June 11th 2006

By Kip Mckean

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’” Galatians 2:11-14

Shortly after the Council of Jerusalem, as recorded in Acts 15 and in Galatians 2:1-10, Paul confronts Peter about drawing back and separating himself from the Gentile believers. Though not explicitly recorded, most infer Peter apologized and repented. Later after his third missionary journey, Paul is arrested. The commander Claudius Lysias, who arrested Paul, took him to the Sanhedrin to find out more about the accusations against Paul.The Scriptures record, “Then [Claudius Lysias] brought Paul and had him stand before [the Sanhedrin.] Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’ At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’ Those who were standing near Paul said, ‘You dare to insult God’s high priest?’ Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’” Here Paul, out of hurt, sharply criticizes the high priest. When confronted, Paul apologizes even citing the Scripture he violated. In the situation with Peter, Paul is bold in confronting unrighteousness, yet in Acts 23 he was humble when he was confronted with his own sin. Paul apologizes and repents. This is clearly God’s expectation for all disciples.

Two weeks ago I called Doug Arthur the Lead Evangelist of the Baltimore Church to speak at our World Missions Jubilee in August. His response surprised me when he said he wanted to talk to me face to face about issues troubling his heart, before he could agree to be on the program. He also wanted to meet with the Elders, Bob and Tony, as well as his best friend, Steve Johnson, our Associate Evangelist. So I invited Doug to come out. In the meantime the Baltimore leadership asked Doug to take along with him Doug Lambert. Doug Lambert was converted at Ohio State, came to Boston to be trained for the ministry in the mid-80’s, was a key member of the Buenos Aires Mission Team, and served as an evangelist in Mexico City, Tallahassee and Nashville. He presently serves as the Associate Evangelist for the Baltimore Church.
They arrived in Portland at midnight on Wednesday, May 24. On Thursday, Steve and I spent the morning with our brothers from Baltimore. Elena and Lisa Johnson were able to share and spend time with them in the afternoon. Then at dinner the Elders, Steve, Doug Arthur, Doug Lambert and I began to talk. We returned to my house after dinner where Doug Arthur led us in a Bible Study on Philippians 1 about Paul’s perspective during personally trying times. He continued with James 3, about the tongue, and Ephesians 4, admonishing me to “not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth but only what is helpful for building up our brothers according to their needs.” Then he laid out his concerns.

1. The Portland Bulletin routinely puts down church leaderships and disciples who were trying to please God with all their hearts. Specifically he cited Volume 4, Number 4 “I Was Lost And Now I Am Found” by Jermaine Simmons. Doug confronted us that though the Philadelphia Church was not named, by implication it was “spitting in the face” of the Philadelphia leadership that had tried very hard in the past to help Jermaine. Also cited was Volume 4 Number 18 “Group or Individual Discipling? Yes!” written by me. He reiterated that he agreed doctrinally with all that was written, yet the impression given by the article was that Portland was the “only one truly doing it.” This again was “spitting in the face” of the church leaderships that were trying to follow the Bible’s commands of discipling. He asked me to repent of arrogance and to be encouraging in the bulletin. When Doug said these words my heart was pierced. I asked how I could repent. He suggested I write an article apologizing for my sins. Then in the future run the bulletin articles by other brothers before publishing them. Doug Arthur and Doug Lambert were encouraged that at each staff meeting, that week’s article is reviewed and critiqued by almost 20 people. Doug Arthur then suggested it needed to be critiqued by people outside the Portland congregation. I responded by saying we would be greatly honored if Doug would do it. He readily agreed.
2. We then asked if there was anything else the brothers wanted to share. They felt that through the years I did not have a respectful attitude toward the mainline brothers. Granted their churches faced challenges of many kinds, yet there were true brothers in each congregation. He said, “You treated them like a stray dog that you kicked every time you passed by.”
3. Lastly, they said that where groups of disciples have come out of ICOC congregations and Portland has either supported these groups of disciples or gathered them to initiate a new congregation, make it clear that you still believe the other churches have many disciples and that you desire to have a warm relationship with them. Doug mentioned Chicago, Kiev and Phoenix. Doug also expressed that since we no longer always have one congregation in one city and we must allow people to follow their convictions as they “work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12) Realizing that we now have to work harder than ever to “keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace” we must let “no unwholesome talk come out of our mouths.” He also clarified that he was not asking Portland to back down on our dream to “see the world evangelized in the twenty-first century.”
   I am so sorry to everyone who is striving to be a dedicated disciple of Jesus. Please forgive my arrogance and disrespect in the Portland Bulletin articles and in my Sunday sermons, which are online. I do believe there are church leaderships around the world that are trying very hard to restore the lordship of Christ and discipling. Particularly encouraging are recent reports I have heard from around the globe about the great progress being made in: Florida, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, Mexico, Central America, Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. I’m sure that there is even more good news, but these are just a few that have come to my attention recently.
   I am deeply sorrowful to all my brothers and sisters in the mainline Churches of Christ who are striving to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Please forgive my lack of respect and recognition to your efforts for Christ.
   Though we are supportive of new congregations of dedicated disciples, let me extend a heartfelt apology to the churches in Chicago, Phoenix and Kiev for giving the impression of a “blanket condemnation” that there were no disciples in them or that their congregations “were spiritually dead.” Please forgive me. I know that there are many “sold-out” disciples in these congregations. I am also aware that every church faces trials of many kinds, including Portland and these new congregations. These new congregations, the Portland leadership, and I would like to apologize for things that we have said or done that hurt you or discouraged you in your faith. Going forward, we will strive to avoid these mistakes and would like to work together as closely as possible to evangelize each city and the entire world.
   After about a six-hour session with the Elders, Steve, Doug Arthur and Doug Lambert, Doug Arthur and I spent two hours late into the night sharing our dreams and church building thoughts. After dropping-off Doug Arthur and Doug Lambert at the airport early Friday morning, I felt a deep appreciation to God for their visit. Please pray for me and my humility as well as my wisdom and boldness in preaching the Word. To God be all the glory!