Posted on 04/28/2005 9:58:28 AM PDT by thePilgrim
Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats? by C.H. Spurgeon |
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That is clear enough. So it would have been if he had added, and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel. No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him. Then again, He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry. Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll. Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? Ye are the salt, not the sugar candysomething the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, Let the dead bury their dead. He was in awful earnestness! |
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Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them half-way, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been Gods link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for todays ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire. |
Nothing new under the sun!
Personal request ping to you.
Christian.
bttt
Shrek was a lost sheep - and we managed to mine the story for a number of sermons - all of which had the children paying full attention without the need of jokes etc...
mod ping for the linked story as a sermon illustration
Everyone has an opinion.
Amen!
And to think, I stayed up all night for this.
For the most part, the mega-churches are feeding sheep. You think they can remain large if they are not?
Granted there are some large ministries that do not do much feeding of the sheep. On the other hand, there are many, many small churches that continue to exist only out of a sense of loyalty or fear of change on the part of those members. When an entire denomination is not growing in numbers and even shrinking, one can hardly claim that much feeding is bveing done.
Is this the same Spurgeon who stated that god desires that all men be saved; all men without exception?
About whom and to whom was Sprigeon directing his comments? When he refers to 'entertainment', what are some examples?
You will notice that Spurgeon's complaint was not simply that they were providing entertainment (whatever that is -- indeed Spurgeon's sermons are mildly entertaining even to the reprobates) but that they were suggesting shorter sermons or othewise compromising the message.
But the Bible commands us to go into the streets and compel them to come in. In the old reformation days, people were compelled to come in by means of laws and the threat of publick (sic) floggings or other humiliation. Nobody seemed to complain about the presence of leaven or goats back then, did they?
Well, we are still commanded to compel them to come in. We can't threaten people with publick floggings or stocks or other humiliation, so what do we have left? Before modern contemporary services a person could have said something like:"Hey why don't you come to church with me, you just might enjoy it. Our Organist is playing a series of Bach preludes before and after the service." I suspect that many who came to see Spurgeon were compelled by friends who said, "Hey come listen to this dynamic speaker. He tells interesting stories and you just might enjoy it."
Spurgeon may have failed to realize that many in the audience for his sermons were there out of curiosity for his own talent at keeping a large crowd of parishoners awake for his 20 minute sermons and in the process actually -- gasp -- entertaining them!
Spurgeon was a sucessful evangelist for the same reason that Rick Warren and Billy Graham and Greg Laurie are sucessful evangelists. Because he got unsaved people into his church to hear the gospel message. What a concept.
As Paul said: "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." 1Co 9:22
By all means. Indeed.
BTW is it just me or is there a note of synergism in that verse?
If our church members fall into the habit of frequenting the theatre, we shall soon have them going much further in the direction of vice, and they will lose all relish for the ways of God. If theatre-going became general among professing Christians, it would be the death of piety. Yet one finds the taste for such things increasing on every hand.
We cannot even enter places once dedicated to science and art without finding ourselves in the presence of something like a theatrical performance. Such gimmickry, though in itself harmless enough, has helped foster the taste which leads ultimately to the theatre and its surroundings.
Never saw much of this in any CRC I attended; especially the "understood and felt, that it sets a man on fire." I've seen lots of it in more Arminian and non-Denominational churches.
When the Oregon churches banded together to pass a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman, I don't recall the involvement of many reformed denominations. To be quite honest, it was the mega-churches that did most of the heavy lifting and contributions to get that amendment passed. This could very well be because their pastors made it a priority to go out into the world and speak up for the truth.
In the past few weeks, Micro-Soft withdrew its support for same-sex unions in the Washington legislature. While they claim that the two employees who testified to the legislature in favor of same-sex unions were only speaking as individuals, high level officials were visited a few weeks earlier by the pastoe of a mega-church who threatened to organize a nationwide boycott of Micro-Soft if they continued to support same-sex unions. This pastor had the connections around to country to succeed well enoigh to impact their bottom line; and Micro-Soft knows it. You think the pastor of a small church that does not have an influence in the world would have even got a hearing with Micro-soft?
I think that Spurgeon sermon/message was very entertaining. I thought the illustration about the three coachmen was very good. Entertaining while driving home an excellent point.
At least Spurgeon didn't say anything against dancing.
you love your dancing dont you
Psalm 30:11
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness
It's just you.
The Christian religion is not a wing of the Republican Party.
I don't believe I made any mention of the Republican party; did I?
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