Posted on 08/09/2005 8:37:23 PM PDT by buckeyesrule
An evil resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its imprudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate evil for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
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 has 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 sugar candy-something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead." He was in awful earnestness!
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel amusement. Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, "Lord grant Thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They "turned the world upside down." That is the difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's 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 today's 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
Because I have family members with differing theological beliefs, I began studying different elements of Christianity a few yrs ago. The first thing I studied was worship. I have read several books on worship and every one of them agrees with what you say.
Books I have read regarding worship: With Reverence and Awe, DG Hart and John Muether; The Lord's Service-The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship, Jeffrey Meyers; and Covenantal Worship, RJ Gore, Jr.
CC&E
And the pumps are failing....
CC&E
EDITOR: Chris Carmichael
Now, why does that name ring a bell?
FWIW, anything Spurgeon is near and dear to this Baptist’s heart. I’ve read these words several times before and it is always good to go back and understand that we face the same problems our brothers faced in times past. He rather reminds us of these profound words from "the Preacher" Solomon:
That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which it may be said,
See, this is new"?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.
I often wonder if those who must resort to entertainment as a means to get and keep people in the pews have a fundamental distrust of the Holy Spirit. It is, after all, His job to work conviction in the hearts of men and to enlighten us to the truth (John 16:13) as it is spoken in the Scriptures or elucidated from the pulpit. To think that we must have some kind of glitzy sermon seems to be misplaced at best. I’ve even heard people defend the idea that we must make the gospel simple and entertaining so as not to lose people, meaning talk over their heads. My question to them has and will always be: "Why? If these words are spiritual and we have a Spiritual Truth receptor to guide us, why must we dumb it down for carnal ears?"
Vanity! Vanity! All is vanity!
I'm happily Russian Orthodox, where I pray such compromises and performances will never be seen.
BTTT
This is my fear.
Some of those mega seeker friendly churches feed pabulum every Sunday and then say the REAL stuff is taught on Wed .
So many people can not make it back on Wed or are too immature to realize they NEED to go and to grow
There is nothing sadder than someone that says they have been saved for 10 years and only knows John 3:16 and that God is love.
Saved or not they do not really know the God of the bible, they lack teeth ..
Those pastors will have to answer for this some day
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