the exhortation given to the Colossian Christians: “Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, as you teach and admonish one another …” Every follower of Christ must be continually formed and reformed by the knowledge of Christ, and of the mission given to every believer by the Head of the Church. To the readers of this Blog, let this be my loving reminder: Don’t forget the message, but rather be formed by it, and be contagious with it. … And, I always appreciate your comments. Thanks.
