You won't find this stuff in the Bible...
- Hymnals
- Choirs
- Sunday School
- Constitutions and Bylaws
- Pipe Organs (interestingly enough, you do find drums and stringed instruments)
- Sunday Bulletins
- Children's church
- Pulpits
- Baptistry's
- 60 minute church services
- Ministers of Youth, Music, or Education
- Preaching verse by verse through the Bible
- Topical sermon series
Does that mean all of these things are wrong? Of course not (okay, maybe the pipe organ is wrong). But so much of what we do as a church, even in the most traditional church, is the result of man-made thinking in the church. Churches across the board have adopted a certain way to do things...something that was not prescribed in the Bible, but something they determined to be effective in accomplishing Christ's mission. Before you're so quick to judge a church for using drums, just remember that there were no organs in the upper room.
Anything else you want to add to the list?
Michael:
Although I do not know the precise context behind this posting (my guess is that it would be someone upset about Oak Leaf's musical venue), there is something you allude to behind the scenes: what is considered appropriate for use in a church service? I imagine that this has been coming up in increasing frequency with regards to your church activities and methods. There are three main points concerning things that are in church that "aren't Biblical."
The first group are things not spelled out in the Bible, but are clearly permissible. From your example above, the word "hymnals" does not appear in scripture, but singing to the Lord, the Psalms, and references to musical instruments are apparent.
The second group are typically called adiaphoron. These are the "If it's okay for you, that's fine, but it's not for me," topics. Keeping musical, this would include the use of a rock band in playing hymns and songs for worship. In some churches it would work, others it would be offensive. While there is nothing specifically against the use of these things in the Bible, it may cause a brother or sister to stumble or fall into sin, like the use of alcohgl. This requires caution at times.
The third group are things not spelled out in the Bible, but are clearly not permissible. For example, the Bible does not say that you cannot have a stripper dancing and gyrating to the aforementioned rock band playing secular death metal during service, as these things did not exist in their current forms back then. But, the lust, blasphemy, and all the possibility for sins are clearly verboten. (And no, I'm not allowing when David was dancing before everyone as an excuse or liberty to do this.)
I think that the catch here is that many activities churches have been doing recently fall into the third group, but because they cannot be found explicitly in the Bible, are being lumped into the first and second groups. I have seen scores of pastors in blogs say that their activities are OK as it cannot be found as a Commandment. It is dangerous to argue from silence, as there were a slew of topics never addressed specifically in the Bible, but that have enough context elsewhere to condemn them.
We all have to keep this in mind when we see activities our churches are doing that just don't feel right.
As for the drums, I say, "Bang on," brother.
--
Dave
Posted by: Dave Hendrickson | October 03, 2007 at 05:54 PM
dave,
i'm with you bro. all great points. nobody really complains about our music. i thought we would hear it more, but we don't. also...nice use of the word adiaphoron.
Posted by: Michael | October 03, 2007 at 06:47 PM
Your Sunday best.
Pews
Churches named after guys not named Jesus such as Luther and Wesley.
Posted by: Jason | October 03, 2007 at 07:17 PM