Thursday 21 March 2013

The Rationale and Remedy for Worldly Worship


One of the big things that the churches focus on is ministry to children and is something they do continually and to children of all ages.

Now you would think that when young people reach a certain age they would "leave childish things behind them." But sadly that is not the case, especially in 'evangelical' churches. The big drive in these churches is to cater for the needs of the young people and children.

The problem arises when teenagers and young adults never grow up - and their needs have to be catered for. And if they don't get what they want, their childish and adolescence ways come to the fore, and they throw their toys out of their prams and huff. Some even threaten to leave the church and go to where their childish ways are catered for. For them it's a win-win situation for there are any number of 'churches' that cater for childish ways and childish people of all ages.

So what does the church leadership do? They find out what will 'hold' those in the congregations who have adolescent tantrums, and then give them what they want. Hence, the pre-occupation with worldly worship of the holy God within the evangelical churches.

Many local church leaders have told me, "You must keep the young people." This is their explanation for and justification of their adoption of worldly worship. An evanmgelical minister told me that “if it is OK to beat drums for King William, it’s also OK to beat drums for King Jesus.” That was the extent of this man’s doctrine of worship! The Bible is no longer sufficient as “the only infallible rule” how we are to worship and serve the Lord. The Protestant 'rule of faith' has in practice been abandoned decades ago, yet those who have abandoned it still claim to be protestant evangelicals. How utterly incongruous!

I wonder if these people ever really met with God. I wonder if they have times of deafening silence and stillness in the Lord's holy and searching presence. I wonder just how well they know the Lord and take seriously what He has revealed to them in His Word.

These questions go through my mind constantly. When I raise these issues, I am treated with contempt. They think of me as being "an old fuddy duddy." They tell me that the church has to move with the times. They want the church to be relevant to the contemporary world. So what do they do? They work to make the church so like the world that you would be hard pressed to distinguish it from the world at times.

When our youngest son was converted to Christ almost six years ago, he told me, in relation to the kind of worship that went on in the church we attended, that before he was converted he went to night clubs; now that he is a Christian, he does not want to go to more night clubs. The church we then attended was the next best thing to an evangelical night club.

What is the solution to the worldliness that has not just crept into the church, but has been deliberately brought into the church by evangelicals and others? The answer is a return to the principles of worship enshrined in the teaching of the greatest revival of true religion since the days of the apostles - the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth century Europe. Discover what the reformers discovered from Scripture and compare that with what obtained in the pre-reformation churches. There, you had all kinds of childishness, religious entertainment involving magic shows where the priests took a piece of ordinary bread and actually turned it into the body of Christ which was then given to the faithful to eat (is that cannibalism?), endless meaningless rituals to keep the people interested, teaching to keep them from straying into the wrong paths, complicated services of worship, a refusal of biblical simplicity, etc.

This all had to go and Christian worship was re-introduced into the re-formed churches in all its simplicity and biblical dignity. I would call on church leaders to re-visit the teaching and practice of the reformation, and set about reforming their churches in line with the teaching and practice of the Word of God.

Caveat: it will be very costly for those biblically-driven ministers who attempt this reform within the evangelical churches today. Be prepared for dismissal. Reformation is costly business.

7 comments:

graham wood said...

It depends on what you mean by "worldly" worship.
Whilst there is nothing wrong for a congregation to occasionally organise a "worship service", it is a fact that such meetings are entrenched, stereotyped, and imposed in every church denomination one can think of - with no New Testament sanction.
Surely, "worship" is all of life, and not to be slotted into an hour or so on a Sunday morning.
In any event, the NT. reveals a completely different p[attern for Christian gathering, (see 1 Cor. 12-14; and Rom 12: 1-6) in which the opportunity and privilege is given for every member of Christ's body to participate.
Neither is there any NT justification for the monologue "sermon" event, which has replaced the effective functioning of the priesthood of all believers.
This is where man made tradition replaces the Word of God.

Hazlett Lynch said...

Graham, I am so sorry that your church is as bad as the rest, as your inclusive language suggests. However, leaving that aside unless there is a different line of thinking from that used by you in earlier posts, we will just get bogged down in position defending, which is not a worthy thing to be involved in. We must accept each other's positions as being biblically arguable without reverting to entrenched positions from which neither will emerge.

graham wood said...

Thanks Hazlett. But a dismissive post using words "get bogged down" is not exactly a positive contribution to the subject of "worship" which you yourself raised.

Perhaps you would kindly amplify - are you saying that the passages I quoted, and there are several others in the same vein, are irrelevant as a pattern for Christian gatherings - or are you saying something else?
Surely the cause of Truth can only be served by mutual discussion and opening of the Word of God - on this issue as for any other?

graham wood said...

Thanks Hazlett. But a dismissive post using words "get bogged down" is not exactly a positive contribution to the subject of "worship" which you yourself raised.

Perhaps you would kindly amplify - are you saying that the passages I quoted, and there are several others in the same vein, are irrelevant as a pattern for Christian gatherings - or are you saying something else?
Surely the cause of Truth can only be served by mutual discussion and opening of the Word of God - on this issue as for any other?

Hazlett Lynch said...

Graham, I'm sorry if you see this as "a dismissive post." I am concerned to move the discussion forward, not get hopelessly bogged down in what seems to be nothing more than Brethren-type propaganda. The entire history of the Christian church is opposed to that view of church polity and worship, as is the NT. So when we can agree to engage in a manner and with content that will forward the debate, I must stand by my response to your comment.

graham wood said...

Thank you for your further comment Hazlett, but you did not address the legitimate question I raise.

The issue has no direct connection with what you call "Brethren-type propaganda", but rather to raise the issue of the place and application of Scripture, and specifically the passages quoted.

I am interested to learn your position, hence my question - are these Scriptures part of the God given revelation for the Church for all time and today - or are they irrelevant.
When you claim "The entire history of the Christian church is opposed to that view of church polity and worship" I suggest that is a sweeping statement and far from the expressed position of many contemporary conservative theologians and the actual practice of independent fellowships in the UK and USA.

However, I maintain the issue is the sufficiency of Scripture, which the Reformed profess to believe.
If these passages are not relevant to the church today as when they were first written - then should they be ignored, or excised from the general canon?
I am all for informed debate and as concerned as you to "move the discussion on" - but you seem inclined to dismiss the question I raise.

graham wood said...

Hazlett. I waited a couple of days to see whether you would respond to my last post - but still nothing.

Your blog is quite the most odd I have come across, Christian or otherwise.
Like most, you affirm an objective and invite comment, and post different topics from day to day.
Purportedly your purpose is:
"A forum where Christian can discuss spiritual issues".

Leaving aside that barely anybody engages in blog discussion on the blog at all, when a single post in response is offered on a subject of your choice - lo and behold you avoid discussion with a supposed concern "not to get hopelessly bogged down" & etc.

Would it not be more honest to affirm that the blog is not open for discussion of views, and then posters would know where they stand?
I briefly posited the view that the "rationale and remedy for worldly worship" is a return to the NT pattern in the Scriptures I quoted.
The Reformed have always claimed "Sola Scriptura" as their watchword, but in practice a detailed exegesis from those very same Scriptures are invariably missing from a Reformed apologetic.
Your blog has demonstrated this sad state of affairs.
Why do you bother to post at all, and to invite comment if you choose to ignore responses.
Is there any point?.
Sincerely
Graham Wood