That "One Or Two?" Pattern Dilemma
She buys a McCall Pattern for a dress; just one pattern, mind you. She brings it home and finds it has a pattern for the bodice and a pattern for the skirt. She does not become disgusted and decide that there is nothing in patterns because she bought one and found two. She knew there were two parts to the dress. Nor does she feel that there is room for argument about whether there is one or two patterns. She understands that it takes both bodice and skirt to make one dress pattern.
A Christian goes to the Bible to find the pattern of church co-operation. He knows as much about Bible patterns as his wife knows about dress patterns. He finds one pattern for church co-operation — Churches with members who have prospered have a collection in each and each sends it either to the elders of the church in which there is need that the overseers may use the gift in relieving the need or to the person or preacher who needs it, always a direct gift or wage. In opening this pattern he finds a pattern for evangelism and a pattern for benevolence; hence, he sometimes speaks of the two separately or he may speak of the pattern. And when another Christian with the same understanding of scriptural patterns speaks of one, while the first speaks of two, they realize that there is no difference in their conception of the matter, that it depends on whether one is discussing the separate parts or the whole.
Then another Christian sees the parts and hears the statements and loses confidence in the first two Christians mentioned; loses confidence in the scriptural examples; doubts the harmony, unity and authenticity of at least some parts of the Bible; casts it aside and says there is no pattern of church co-operation.
Specifically, Yater Tant and Cecil Douthitt have been charged with contradicting one another because one has spoken of one pattern and the other has spoken of two. They are no further in contradiction than the dress pattern with two parts which the woman buys. They understand that they are in essential agreement. A few, however, are deciding that there is no scriptural pattern of church co-operation because one has spoken of the two phases (evangelism and benevolence) distributively as two patterns while the other has discussed them collectively as one pattern; and from this these few have concluded that anything which human wisdom sanctions in church co-operation is acceptable to God.