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It may seem strange to hear a Quaker talk in military terms, but that s what Elton Trueblood does in this classic.
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America was caught up in the excitement of exploring outer space. Trueblood, however, was more concerned about exploring inner space. "We have around us many new frontiers," he wrote, "but the most unexplored of all frontiers is that of a loving fellowship.״ Calling for "a task force of committed men and women who truly care for God, for the church, and for other people," Trueblood considered this book "a dynamic rallying point and a manual for action for every Christian."
Born and raised in a small town in Iowa, Tmeblood began his education at a Quaker school in Oskaloosa, and went on to Brown University, Hartford Theological Seminary, and Harvard University, before getting his doctorate from Johns Hopkins in 1934. Strongly influenced by the writings of C. S. Lewis, he said at one point, "There's nobody in America doing what Lewis is doing in Britain. Why shouldn't I try?"
For nine years he served as chaplain at Stanford University, but it was while he was acting dean of chapel at Harvard that the idea for his first book came to him. The Essence of Spiritual Religion (1936) was based on the theme of "the abolition of the laity." As Trueblood saw it, everyone is called into ministry. "The word laity does not appear in the Bible," he emphasizes. "Christianity withers when it's a spectator sport. A layman in medicine is one who cannot practice. The same with law. But there is no place in the Christian faith for those who cannot or will not practice."
To encourage men and women to practice their ministry, he began the Yokefellow movement in 1952. At that time this was an unusual idea: small groups meeting each week to encourage
one another in daily prayer, Bible reading, worship, and giving, But the concept soon spread throughout the world.
Trueblood wrote thirty-seven books before he died in 1995, but his most famous book is The Company of the Committed. We need to think of the Church in military terms, says this Quaker. But instead, we tend to think of it as a society with mild claims, a club that you can join whenever you wish, without any involvement. To counter this, the author suggests a five-point program:
1. The necessity of commitment. The church must win back its "lost provinces." What are these? They might differ from community to community, but he mentions the campus, young people, and labor as three provinces the church has by and large lost.
2. A call to enlistment. "The tide of secularism is rising," True-blood noted (in 1961!), and it would take a strong army to stand against it. "The test of the vitality of a religion is to be seen in its effect upon culture."
3. The vocation of witness. A Christian must not be afraid to witness, and "all witness necessarily involves the use of the first person singular." That is, we must be willing to tell our personal stories of faith and transformation.
4. A strategy of penetration. The church building should become a drill hall equipping the soldiers to go out to do battle. "In church," he says, "we often spend our efforts promoting Sunday." But there are other days of the week when the battle is more intense for the soldiers. "The effective Christian pattern is always a base and a field. The base is the church; the field is the world." We need to strate-gize to see how best we can penetrate our areas of witness.
5. The criterion of validity. It is love in action that redeems society, Trueblood said, and that is what the world must see.
It was a time when the United States was nominally Chris-tianj but drifting away from Christian principles. Christians were isolating themselves in church activities that had little impact on the rest of their lives. Trueblood's rallying cry struck home with many Christians, who took the challenge to get serious about their faith and their mission.