Letters to the editor

Mennonite Brethren Herald welcomes your letters on issues relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church, especially in response to material published in the Herald. Please keep your letters courteous, brief and about one subject only. We will edit letters for length and clarity. We will not publish letters sent anonymously, although we may withhold names from publication at the request of the letter writer and at our discretion. Publication is also subject to space limitations. Because the Letters column is a free forum for discussion, it should be understood that letters represent the position of the letter writer, not necessarily the position of the Herald or the Mennonite Brethren Church. Send letters to: Letters, MB Herald 1310 Taylor Ave. Winnipeg, Man.  R3M 3Z6 or send via e-mail. (Please ensure that your postal address is included in your e-mail correspondence.)

Good news

I don’t wish to wave a red herring at the Board of Evangelism, but when an insert (Oct. 24) proposes that, someday, God will ask me, “How many did you win?” my attention is distracted by a well-known biblical image of judgment. In this particular scene, it isn’t God who asks the questions, but people. And what they ask has as much to do with the physical bodies of others as with their souls: “When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes (etc.)?”

To wade into Matthew 25 on the subject of gaining access to eternal life may be ill-advised. The Lord knows that not many nations will be able to claim on that day that they were all sheep and no goat. The more direct challenge to the tone of the insert in question would be to ask whether unqualified enthusiasm for soul-winning sufficiently bears in mind what we could provocatively call The Great De-Commission: “You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” (Before one protests the angling of such rhetoric towards Mennonite Brethren, one must consider that the guardians of Israel’s Scriptures and faith tradition would be no less self-righteously incredulous to be called such a thing.)

Perhaps one safeguard against this woe would be to include in our churchplanting bulletins more upfront discussion of just what it is that people are to be won to: what the liberty in Christ consists of, here and now, in this world, where the battle with the powers of death is being waged. I can imagine a flyer that would promote the work of evangelism not from the perspective of an ethics of guilt, which has paralyzed so many of us, but from the perspective of an ethics of freedom: “In Christ, we are no longer in bondage to the determinations of this dark world. We no longer live lives fated by the power of State and Media, Money and Religion. Since we are free to transmit this freedom, and the dear Spirit from whom it issues, to others, let us do so with joy, placing His tiny grains of hope one by one into Babylon’s gears.”

On the other hand, we could also stick to the evangel as the Gospels frame it: “The time has come. The reign of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news!” (i.e. the good news that the reign of God is at hand). Such a proclamation would lead naturally into a discussion about the nature of this reign, this kingdom – what it is and isn’t, what the significance is of it being within reach, and whether or not it comes with our careful, statistical observation.

I contend that, on the Great Day, the only one who will be asked the question, “How many are coming to heaven with you?” will be Jesus and that He will answer the Father, “All that You reconciled to Yourself. Everyone that You wanted to come to repentance.” Thereafter the glory and honour of the nations will be brought into the New Jerusalem, and the leaves of the tree of life will be provided for their healing.

Now that’s good news.

Chris Friesen,
Edmonton, Alta.

Use opportunities for change

In response to “What would Jesus do?” (Letters, Sept. 12) what are we asking for when we talk about the separation of church and state? The idea has been around for a long time and is the battle cry of atheists and pagans. The church has consumed that lie and whimpered when its rights were taken.

God asks us to give our heart (emotions), soul (our spirit) and our mind (our thoughts). We find it easy to give our hearts and our spirits are handed over quickly so we can go to heaven. Our mind though, is not as submissive to God. We study, work and create our separate church world. However, we are in our country, free to vote and have opportunity. Paul used his Roman citizenship to work with the oppressive government. We need to use our opportunities and our voices. MPs need to hear us.

Elders, please teach us what we need; youth, give us the passion to do it. We need to raise politicians, lawyers, judges, and others who can change our current society.

Shawn Wiggins,
Minitonas, Man.

Leadership built on solid foundation

Thank you for highlighting the new Seminary project that calls and mentors youth towards ministry, under the direction of John Neufeld and Rick Bartlett (Oct. 24). What delightful and refreshing conversations! Inspiring stories and wonderful insights. I could not help but notice that both drew attention to the dangers of the professionalization of the ministry. It is more than mere “speculation” when John courageously points out that it is because of this that the church has lost the art of being a discerning community in calling people to the ministry.

I have some concerns, however, about John’s worry about the future church’s inability of “handing over leadership to people who have such a radically different view of leadership.” Here, unfortunately, he gets caught up in the preoccupation with postmodernism which has sadly also infected our churches. Some questions beg to be answered. Is a radically different view of leadership even an option for Bible-believing Christians who claim to be Anabaptists? Is there not a biblical model of leadership that should, in fact, never change? Are experience-based convictions a solid enough basis for leadership? Should not theology drive our practice rather than experience? And what is so wrong with “data-based” leadership? Clearly Paul and John based their authority for leadership on the hard data of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15; 1 John 1:1–4).

I agree that “relationships are far more important than outcomes” for today’s youth. But here again we do not call for a radically different view of leadership in the future church just because youth today place a high priority on relationships. It is the Bible that must be the central authority in determining our notion of leadership. And I would suggest that the Bible teaches that relationships are at the heart of effective leadership. There is also a danger in the reminder that “the next generation will have different priorities.” Perhaps some of their priorities are not in keeping with biblical priorities. Clearly some are. But we need discernment here. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). We need to be careful how we build on this foundation. Mentoring the next generation of leaders will require that we bring out of our storeroom “new treasures as well as old,” as Jesus taught us (Matthew 13:52). Let’s not forget the old. All this is not meant to detract from the very positive initiative being taken in the “Hearing the Call” program. My prayers are with you, John and Rick. Indeed, I have some names of young people that I would like to suggest for enrollment in this exciting program.

Elmer J. Thiessen,
Medicine Hat, Alta.

Re-thinking needed

I was saddened by Elmer Thiessen’s article, “Laity and the problem of professionalism in our churches”, (Sept. 12).

Some questions:

1. Would Jesus consider teaching children one of the smaller tasks? Jesus had a heart for children (Matthew 19:13–15).
2. Why does saying we have paid pastors imply that laypersons are not capable? Are laypersons always willing to get involved? How many people would quit their paid jobs and volunteer to be a full-time pastor (lead, music, children, etc.) of a church without being paid?
3. Doesn’t someone need to be in charge? In any case, where the so-called chairperson is full-time and has a family, he/she would have to be paid. Are we concerned about MCC also, which has some paid positions, but also many wonderful volunteers?
4. “Could we not use laypersons who are gifted in administration to serve in that area in the church also?” Absolutely. But to say that we might not need a pastor because we have retired pastors in the congregation, is stretching it. We don’t like change and having someone different speak every other Sunday would be difficult for some. Where would the continuity be?
5. What’s the matter with grunge work? Is it all a frame of mind?
6. What’s the matter with a retired pastor volunteering to preach at a nursing home?

Elmer also refers to the Catholic Church and its titles, asking the question, “are we more Catholic than Mennonite?” I feel that sometimes we are more Mennonite than Christian.

Vera Wiebe,
Medicine Hat, Alta.

Two sides to the problem

Re “Israel’s ‘security fence’ disrupts life for Palestinians” (Oct. 24). The article talks about the security wall but does not mention why the wall is there, except to say that the Israelis claim that the wall is built “to keep out Palestinians intent on harming Israeli citizens.” The word “harming” is a very mild way of describing what the Israelis are facing. The Israelis live in continual fear that a homicide bomber (suicide is only when you kill only yourself) might suddenly blow himself or herself up, taking unsuspecting Israelis and now even Arabs to the grave with them. There is virtually no one living in Israel who has not in some way or another been affected by these killing sprees. Since the signing of the Oslo Peace Accord on Sept. 13, 1993, over 1500 Israelis have been killed in bombing attacks. The Israelis are desperate. They are very conscious of world opinion turning against them.

No one likes a wall, including the Israelis. The wall divides the land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants forever (Genesis 13:15; 17:8). I can appreciate MCC’s efforts to help the needy Arabs living in Israel but the plight of the Israelis must never be ignored.

Allan Baerg,
Abbotsford, B.C.

Biased viewpoint

The article about Israel’s security fence (Oct. 24) appears very biased. That fence is a direct response to the suicide attacks against Israel by the Palestinians. The Jewish people have gone through this before. In the days of Nehemiah, they built the wall, carrying “materials . . . with one hand and held a weapon in the other” (Nehemiah 4:17).

The nations of the world may succeed in getting Israel to remove the fence in preparation for the day when they will make a move to exterminate the Jewish people, who live in unwalled villages (Ezekiel 38:8–11). Ariel Sharon has made it clear that the holocaust of Europe will not be repeated, and God has also made His position known according to Jeremiah 25:33 and 51:19–20.

Mennonite Central Committee has no business getting politically involved between those two peoples and the United States. The article does not mention the hidden agenda of the Palestinians. Why not show some compassion toward Israel, when the land really belongs to them? When the smoke clears away, we can expect that Israel will lay claim to all the land that was promised to Abraham, and rightfully so. The leadership of MCC should be very cautious and think twice before they align themselves with the enemies of Israel.

Jake Peters,
Winnipeg, Man.

Thanks to pastors

October was pastor appreciation month, and I want to thank four of my senior pastors, George Braun, Herb Neufeld, Harry Loewen and Len Doerksen. I want to thank you for preaching, teaching, encouraging, challenging, and for pastoring faithfully year after year. Each of you has contributed in shaping and moulding my spiritual life: pastor George Braun, you reached out to the parents of our Sunday school children, especially those who came from non-Christian homes; pastor Herb Neufeld, you give hearty greetings and warm handshakes to newcomers and regular attenders; pastor Harry Loewen, you taught by example to take on responsibilities and serve whole-heartedly; pastor Len Doerksen, you have been, and are an encourager, always there for those who are in need of special caring. Thank you. Your work has not been in vain. But I also want to thank each of the wives of these pastors: Carol, Adeline, Loraine and Esther. You too been a special blessing to me!

Helena Dahl,
Abbotsford, B.C.

Listen to your kids

I enjoy reading the Herald since our family came to study at MBBS in Fresno. There is great information that helps us to think and act. Youth are a passion for my wife and me; we worked with high-risk youth from the slum areas of Lisbon. Sadly most of our churches are not prepared to accept and receive these kids because of the way they think and talk. Their values are so different from our “church” values that they just give up.

My oldest son is almost 15. I asked him to print out the words of the latest Linkin Park CD Meteora, particularly the hit song “Somewhere I belong.” I was saddened and touched by the message: “I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real, I wanna let go of the pain I’ve felt so long, somewhere I belong.”

What can we do to heal these kids? First of all listen to them and their messages. They are anxious to experience something new and Jesus can be the answer, but the real Jesus, who would listen to the words of this song and connect with the youth. My son was so excited when I asked him to print out the words, almost like he was saying “Yes dad, you want to know more about them, you want to experience what I experience! After that we can talk.”

Parents, your kids want to connect with you. If that means that you need to listen to Linkin Park or any other group that kids listen to, then listen; they’ll feel that you are interested in their issues.

Jose Arrais Velez,
Clovis, Calif.