(This is a part of my “Top Ten things that drive me crazy about Quakers” list.)
6. Our lack of humility in wider Christian circles
There are Nazarenes who earnestly want to hear from God. There are Baptists who long for God’s justice to roll down like the mighty waters. There are many who take communion or baptize with water as an earnest and real connection to the living God, without letting it be a dead ritual. I sometimes think the way we approach those outside our Friends’ circles is similar to the way the Pharisee prayed as he stood next to the tax collector in Luke 18.
Actually, there are Nazarenes, Baptists, Church of Christ folks and Mennonites worshipping within our body right now who are hungering and thirsting for the spiritual reality that takes place during communion and/or baptism. They are with us for a variety of reasons, mostly happily, but when they visit their home churches, they come back feeling refreshed for having shared communion with their friends and family. We need to respect that too.
Each fellowship needs to take heed of this.