The Influence of Modern Trends on the Church (Part 3)

Gimmick-based Evangelism

Just as the world of denominationalism has been gimmick-driven in recent years, so our people have not been far behind.  We have explored every mechanism under the sun for attracting the public’s attention.

We have offered a variety of classes (somewhat analogous to a community college) and a host of public services within our neighborhoods in hopes of enticing the baby-boomers, Generation-X, and now Millennials.  All the while, we largely have ignored the very thing responsible for our greatest success – the wonderful and simple proclamation of the gospel.

While some labor under the illusion that the modern world no longer wants the message of a dusty book twenty centuries old, actually, just the reverse is true.  Many are starving for spiritual truth.  Rich Bible teaching presented by instructors who are excited about the treasures of scripture is attracting the attention of a whole new generation of lost people.

“Contemporary” Worship

The denominational world has little interest in the teaching of the New Testament in terms of a divinely-authorized worship format.  Will-worship (Col. 2:23) for the most part has been the order of the day.

With roots that reach deep into paganism, Catholicism has been steeped in pageantry for centuries.  Early Protestantism attempted a remedy.  Calvin, Wesley, Spurgeon, and other notable Protestant scholars, for example, expressed strong views against the use of instrumental music in Christian worship.

Ferguson has noted that the expression A cappella (which refers to purely vocal music) literally means “in the style of the church.”  His exhaustive research led to this conclusion:

The classical form of church music is unaccompanied song.  To abstain from the use of the instrument is not a peculiar aberration of ‘a frontier American sect’; this was easily, until comparatively recent times, the majority tradition of Christian history (Ferguson, 83).

Less than fifty years removed from Ferguson’s comment, it is not at all uncommon to hear prominent brethren arguing that instrumental music is a non-issue that certainly ought to be treated as a test of Christian fellowship.

“There should be room in the Christian fellowship for those who differ on …whether instrumental music is used in worship” (Osburn, 90).

It is almost certain that conditions are developing among churches of Christ that eventually will accommodate large-scale innovations in congregational worship.

Even now, a number of sizable churches following the lead of denominational groups (Veith, 4-5) are staggering their services, providing a “traditional” worship format for the older generation (dare we say “fogies”?).  Then also a jazzed up service is arranged for those who are more contemporary.

Too, it is a sad commentary on our attitude toward the hours of sacred worship that our dress has degenerated to the exceedingly casual, not to mention sloppy.  In a recent gospel meeting, a song leader was adorned in a tee-shirt and jeans.  Sandals and shorts are observable not infrequently in some places.  Neckties are becoming rarer at the Lord’s Table.

What has happened to our sense of reverence for the solemnity of the occasion?  What impression do we convey to visitors from the community?  Contrast the decorum of the “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” as they proceed from door-to-door, impeccably dressed, with the bedraggled appearance of some Christians in the worship assemblies.

Conclusion

In his letter to the saints in Rome, Paul instructed the brethren to “be not fashioned according to the world” (Rom. 12:2).  The present imperative form of the verb means, “stop being fashioned [conformed – KJV]!”  The principle involved in this admonition is broad in its application.  Barclay attempts to catch the spirit of it.

“Don’t try to match your life to all the fashions of this world; don’t be like the chameleon which takes its colour from its surroundings; don’t go with the world; don’t let the world decide what you are going to be like” (170).

Let us summon the courage to make the appropriate applications, yielding to truth and common sense, rather than to fickle trends of an unspiritual society.

Wayne Jackson

Originally from The Christian Courier