CYRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
April 23, 2006
KEEP IN YOUR PRAYERS THE FOLLOWING:
Our congregation Our nation, leaders and military
Our students James and Leon in the Army
Various friends, relatives and co-workers
COMING UP:
April 30th at the King’s at 1:30 PM a party for Travis and Rose for their upcoming wedding.
May 4th - National Day of Prayer
May 14th - Mother’s Day
May 20th - Travis and Rose Wedding
Bryce and Heather have decided on the spelling of their new daughter. It will be Kinlee Reese Mearns.
HOW ATTRACTIVE ARE WE?
“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15).
Just recently, the Houston Chronicle had a little article about efforts by members of churches of Christ and the Christian Churches to work together in unity despite the obvious difference of instrumental music. This year, lectureships at Abilene and Pepperdine, and the Tulsa Workshop all will address this discussion in some way. I have heard that several churches of Christ are introducing instrumental music into their assemblies. After almost two centuries of arguments and debates, splits and name calling, why would these things occur? Having talked with some who have no problem with this, and reading what some have said, the general consensus is that it will attract others to our assemblies where they can heard the gospel, and that it will keep people in our congregations, especially the younger generations. Both goals are admirable but are we looking more at some form rather than the substance that is needed to attract and keep people? And if people are leaving, why? Are they leaving because of a disagreement over forms or is there something deeper, something missing or lacking in our presentation, our attractiveness?
We have spent many years and much ink on just what are or who are the churches of Christ. Generally, we have come to the following conclusions based on our interpretation or hermeneutic of scripture. We only speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where it is silent, doing Bible things in Bible ways with Bible names. We are New Testament Christians (a term not found in the Bible), have a plan of salvation (hear, believe, repent, confess, and be immersed, though rarely do we talk about the Person behind this), have five things we do in our worship services (another term not found in the Bible) which involves prayer, giving, preaching, singing without an instrument, and the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week or Sunday, and we have an organization (yet another idea not found in the Bible - is it an institution or a family?) which includes elders as leaders, deacons, and a preacher with Christ as the Head of the church. I’m not trying to be critical to be critical; I think we have some things we need to think through because the slogans often do not match our actions.
If we were to ask an outsider who is familiar with churches of Christ, how would he describe us? The churches of Christ think they are the only ones going to heaven (but that could be said of any number of groups and is), and they are legalistic. They don’t use instrumental music and this has just about become the major identifying mark of churches of Christ and based on the above, we are in for another long battle over this subject.
How do we attract people and how do we keep them? If we think a form will do this, then we are looking in the wrong place. Forms are fine if there is a foundation for them, but I fear we have little or no foundation strong enough to support our forms. Changing from one form to another to attract or prevent misses what is really needed, yet we keep looking at forms. Contemporary religious music will attract people rather than the classical or Stamps-Baxter country style. Instrumental music will attract rather than acappella. All of this and more misses what scripture actually says, and what I think we need to begin emphasizing in our teaching and living. “In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:5, TNIV).
First, we need to understand that Jesus is Lord and not Caesar, nor any elder, deacon, preacher, or anyone else in the congregation who thinks they can control things, and neither is tradition. Paul tells us that God has made Jesus Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Until we grasp this teaching, we are going to continue to have problems in relationships. And that is what all the above is about. We need to understand that all of us are servants to one Lord. There is no hierarchy in the church. Elders are really shepherds out among the sheep serving, correcting, instructing patiently, leading not driving people. Those who want their way, whether to prevent, add to, or change something are often selfish, wanting their own way, forgetting that we are in this together. Ideas must be thought through and worked out and that takes effort (see Ephesians 4:3).
Too many brothers and sisters have thought that they could get what they wanted anyway no matter what scripture said. They act as little lords over other people and their families. People are leaving not because we do or do not use instrumental music but because of how we treat one another. They go to other churches not because they use instrumental music but because they really do believe what they Bible says and try to put it into practice. Let me illustrate. A sister has a problem with the preacher. Does she go and talk to him about his preaching? No. She complains to the elders and tells them that she will not come on Sunday nights unless he is gone. What do the elders do? They sacrifice the preacher and his family for her. They don’t tell her to go and talk with the preacher and they make no effort to see what they can do to resolve the situation between the two. The scriptures involved in this are Matthew 18:15 and 5:9. So the preacher leaves and his children, disgusted by the hypocrisy of the whole thing stop going to church. It is not the forms that are causing the problems of people coming or going but the attitude of Christians. We have all those slogans which sound good but are meaningless because we do not really believe in them. I asked a preacher’s son who studied Greek and psychology in college why he did not preach because he was a very good preacher. He said that he did not want other people to have that much control over his life.
We have also made tradition lord. Just consider the following. There has been a debate over praise teams, solos, and choirs in the assembly. We traditionally have had a song leader, a idea not found in scripture. We have given this person “authority” to lead and have reasoned that the elders have the power to do this, though scripture says nothing about this position or such authority. It is silent but because we like it, it is expedient, that is, it is “lawful” because it accomplishes an activity, singing. Notice how we have just got around the silence of scripture. When praise teams began to be introduced into larger congregations, brethren complained because there was no scriptural basis for this and because women were involved. We look at someone or group as having some unmentioned authority not found in scripture. If one person is leading, it is acceptable, but if someone sings a solo, or a group leads in singing, it isn’t acceptable. People are looking at this interpretation and the attitudes that accompany it, and just shake their heads. It is inconsistent, but those who hold to the traditional view cannot see that.
This leads to the second thought, we need humility. Paul makes it clear that this was the mind of Christ in Philippians 2:6-8. Jesus humble Himself in becoming a man and dying on the cross. Humility is something lacking in the church. We too often want our way and really don’t care what others think. If one has the power and control, then he will get his way. Humility takes effort. It goes further. We want to be right and cannot see that we could be wrong in the way we read scripture and in our attitudes toward others. We justify ourselves by saying things like “righteous indignation” or “I was just made this way.” People see anger and a lack of repentance and just shake their heads. They read the scriptures and see how we should be treating one another, so they leave either to other groups or nowhere, tired of the hypocrisy and the slogans and the poor attitudes.
The father in the parable of the prodigals humbled himself to run to and accept back his young son even though that son had disgraced him. A father just didn’t run through the village to reconcile with his son, but God did. After the second son disgraced the father by refusing to come into the banquet, the father went out in humility to reconciled with him. We are left to wonder how the second son responded to such costly love. When we have such humility, we will attract people and keep those we have.
Finally, there is the mark of the Christian or the forgotten commandment that we should be known for by others. Not surprisingly, it is not in the list above about how we see ourselves or how others see us. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). Everyone will know we are His disciples if we love one another. Well, people say we love others but we certainly do not act like it. People are leaving or are not attracted because they do not see the love. This is not an emotional, wishy-washy thing were talking about. Love means seeking what is best for another even if it means dying for them. Paul talks about the lack of love being empty even though one might have faith to move mountains, give to the poor, have great knowledge, and suffer in the name of Christ. We could say that one could have the “right” forms, names, and interpretations but if they do not have love, then it all means nothing. Love is patient and kind and doesn’t keep a record of wrongs yet when I read what some brothers say of others, they can say that they love but their words betray them.
Love makes an effort to work things out and through. We will not all agree on everything but that doesn’t mean we cannot come together as a family and work together. There is an attitude that if one is wrong on one point, then that point must be corrected. The problem is that the person usually seeing the wrong is unwilling to admit that they too could be wrong. It then leads to judgmental attitudes and splits. And if there is something churches of Christ are known for, it is splits.
People are seeing this. They are looking at us and they are not attracted to us because they see how we treat each other. They read what we write. They hear what we say about others and they are repulsed so they go to other groups where they see people practicing love the way the Bible intended. Not that these other groups are perfect, but a least they are making the effort. I fear we have become satisfied with the way we are that we no longer challenge ourselves to live radically in this world. We have rationalized and justified ourselves so often that we think it is Biblical without looking at the scriptures to see if that is the case.
Instrumental music isn’t a cure to what ails. If a congregation is cold and hard, it will not be warmed by instrumental music. If a congregation is living and practicing the example of Jesus, it will not need instrumental music to attract other; that will already be happening. The silence of the scripture isn’t the issue (and we haven’t been very silent on silence anyway). The problem is that we have to begin really practicing what we are being taught in scripture in how we live in Christ. And it is not picking and choosing what we want. Self-examination is difficult, whether individually or congregationally, but that is what we need to do. We might not like some of the conclusions we will draw but if they are needed, then so be it.
George B. Mearns