Posted on 08/27/2007 11:27:21 AM PDT by topcat54
I drive past several churches on my way into the office each day. It's encouraging to see such a frequent reminder of God's visible Kingdom on a regular basis. This morning, however, I saw a sign for one of these churches that frustrated me. The sign at this prominent Baptist church read,
"Wonderful Wednesdays"
with Dr. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wonderful Wednesdays? Please. That's the type of stuff that's guaranteed to keep any hairy, red-blooded, NASCAR loving man from ever darkening the door of a church. In fact, it's just one of many reasons why most men find churchgoing to be just plain irrelevant to their lives and only fit for women and children.
I'll never forget a story my father once told me when I was just a skinny kid back in the hills of West Virginia. It was a true story about one of our beloved neighbors.
This particular neighbor is a good and rugged man who raised several hundred head of cattle on hundreds of acres surrounding our property each year. His farm has been in operation for several generations predating the War Between the States.
Like many God-fearing West Virginians, you could find him at the local Baptist church on the Lord's Day. One particular Sunday, however, this strong and gentle farmer did something that caused the congregation to swoon. He brought wine to church to celebrate the Lord's supper. No, it wasn't Welch's grape juice. It was real wine—the kind that is made out of fermented grapes. The kind that Jesus made out of water at the Wedding in Cana and drank with his disciples at the Last Supper. Needless to say, this caused such an embarrassing stir that this good farmer has, to our knowledge, never been back to church.
For 2,000 years the church has been ruled by real men and served real wine at the Lord's Table. But ever since the 1920s, churches of every stripe have been slowly emasculated and feminized. Even churches that don't allow women to preach or hold office are still highly feminized. I remember going to a Baptist church once that required men to shave their facial hair a sign of "separation from the world." What? I guess it doesn't matter that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, wore a beard.
So what was an American church like before Praise Teams, Welch's grape juice, "spikey-haired" youth pastors, and "Wonderful Wednesdays"? In early American History churches were filled with clergy and laymen who were willing to fight and die for their convictions if necessary. They didn't consider church to be a feel-good social club. It was the spiritual center of American culture and fanned the flames of liberty and freedom that we cherish today.
During the War of Independence there was a group of heroic men referred to as the "Black Regiment". The very name enraged the British armies. As heroes in the war, their courage and leadership were hailed throughout the colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia...This "Black Regiment" was responsible for providing the conviction and wisdom necessary for winning a war against the cruelty of an unjust government. What was the "Black Regiment"? Actually, it wasn't a regiment at all. It referred to the American Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist clergy....So potent was the preaching which compelled the colonists that, quite often, the War of Independence was referenced in Parliament as "the Presbyterian Revolt". In retaliation, during the war, British troops made Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches military targets... So impressive was the pulpit in providing leadership, that the Sons of Liberty often organized their followers in the church buildings and through the church officers. The Minutemen very often found their leadership in elders and deacons of the churches...
Of course, when the epic struggle began, church authority was responsible for calling men to action. Pastors often led the colonists in actual battle. The Rev. Jonas Clark was with his flock at Lexington green. In fact, "Old Jonas" had sworn never to run from British guns and proved it when he fell from a musket ball. Trying to fire from the ground, he was "run through" with a British bayonet. Another "member" of the "Black Regiment", the Rev. James Caldwell became famous when, during battle, he supplied the much needed paper wadding for the muskets from his church hymnals. Returning to the battle front with an armful of Isaac Watts hymnals he exclaimed, "Now boys, give 'em Watts!"
Such were the clergy and the church at large in the formation of this great Republic. But...the question remains. Will such leadership distinguish the clergy of this generation?1
We wonder why the church has been driven under ground culturally in America. Will the church ever return to provide the strong masculine leadership our nation enjoyed in it's early years? I believe so. And when it does, I'm sure that the churches will be full of real men ready to advance the Kingdom of Christ at all costs.
I agree that Christianity as practiced by the mainline churches has become too wimpy. The Missouri Synod Lutheran Church still has an all-male clergy and has a more "masculine" feel than most. It's been a great home for me, at least (I may be rare, as a gal, but I do not favor female clergy. Used to be Episcopal; female priests haven't done that denomination any good, at all.)
I wonder what your typical WWJD typestyle church would do if the local folks showed up for church like the men in the days of the Founding Fathers? That is, fully armed with rifles.
Modern rifles.
I would bet the typical congregation would just wet their pants and screech into a cell phone dialing 911. If things go sour here in the US and there is open combat occurring it will be hard to get at the enemy. The local population will be getting slaughtered from running in circles getting in the way.
Some time in March of 1775 the Governor of Connecticut, Jonathan Trumbal set aside a “Day of Public Fasting and Prayer…that God would graciously pour out his Holy Spirit on us, to bring us to a thorough repentance and effectual reformation;…That He would restore, preserve and secure the liberties of this, and all the other American Colonies, and make this land a mountain of Holiness and habitation of righteousness forever…” The day he selected for that “Day of Fasting and Prayer” was Wednesday, 19 April 1775.
http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/rkba/no_king.htm
Silly. Everybody knows Jesus turned the water into juice.
Yes, he'd lost every other point so he was reduced to using slander instead of logic.
It seems to me the American congregations were desperate for unity, and in pursuit of unity they’ve slowly given up almost everything else... and still they don’t have unity.
FYI
Thanks for this post. "Church-tainment" drives me absolutely crazy. I attend a conservative, Bible-teaching and believing church which still spends half its service with people pounding on drums, bongos and bass guitars to play whatever the latest "I'm falling in love with God" song is.
Jesus Christ is not my prom date. He is my Lord and Savior. I don't want to jump in the back seat of my car and fog up the windows with God, figuratively speaking. I want to worship Him.
I wish my church paid more attention to simple reverence, and I wish traditional conservative worship wasn't dead.
Peter Muhlenberg...
another “Fighting Father”...well, he was Luthern...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Muhlenberg
PBS’s “History Detectives” even investigated a clerical robe that
came from the time of Muhlenberg. The investigator didn’t get a
convincing case (IMHO) that it belonged to Muhlenberg.
But they did mention the colorful (and possibly apocryphal) story of
him given a sermon, then opening his robe to reveal his Continental
Army uniform...then leading the men of his congregation off to war.
Well, as is said in Texas...”maybe it ain’t true, but it oughta’ be!”
return then, to your original Christian religion, the one you were baptized into...the Catholic church......Despite all denials, if you were baptized...and it was a legitimate baptism...you are a Catholic...there is only one baptism and it makes you a member of the ONLY true Christian denomination...Catholocism.....Grab on...it doesn’t hurt...and feeling truly saved feels GREAT!!!!!
I’ve had mormon’s and jehovah’s witnesses (No Capitalization Is Intentional) come to my home, knock on my door and if you, as in your post, replace the word “catholic” (No Capitalization Is Intentional) with the appropriate proselytizer’s Cult give me exactly the same message.
I know that I am truly Saved because Jesus Christ tells me In His Word that I am!
While I have some sympathy and support for a lot of things in church circles that you don’t . . .
I do heartily agree with the vast bulk of this article.
I have a great reverence and appreciation for conservative worship with the old hymns.
However . . . I think it’s very easy to be prissy, sanctimonious, self-righteous, haughty and . . . very quickly quite out of touch with what God is doing when one carries that attitude very far at all.
Scripture likens a husband and wife’s physical union/love for one another to Christ’s love for The Church. And, rightly enough, WORSHIP has been likened to physical intimacy with God.
Such metaphors may jangle some prissy sensibilities but they are quite BIBLICAL with Christ’s fingerprints all over them.
Certainly almost anything can be carried off the deep end or ground into the dirt.
I do not think it is usually the particular practice that is at fault . . . though I think volumes so loud that it’s painful is clearly unChristian and at fault.
But drums and instruments of every stripe can give glory to God as can FALLING IN LOVE WITH JESUS lyrics and music. The ATTITUDE OF THE HEART is critical.
If one’s attitude of the heart TOWARD GOD IS GOD FOCUSED, GOD IMMERSED, GOD GLORIFYING, GOD ENRAPTURED out of a sincere heart Holy Spirit enlivened in spiritual rapture toward God . . .
Then I think GOD IS WELL PLEASED and clucking tongues and attitudes of others are a spiritual hazard of great proportions to themselves.
I wonder . . . if in all your great affinity for conservative worship . . . if you have
EVER
been in a group/congregation where Holy Spirit descended in such majesty, force and spontaneity that even angelic forces also seemed to join in . . . and spontaneously a variety of interwoven melodies arose undirected by any human agent . . . with various languages earthly and heavenly wafting gloriously heavenward as Heaven itself seemed to descend a bit on the congregation. And, after a few minutes to maybe 20 minutes or so of virtually everyone in the room being soaked in the almost tangible Presence of The Lord, just as such spontaneously and suddenly began all over the room, it died away . . . not harshly on the same note but fading away graciously, majesticly, wonderously.
I’d guess that you have not been in such an experience.
And if not . . . then . . . I question whether you know as much about worship as you think you do.
I have never observed God to fit in a tiny tidy little box—and particularly NOT SO with regard to worship.
Brother Lawrence comes to mind, also, for some reason.
So the author would have the church rid itself of "Praise Teams, Welch's grape juice, 'spikey-haired' youth pastors, and 'Wonderful Wednesdays" -which happen to be relevant to women and youth- in order that it might be relevant to men.
We have been making too much ado over being relevant. What difference does it make if we are marketing to youth or to men by being relevant to either? We are still marketing the church using worldly methods. The church needs only be relevant to Christ, the Gospel and to itself. All else is worldly.
Tnx, Zech.
And I like Topcat’s comments:
Jesus Christ is not my prom date. He is my Lord and Savior. I don’t want to jump in the back seat of my car and fog up the windows with God, figuratively speaking. I want to worship Him.
While I think a lot of modern praise music is quite good, one thing that bugs me about some of the songs is the lack of respect for God.
While I think a lot of modern praise music is quite good, one thing that bugs me about some of the songs is the lack of respect for God.
= = = =
For example?
The car bit was cute . . . but wholesale misplaced, I think.
I think God longs for us to be as enraptured with him as a young man is with his young woman—not simple lusg—but the cherishing enraptured kind of utterly devoted love mind, soul AND boyd.
And, I think it’s not per se because God NEEDS that in any way which we could construe as need . . . but that He knows
OUR GREATEST BLESSING will come from such an attachment, attraction, devotion.
And, given the BIBLICAL metaphor of the physical union between husband and wife being a model, symbol, metaphor for Christ’s Love for The Church . . . and that WORSHIP is a kind of physical acting out of our passion for God . . . I think the cutsey slam is grossly ill-considered and simply wrong.
In terms of some of the praise songs etc. not respecting God—I think that’s nonsense.
Respect is felt and shown in a diversity of ways by the diversity of God’s human creations.
And, Scripture has times and places of
I SAW THE LORD, HIGH AND LIFTED UP, AND HIS TRAIN FILLED THE TEMPLE. . . . . and there was silence in Heaven . . . prostrate . . . threw their crowns at His feet . . . HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!
And
COME UNTO ME LITTLE CHILDREN . . . EXCEPT YOU BECOME AS A LITTLE CHILD, YOU SHALL NOT MAKE HEAVEN . . . . . . CRY ABBA, FATHER, DADDY!
Certainly praise songs CAN be SUNG with no respect; glibly, mindlessly . . .
So can the Halleluja Chorus and Amazing Grace.
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