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HOPE FOR THE HOME: The Church – voices from the past
Fourth in a series of reflective articles addressing current worship trends in churches in America and how they evolved. Topics regarding marriage will resume shortly.
To conclude this four-part series on “The Culture and the Church”, I would like to share the convictions of several influential Christian voices from the past regarding this topic along with a few personal reflections.
Charles Spurgeon, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats. In this house we have proved successfully, these many years, this great truth, that the gospel plainly preached will gain an audience, convert sinners, and build up and sustain a church. We beseech the people of God to mark that there is no need to try doubtful expedients and questionable methods. God will save by the gospel still: only let it be the gospel in its purity. This grand old sword will cleave a man’s spine and split a rock in halves.”
C.S. Lewis, “The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God. If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be played like an orchestra in which all instruments played the same note.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “The human soul longs for things higher, warmer, and purer than those offered by today's mass living habits, introduced by the revolting invasion of publicity, by TV stupor, and by intolerable music.” Spoken on June 8, 1978, at the Harvard University commencement service.
Adrian Rogers, “The greatest threat to the church is not the world outside, but the complacency within."
Billy Graham, "We need to stop trying to be relevant. The day of relevancy is dead. Jesus didn't change his message to please the crowds. Just preach the word and the word will speak for itself." The occasion was the first Congress for Southern Baptist Evangelists on the campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, December 1982.
Closing reflections: Is the church going to find her voice of authority once again, or become a whisper in our perverse culture? Has the living faith of our dead saints been replaced with the dead faith of our living saints? Is it time for a heaven sent, knee bending, sin confessing, God honoring, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit anointed awakening in our land? Has the church become so connected to the world we have forgotten what it means to be separated to God? Have we replaced the old-time religion with show-time religion? Has the method of worship overshadowed the message?
It is not enough to belong to a traditional church until we first belong to a transforming Christ. It is not enough to belong to a contemporary church until we first belong to a crucified Christ. The Good News is that Jesus Christ is the great equalizer. Everyone is equally lost without him and equally saved by him. Permit this to be our theme and allow the words of that great old hymn: "Revive us again, fill each heart with thy love, may each soul be rekindled with fire from above," be our anthem. May God grant it.
Jerry and his wife Becky are on American Family Radio weekdays at 4:20 PM (CT) and on Sundays at 5:35 PM (CT). Check out their resources for the family at HopefortheHome.org. Becky’s latest book, “The Bright Side of Blue” and Dr. Drace’s, “44 Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage” offer biblical principles and timely advice for dealing with the challenges and trials of life. You may order these and other resources by contacting them at: hopeforthehome@juno.com.
