Explo '72

A strong and visible prophetic witness was presented to the delegates at Explo '72, an 80,000-person evangelical gathering in Dallas, and to the American public which viewed the event. The Friday night edition of the Dallas Evening Times on June 23rd contained the following front page headline: "War Vs. Peace at Explo '72." The opening paragraph began: "Two themes emerged as Explo entered its fourth day Thursday—war and peace—and the Christian militants of the Prince of Peace and the might of the military were both in evidence." The activities and words of the prophetic witness at Explo have been covered widely by the media (both Dallas daily newspapers, Time, Life, Saturday Review, Boston Phoenix, Dallas Iconoclast, Washington Post, Christianity Today, Reformed Journal, etc.). Peter Ediger reports on the event.—The Editors

It came to pass in the summer of '72 that many young people gathered in Dallas, Texas, for Explo, a week of training for Christian witness sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. They came from Florida and British Columbia, from Ontario and California and many states and provinces in between, and a few also came from beyond North America.

And while they were there they sang many songs and heard many speeches, and saw many exhibits, and assembled in many groups to be taught to witness to the Four Spiritual Laws. And everywhere young people were saying "Praise the Lord" and giving the "One-Way" sign to each other.

And they gathered in the Cotton Bowl nightly to hear music and testimonies and speeches by Bill Bright and Billy Graham and others. And the sound of their cheering and clapping and "Praise-the-Lord" chanting filled the Bowl and overflowed into the surrounding area.

And among those present in Dallas were some messengers of peace—some post-Americans calling themselves the People's Christian Coalition, and a few sons of Menno sent by the Mennonite Central Committee, who had also come to witness for their Lord.

The messengers of peace set up their booths along with many others and distributed their literature. And many people came by. Some looked and smiled; some looked and frowned. Some said "right on" and "we need that" in response to posters saying "blessed are the peacemakers" and "swords into plowshares"; but others said "there will always be wars and rumors or wars ... praise the Lord, God will take care of wars, all we need is to win people to Christ," and sometimes they engaged the messengers of peace in intensive conversation.

And on the second day some Campus Crusade officials in charge of the exhibits called the messengers of peace in for a meeting, and questioned them concerning the literature they were distributing, saying that some of it was not in harmony with the purpose of Explo. And the officials lifted out samples of objectionable materials, including brochures on Conscientious Objectors and a quote from Menno Simons, "The regenerated do not go to war ..."

And the messengers of peace questioned the officials concerning the basis for their judgments, and testified to them of Christ the Prince of Peace, and requested further dialog with officials concerning the attempted censorship. And after further consultation, the officials granted permission to continue the distribution of literature of peace.

And some of the messengers of peace made signs saying "Stop the war in Jesus' name" and "The 300 persons killed by American bombs today will not be won in this generation" and "Choose this day—make disciples or make bombs, love your enemies or kill your enemies." And they walked among the people with their signs.

And some people said, "Amen" and others were offended, saying, "Why bring peripheral issues to Explo? We are here to witness to the Lord." And officials of Explo asked the messengers of peace not to carry signs inside the buildings.

One evening the celebration in the Cotton Bowl included a Flag ceremony with "presentation of colors" by military personnel. And while thousands watched the spectacle in awed silence, the messengers of peace unfurled two banners reading "Cross or Flag" and "Christ or Country" and started chanting, "Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop the war!"

And policemen came running, and officials of Campus Crusade came asking "Who's in charge of this group?" And one of them replied, "The Holy Spirit." And there was vigorous discussion between the Crusade people and the messengers of peace about loyalty to Christ and loyalty to country.

On the following day the messengers of peace, after prayer and discussion, prepared a statement concerning Christ and the military, which said, in part,

"We are deeply troubled by the continuing identification of Jesus Christ with the military ... there are evangelical Christians who believe that faithfulness to Christ calls us to abandon all carnal warfare; that love for God has integrity only when expressed in love for fellowmen; that it is not by might nor by power but by the Lord's Spirit that we are saved from any principalities and powers of evil in our world ... Our ultimate allegiance is to Christ. The evangelical church's silent complicity with the immoral American involvement in Indochina is a tragic example of misplaced allegiance."

And the messengers of peace distributed this statement at special meetings of military personnel at Explo. And again there was much discussion one-to-one and in small groups.

And on the final evening when Billy Graham addressed the multitudes of young people, calling for courageous discipleship to Jesus Christ, the messengers of peace found themselves responding with both joyful affirmation at the good words being said, and painful awareness of the strong resistance to letting those words become flesh in response to the world's agonies.

And the messengers of peace prayed together for strength and discernment and joy in the continuing call to be Christ's body bringing salt and light into an americanized civil religion with much Jesus talk and less Jesus walk.

Peter Ediger was pastor of Arvada Mennonite Church in Arvada, Colorado, and an active participant in The Post-American's witness at Explo '72 when this article appeared in The Post-American, the predecessor to Sojourners.