This of course brought my understanding of “soundness” to a crossroad.
I did in fact contact that preacher as I said I would and found out that sadly what was said about him was true my subsequent appeals for him to change fell on deaf ears. Overall, I can’t say that I have had a more cold or unfriendly response as a visitor to a congregation. I can’t remember anyone else talking to me. He said, “Well, I’ve done that plenty of times!” He shook my hand, but I can still remember how he shoved my hand away as the handshake ended. I was shocked, and said, “You must have him confused with another person.” The preacher denied this, and I told him I would look into it.Īs we parted ways, he said, “Where are you staying tonight?” I told him I was staying in the backseat of my car (something I frequently did in those bachelor days, and likely would have done on the Sunday prior had the Christians there not taken me in). I said no, and the man proceeded to tell me how his life and teaching openly contradicted Jesus' teaching in Matthew 19:9.
“You know about the preacher there, right?” the man said in a very serious tone. At that point, to put it biblically, his countenance fell. I told him that I was visiting some of the sights out west, and in describing my travels I mentioned the church I had visited the Sunday before. After Bible class, I initiated a conversation with the preacher who possibly would have never said anything to me had I not bothered. I said hello to a few people and was treated to a few gruff “hello’s” in response. I was not greeted warmly at all in fact, I was approached by no one before Bible class. The following Wednesday night, I visited another congregation in a neighboring state. I was provided dinner that evening and even given a place to stay for the night with one of the families there. After getting to know me, they asked me to preach that evening for their PM service. I have to say, it was one of the best experiences that I have ever had as a visitor! I was greeted warmly by the brethren the Sunday morning I visited and was taken out to lunch after services. I decided while visiting out west to stop at this congregation based on what I had seen in the newsletter, even though I didn’t know them, and they didn’t know me. It had all the hallmarks of soundness as I understood it at the time: it defended the concept of restoration, discussed the dangers of false teaching, and spoke faithfully on any subject it covered. In my first local work, our congregation randomly received a newsletter from a congregation out west. Years ago, I was traveling in the western United States. An experience I had helped my understanding of the biblical concept behind the word to grow.
My idea at the time was not totally incorrect, but it was definitely incomplete. Soundness in my earliest understanding of the concept was to teach faithfully, and to extend fellowship only to those who taught and tolerated nothing but faithful teaching. Further, it focused on describing them in basically one area: their faithfulness in teaching. To me, “sound” described basically two things: preachers and congregations. When I first became aware of the term in this sense, I had a very limited understanding of it. Many of the word for word translations of the New Testament use the term “sound” in a sense that clearly doesn’t mean “noise.” In these translations, you’ll find phrases like “sound in the faith,” “sound doctrine,” etc.
0 kommentar(er)
