I would like to hand over the greater part of my column this week to a public domain address given by a well know pastor. I will end with some closing thoughts.
Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?
An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even 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" (Mark 16:15). 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; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers .., for the work of the ministry" (Eph. 4:11-12). 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" (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy---something the world will spit out not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead" (Matt. 8:22) 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 this gospel of 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 unto 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 from preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). That is the only 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 the 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.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
(1834-1892)
Given that Spurgeon wrote these words over 100 years ago, it becomes staggering when I read them. Though not his intent, I see in his words a letter addressing the churches of our age. Spurgeon however was speaking to what he called the “down grade” going on in many churches during his era. The scary part is that Spurgeon’s warning was proven right and even prophetic years after. The churches that did not heed Spurgeon’s warning of giving up sound doctrinal preaching and replacing it with entertainment to the masses in order to gain higher numbers in church vanished in the end.
Does this letter from Spurgeon, not remind you of the church growth movement of today? The goal of the church growth movement is to win the lost. However in actuality what is occurring is they are losing the faithful found in gaining the lost.
By preaching a gospel about man and the needs of man, we focus on man’s gain of happiness, wealth, and health and overlook the God that gives such blessings. Oh how man loves to hear God loves him, just they way he is. This is a safe message to bring. This is also a not so complete picture of God. How about holiness and repentance? Well we cannot offend them with words of repentance can we? Give them what they want. They like pop music, so we give them pop music. They like TV shows and movies so why not give them dramas. Coffee houses are the big thing today, lets give them coffee houses in church.
Just last week I listened to a Christian radio station’s hour long program on money. I kept waiting for a Bible verse. Not one was given. The only time God was mentioned was in a phrase such as, “You know God wants us to…”. Not once did they back up their ideas from the Bible. The hour long program was a focus on money, and how to gain it and use it. Can we not get this advice on CNN? My guess is that the advice seen on CNN would be better advice in this case. Why was there no attempt to bring people closer to God on an hour long Christian broadcast?
The problem is in trying to mimic the world in order to gain the world, we are not only failing to share the gospel, but also doing a bad job of what we try to forge.
Think with me for a moment of the mind of the non-believer. If a person desire is to hear pop music, why go to church and hear it done in a poor fashion, when one can just turn on their ipods at home to hear a better sound by professionals. I mean if it is the sound you want, the world does it better. If you want drama, why watch some cheesy script with poor acting in a church, when you can watch a award winning movie in surround sound at home, produced by the best actors and directors in the world? Again if they “seek” drama, why not get the best?
Maybe we need to get out of the drama business and into the gospel business. Maybe we need to make music that we are good at making, the kind the world cannot hear outside of church. Maybe we should be a light on a hill, and not a poorly done light show.
Spurgeon reminds us above that we are to be the salt, not sugar candy. I say amen to this. Its time this church age stopped sugar coating the message. If the Bible says we are sinners, and that offends mankind, we need not fear. It then is left to Holy Spirit, to turn the offended man into a sinner of guilt, whereby he sees God as his only hope.
Will today’s “Seeker Friendly” movement, follow the same down grading of Spurgeon’s day? Yes it will. The focus is not on our great God, but on the sinner. You become what you focus on. Fifty years from now, after they run off the faithful, after their halls are filled with the world, all of these Seeker type churches will be closed.
Maybe now is the time to return to the gospel and sound doctrine. This is what we can give the world that it cannot find in a movie or pop song. This type of church makes us different from the world. This is what the world needs, not more of the same of what they find in the world.