Hungarian Church Press, 1957 (9. évfolyam, 14-15. szám)

1957-11-30 / 14. szám

nem.5 XI, 30,19 57, Vol. IX/14- 9 -165

struggles a-id hopes, I must confess that; in some respect, this was a just demand arid justified reproach, But I larked sincerity if I would not tell you that, in some respects, this insistence on a better access to the informations we had sprang from emotions which iicre not then and are not today properly entitled to satisfaction.. The question of clearly defining the limits of corrpetence is a very serious issue in the church* Wo person is responsible for everything, neither is it necessary to satisfy the curiosity of all people, as this might be only for the purpose of giving something to whisper about, thereby hampering and harming the contemplated solutions of problems; The late Béla Megyercsy, in the former paper of the Y,Mu C, A« , used to answer questions addressed to the "editor, and onoe tackled the following questions bust the Christian tell the truth in all instances? His answer was that by no means, Mo must ascertain first who asks us, why asks us, etc. The lack of confidence cannot be made up by a unduly familiar behaviour when one keeps on gabbling about secrets which may or may not actually exist. In this respect, 1 do not think it a fault of mine that I did not widen* the circle of those initiated into the discussion of our many inner problems, but it was indeed our fault that I and several friends hesitated, with various considerations and cautious qualifications about certain tanks which we had clearly perceived, until we missed the appointed time of action. However, no healthy church life will sprout where every elder is entitled, on every occasion, to take to task his minister whether he told him everything or left his curiosity partly unsatisfied, or the ministers cm do the same with their seniors and bishops. This, of course, does not mean that we, at the proper time - for "there is a time to every purpose"

~ should not sínre cur burdens and concerns with one another, ’without this fellowship of r-esponsibilty our faith would weaken and our strength prove insufficient to carry out our- tasks.

It also belonged to the temptations of love that, in the years when mistakes l:ad accumulated in the life of our state and those responsible were of the opinion that "administrative measures" couíd solve every problem, one often faced painful decisions when cases of helping fellow-servants in danger came up.

I confess I have never wished to be brave at the other fellow-'s expense. I always had a degree of onesidedness in me, partly on the side of loving men, partly on the side of maintaining the peace of the congregations, and so I sometimes accepted the odious task of applying, also in the church, administrative measures, in order to save some from far more serious troubles., However, I must tell you this much, for now I have already formed the conviction, that it was wrong on my part to keep silent in the aforesaid cases, with the proud consciousness that I "accepted unpopularity". I wish from the depth of ny heart, that no church leader ever face the alternative of choosing, amidst the torments of conscience, between a lesser* and a'bigger trouble -> not for himself but for ethers.

It is .in this self—scrutinising part of ny report that I should like to stress what I call an urxhrly strong senso of security,, This is a constant temptation of the Christian, also in respect to his assurance of salvation. When a man is engrossed with the difficulties of a pioneering job and then he discovers that he nevertheless is pushing ahead, he is liable to forget his medosty and think that he has discovered something and got hold of the truth, in fact, that he alone is in the possession of truth; It was this ever confidence which cast its shadow on ny service during the last years of our church life. This feeling came up inspite of the thorns in ny side which had constantly tormented me and had resisted, fbr a long tine, ny attempts to extract them, Then, in the summer of 1956, great changes appeared,. It was then possible to solve some very difficult problems involving persons which had caused many inner crises. The signs of change became evident at the pasters* summer conferences of 1956 in Tahi and also in the articles and letters which were subsequently published in the church weekly "Az Ut",