| Highlights of Dawn | November 1968 |
“All Things New”
“GOD is not dead! He just fell asleep in the middle of Document No. 329.” This statement appeared on the bulletin board in the lobby of the auditorium in Uppsala, Sweden, during the Fourth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches which was held during July of this year. THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY observed: “As an ecclesiastical circus, studded with spectaculars and sideshows; the Fourth Assembly was a memorable occasion. But as an ecclesiastical congress, the supreme governing authority of the international conciliar movement, the Fourth Assembly was, at times, and to many, a massive disappointment.”
THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY continued, “Boredom nearly killed the Assembly in its early and middle days; it made believers out of those who had heard Peter Berger’s warning that the church will be dead by the year 2,000, out of sheer boredom.” Secretary Eugene Carson Blake, acknowledging the disappointments and criticisms voiced by those taking part, reported to a press conference on the last day: “I am. not disillusioned because I had no illusions.”
At this Fourth Assembly of the W.C.C. there were more than 2,000 delegates, advisers, staff personnel, members of the press, youth participants, observers, and special guests. Two hundred Roman Catholics attended, not as members, but as platform speakers, observers, advisers, and representatives of the Catholic press.
The news magazine TIME had this to say: “The Third Assembly of the World Council of Churches took place in 1961; in mood and spirit, it might have been fifty years away from the Fourth Assembly. At New Delhi, World Council delegates were still primarily concerned with the ecclesiastical and theological problems of church union. The marching orders issued by the Fourth Assembly in Uppsala were primarily secular rather than sacred. In a series of concrete, specific resolutions, the 700 delegates from 235 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox churches at the Uppsala meeting called upon their fellow Christians to redirect their attention to the social, political and economic problems facing mankind.
“To a large extent, the worldly orientation of the messages reflected the growing influence of churchmen from the ‘third world’ of Africa, Asia and Latin America, who are less concerned with theological niceties than with committing the church to support of the poor and the underprivileged. There were thirty-two delegates from developing nations, for example, on the 105-man committee that drafted the document on peace and international justice, which not only condemned the use of nuclear weapons in war but also gave support to the idea of selective pacifism.”
That the Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches at Uppsala did reflect more concern for economic and political matters is borne out by Allen Geyer, who wrote, “Surely one of the silliest utterances in Firys Hall [the Assembly auditorium] came from one presiding officer in response to a moment of controversy on the floor. ‘This is not a political meeting’ he snapped, ‘We are here, by the grace of God, to strengthen the unity and mission of the church.’”
“The Message”
Following is a message with resolutions passed by the World Council of Churches at Uppsala. We publish it complete as reported: “The excitement of new scientific discoveries, the protest of student revolts, the shock of assassinations, the clash of wars—these mark the year 1968. In this climate the Uppsala Assembly met first of all to listen.
“We heard the cry of those who long for peace, of the hungry and exploited who demand bread and justice, of the victims of discrimination who claim human dignity, and of the increasing millions who seek for the meaning of life.
“God hears these cries and judges us. He also speaks the liberating Word. We hear him say—‘I go before you.’ Now that Christ carries away your sinful past, the Spirit frees you to live for others. Anticipate my kingdom in joyful worship and daring acts. The Lord says, ‘I make all things new.’
“We ask you, trusting in God’s renewing power, to join in these anticipations of God’s kingdom, showing now something of the newness which Christ will complete:
“(1) All men have become neighbors to one another. Torn by our diversities and tensions, we do not yet know how to live together. But God makes new. Christ wants his church to foreshadow a renewed human community.
“Therefore, we Christians will manifest our unity in Christ by entering into full fellowship with those of other races, classes, age, religious and political convictions, in the place where we live. Especially we shall seek to overcome racism wherever it appears.
“(2) Scientific discoveries and the revolutionary movements of our time open new potentialities and perils for men. Man is lost because he does not know who he is. But God makes new. The Biblical message is that man is God’s trustee for creation, that in Christ the ‘new man’ appears and demands decision.
“Therefore, with our fellow men we accept our trusteeship over creation, guarding, developing and sharing its resources. As Christians we proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior. God can transform us into Christ’s new humanity.
“(3) The ever widening gap between the rich and the poor, fostered by armament expenditure, is the crucial point of decision today. But God makes new. He has made us see that Christians who in their acts deny dignity to their fellow men deny Jesus Christ, in spite of all that they profess to believe.
“Therefore, with people of all convictions, we Christians want to insure human rights in a just world community. We shall work for disarmament and for trade agreements fair to all. We are ready to tax ourselves in furtherance of a system of world taxation.
“(4) These commitments demand the worship, discipline and mutual correction of a worldwide community. In the World Council of Churches, and its regional, national and local counterparts, only the beginning of this community has been given to us. But God makes new. The ecumenical movement must become bolder, and more representative. Our churches must acknowledge that this movement binds us to renewal.
“Therefore, we reaffirm our covenant to support and correct one another. Present plans for church, union call for decision, and we seek fuller communion with those churches which are not yet in full fellowship with us. We know that we never live the fullness of what we profess and we long for God to take over. Yet we rejoice that already we can anticipate in worship the time when God renews ourselves, all men, all things.”
The Catholics Also
The Catholic Church is also beginning to take a more serious look at the political, economic, and racial needs of the world, especially of the Catholic world. There is a minority of Catholics in all countries—laymen, priests, educators, and bishops—who are becoming more and more vocal along these lines.. This is particularly true in South America, where from within the church come cries for revolution against the old ways of capitalism.
This is true all over South America. It is true in Columbia, where Pope Paul visited recently—the first visit of a pope to the South American Continent. While great crowds greeted the pope in Bogota, the capital of Columbia, a special gathering arranged for the peasants from the countryside surrounding Bogota was poorly attended. To those who did attend, the pope promised that the church would do something about their poverty.
Commenting on the reform movement within the church, TIME says, “Reformers within the Latin American Catholic Church, although growing in number, are still in the minority. They are nonetheless insistent in their conclusion that Catholicism can transform society—and save its own soul—only by a total commitment to revolution. And they argue that this approach is quite in accord with the teachings of the church.”
The World’s Needs
There can be no question about the world’s need for help. We report from a speech by Jack N. Campbell, Governor of New Mexico, and published by the Indiana University:
“It might help us to see the place of the United States in relation to the other areas of the world if we imagine that all the world’s population could be reduced proportionately into a small town of 1,000 people. Only 60 of the 1,000 residents would be Americans, but these 60 would have half the income of the entire town, with the 940 citizens dividing the other half of the total income. White people in this town would total 303, with 697 nonwhite. At least 80 townspeople would be practicing communists and 370 others would be under communist domination. The 60 Americans would have an average life expectancy of 70 years; the other 940 people less than 40 years on the average. Since most of the 940 non-Americans would be hungry most of the time, there would be considerable resentment toward the 60 Americans who would appear to be enormously rich and fed to the point of sheer disbelief, compared to the majority of the townspeople. That is the picture that we face as a nation and as leaders of the educational institutions which could help relieve the ignorance, suffering, and frustrations of the people on the other side of the tracks.”
God’s Renewal Plan
It will have been noted that in our quotations concerning the World Council of Churches Fourth Assembly, held in Uppsala, Sweden, frequent mention is made to the effect that “God makes new.” This is because the theme of the Assembly was “Renewal,” and this theme was based upon Revelation 21:5, which reads, “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
When God promised that he would make all things new, did he mean it as the World Council of Churches interpreted it? Did he mean that this promise would be fulfilled nearly two thousand years later as a result of what TIME magazine called “the marching orders” of a world organization of his professed people who abandoned their divine commission to preach the Gospel of the kingdom and decided to embark on a program of political and social reform aimed at obliterating racism and poverty in a chaotic and suffering world? We think not! It is clear that to use this promise of God for such a purpose is to take it completely out of its context and to give it a meaning which the Lord never intended.
The two preceding verses read: “I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” And then, in the next verse, comes the statement by the Lord, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Death Destroyed
Four thousand years prior to this, God had sentenced man to death because he had transgressed divine law. However, the Creator had provided escape from this penalty of death by giving his only begotten Son to take the sinner’s place in death. Paul wrote, “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) And again, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”—Rom. 5:18
This “free gift” of life is available now upon the basis of a demonstrated faith. Those who now receive this “justification of life” have the opportunity of laying down their justified lives following in the footsteps of Jesus. By faithfulness in this they qualify to “live and reign with him [Christ] a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6) The purpose of this thousand-year reign of Christ is to give health and life to all the sin-sick and dying world; this gift of life being made available through the redemptive work of Christ.
The restoration of mankind to health and life is described by the Apostle Peter as “restitution.” (Acts 3:19-21) This is what the Lord meant by making all things new. As the Apostle John describes it, there shall be no more pain, no more tears, and no more death.