Chapter 9: A Church that Misunderstands Worship: How Shall We Then Sing?
“Music by itself, apart from the truth contained in the lyrics, is not even a legitimate springboard for real worship.”
“Aroused passions are not necessarily evidence that true worship is taking place. Genuine worship is a response to Divine truth.”
How shall we then sing?
“Preaching has fallen out of favor in our entertainment age as a means of communicating God’s truth.”
“Pulpits are taboo, notes are hidden, expository preaching is abandoned for ‘relevant’ topical dissertations, references to church history are rare, and doctrine is considered too heavy.”
“But when it comes to the modern church attempting to connect with this generation, a generation born and raised in the era of entertainment, nothing is more prominent than music. So, we are not surprised to find that one of the great attractions for many toward this new way of ‘doing church’ is its music.”
“Far too often in modern worship music’s place seems to be that of setting a mood. With the right music and talented musicians it is possible to create almost any mood.”
“But is the setting of a mood or atmosphere the biblical purpose of Christian music?”
“…the central role of music in the New Testament church is to be a partner with the teaching of the Word of God.” (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19)
“Just as the authority and truth of Scripture should dominate our preaching and teaching, so should it dominate our singing.”
Music as teaching
“…the Apostle Paul informs us that music serves the role of teaching and admonishing. Christian music is at its best when it instructs in sound doctrine.
“Conversely, music has often been used within the church to teach and promote a wide range of heresies and aberrant doctrines.”
Arius used music to spread his belief that Jesus was a created being and not fully God. While the church councils, such as that of Nicaea, condemned Arianism, it continued to be popular among the masses for decades because Arius’ teachings were placed to music and sung by undiscerning congregations.”
“Contemporary Christian music, in particular, is long on inspiration and short on instruction.”
“…do the modern praise choruses have a place in our worship service? I personally believe that they do, but….”
“Martin Luther said, ‘Music is the handmaiden of theology.’”
“Charles Wesley’s hymns included verses from every book in the Bible except Nahum and Philemon. He viewed his hymns as a primer in theology….”
“Isaac Watts, the father of English hymnology, wrote hymns to complement his sermons.”
“By contrast, much contemporary Christian music bypasses the mind and aims directly at the emotions.”
“Many modern choruses teach questionable doctrine….”
David Wells analyzed 406 praise songs along with 662 hymns of a traditional hymnal. He found “…that 58.9 per cent of the praise songs he analyzed offer no doctrinal grounding or explanation for the praise. By contrast, among classical hymns it was hard to find hymns that were not predicated upon and did not develop some aspect of doctrine.”
What should we do?
“If we are concerned about our Christian music being more than entertainment there are numerous things we could do…”
“First, we should evaluate all the music we sing in our churches. Does it teach solid theology? Does it admonish us to correct living? Does it worship God in truth?...?”
“Second, churches must receive training regarding this whole area of entertainment.”
“Third, we could study with great profit the Psalms to discover how music is to be used to accomplish its biblical mandated goal.”
“Fourth, we need to teach our children good Christian music within the context of the church.”
A final consideration
“The reaction of the concerned Christian is to be ever mindful that the Word, and not our experience, is our authority.
“…we should take a good look at the Psalms to study the kind of music that pleases God and accomplishes his purposes.”
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Quotes from "Counted Righteous in Christ" by John Piper
I just started reading this little book, and some of Piper’s comments in the first chapter really struck a cord with me, so I thought that I would share them with you. The context of these quotes is the importance of the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s life. I am not sure that I will share quotes from the rest of the book, but I wanted to share these.
“To begin with, the older I get, the less impressed I am with flashy successes and enthusiasms that are not truth-based. Everybody knows that with the right personality, the right music, the right location, and the right schedule you can grow a church without anybody really knowing what doctrinal commitments sustain it, if any.”
“Church-planting specialists generally downplay biblical doctrine in the core values of what makes a church ‘successful.’ The long-term effect of this ethos is a weakening of the church that is concealed as long as the crowds are large, the band is loud, the tragedies are few, and persecution is still at the level of preferences.”
“… more and more this doctrinally-diluted brew of music, drama, life-tips, and marketing seems out of touch with real life in this world—not to mention the next. It tastes like watered-down gruel, not a nourishing meal. It simply isn’t serious enough. It’s too playful and chatty and casual. Its joy just doesn’t feel deep enough or heartbroken or well-rooted. The injustice and persecution and suffering and hellish realities in the world today are so many and so large and so close that I can’t help but think that, deep inside, people are longing for something weighty and massive and rooted and stable and eternal. So it seems to me that the trifling with silly little sketches and breezy welcome-to-the-den styles on Sunday morning are just out of touch with what matters in life.”
“Silliness is a stepping-stone to substance. But it’s an odd path. And evidence is not ample that many are willing to move beyond fun and simplicity.”
“There are deeper and more connections than most of us realize between the grasp of doctrine and the good of people and churches and societies.”
“I don’t think we have to look far then [past a lack of truth-based ministry] for the weakness of the church and the fun-oriented superficiality of many youth ministries and the stunning fall-out rate after high school.”
“I do not believe that even perfect parenting could prevent all wilderness wanderings of our children. Mainly because of what God said in Isaiah 1:2: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: ‘Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me’” (ESV).”
“…doing missions without deep doctrinal transfer through patient teaching will not only wreck on the vast reefs of ignorance but will, at best, produce weak and ever-dependent churches. Therefore, pastors who care about building, sending, and going churches must give themselves to building sending bases that breed doctrinally-deep people who are not given to emotional dependency on fads but know how to feed themselves on Christ-centered truth.”
“…we have enough churches being planted by means of music, drama, creative scheduling, sprightly narrative, and marketing savvy. And there are too few that are God-centered, truth-treasuring, Bible-saturated, Christ-exalting, cross-focused, Spirit-dependent, prayer-soaked, soul winning, justice-pursuing congregations with a wartime mindset ready to lay down their lives for the salvation of the nations and the neighborhoods.”
“There is an almost universal bondage in America to the mindset that we can only feel loved when we are made much of. The truth is, we are loved most deeply when we are helped to be free from that bondage and to find our joy in treasuring Christ and making much of him.”
“To begin with, the older I get, the less impressed I am with flashy successes and enthusiasms that are not truth-based. Everybody knows that with the right personality, the right music, the right location, and the right schedule you can grow a church without anybody really knowing what doctrinal commitments sustain it, if any.”
“Church-planting specialists generally downplay biblical doctrine in the core values of what makes a church ‘successful.’ The long-term effect of this ethos is a weakening of the church that is concealed as long as the crowds are large, the band is loud, the tragedies are few, and persecution is still at the level of preferences.”
“… more and more this doctrinally-diluted brew of music, drama, life-tips, and marketing seems out of touch with real life in this world—not to mention the next. It tastes like watered-down gruel, not a nourishing meal. It simply isn’t serious enough. It’s too playful and chatty and casual. Its joy just doesn’t feel deep enough or heartbroken or well-rooted. The injustice and persecution and suffering and hellish realities in the world today are so many and so large and so close that I can’t help but think that, deep inside, people are longing for something weighty and massive and rooted and stable and eternal. So it seems to me that the trifling with silly little sketches and breezy welcome-to-the-den styles on Sunday morning are just out of touch with what matters in life.”
“Silliness is a stepping-stone to substance. But it’s an odd path. And evidence is not ample that many are willing to move beyond fun and simplicity.”
“There are deeper and more connections than most of us realize between the grasp of doctrine and the good of people and churches and societies.”
“I don’t think we have to look far then [past a lack of truth-based ministry] for the weakness of the church and the fun-oriented superficiality of many youth ministries and the stunning fall-out rate after high school.”
“I do not believe that even perfect parenting could prevent all wilderness wanderings of our children. Mainly because of what God said in Isaiah 1:2: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: ‘Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me’” (ESV).”
“…doing missions without deep doctrinal transfer through patient teaching will not only wreck on the vast reefs of ignorance but will, at best, produce weak and ever-dependent churches. Therefore, pastors who care about building, sending, and going churches must give themselves to building sending bases that breed doctrinally-deep people who are not given to emotional dependency on fads but know how to feed themselves on Christ-centered truth.”
“…we have enough churches being planted by means of music, drama, creative scheduling, sprightly narrative, and marketing savvy. And there are too few that are God-centered, truth-treasuring, Bible-saturated, Christ-exalting, cross-focused, Spirit-dependent, prayer-soaked, soul winning, justice-pursuing congregations with a wartime mindset ready to lay down their lives for the salvation of the nations and the neighborhoods.”
“There is an almost universal bondage in America to the mindset that we can only feel loved when we are made much of. The truth is, we are loved most deeply when we are helped to be free from that bondage and to find our joy in treasuring Christ and making much of him.”
Quotes from "Fool’s Gold? Discerning Truth in an Age of Error" by John MacArthur
This book has twelve chapters covering some controversial issues including evaluations of several books like The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren and Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. It also contains chapters on questions such as contemporary worship music and altar calls to name a few.
In this review I would like to quote some statements from chapter 7 titled Solid Rock? What the Bible Says about Contemporary Worship Music by John MacArthur.
…this chapter focuses on the often controversial topic of contemporary music. Should the church only sing hymns, should it sing praise choruses, or should it land somewhere in the middle? And what are the biblical principles for determining these standards?
…a profound change took place in church music sometime near the end of the nineteenth century. The writing of hymns virtually stopped. Hymns were replaced by “gospel songs”—songs generally lighter in doctrinal content…
The key difference was that most gospel songs were expressions of personal testimony aimed at an audience of people, whereas most of the classic hymns had been songs of praise addressed directly to God.
A NEW SONG
The man most commonly regarded the father of the gospel song is Ira Sankey, a gifted singer and songwriter who rode to fame on D. L. Moody’s coattails.
…for more than seventy years virtually no hymns have been added to the popular repertoire of congregational church music.
My remarks are by no means meant as a blanket criticism of gospel songs. Many familiar gospel songs are wonderfully rich expressions of faith.
In general, the rise of the gospel song in congregational singing signaled a diminishing emphasis on objective doctrinal truth and a magnification of subjective personal experience.
…traditionalist critics who attack contemporary music merely because it is contemporary in style…need to think through the issues again.
…the concern I am raising has to do with content, not merely style. Judging from lyrics alone, some of the most popular old-style music is even more offensive than the modern stuff. example “In the Garden”
Numerous gospel songs suffer from the same kind of weaknesses. In fact, many…are practically devoid of any truly Christian substance and are thick with sappy sentimentality. “Love Lifted Me,” “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” “Whispering Hope,”…
…neither the antiquity nor the popularity of a gospel song is a good measure of its worthiness.
Sadly, by the end of the century the gospel song had muscled in and elbowed out the classic hymn. And so the trend Sankey began all but ended the rich tradition of Christian hymnody that had flourished since the time of Martin Luther and even long before.
Before Sankey’s time, hymns were composed with a deliberate, self-conscious, didactic purpose. They were written to teach and reinforce biblical and doctrinal concepts…
Indeed, it may be the case that modern church music has done more than anything else to pave the way for the sort of superficial, flippant, content-starved preaching that is rife today.
THE ERA OF THE PRAISE CHORUS
Praise choruses, like hymns, are usually songs of praise addressed directly to God.
But unlike hymns, praise choruses generally have no didactic purpose. Praise choruses are meant to be sung as simple personal expressions of worship, whereas hymns are usually corporate expressions of worship with an emphasis on some doctrinal truth.
SONGS, HYMNS, AND SPIRITUAL SONGS
The biblical prescription for Christian music is found in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
…careful distinctions between these words is not essential, or Scripture would have recorded those distinctions for us.
The greater significance of the expression “Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” seems to be this: Paul was calling for a variety of musical forms and a breadth of spiritual expression that cannot be embodied in any one musical form.
The prevailing mood in modern evangelical churches—where people seem to want to binge on a steady diet of nothing but simplistic praise choruses—also destroys the principle of variety Paul sets forth here.
…I am convinced Christian songwriters today are making a similar mistake by failing to write substantial hymns while purging the old hymns from our congregational music repertoire and replacing them with trite praise choruses and pop-song look-alikes.
TEACHING AND ADMONISHING ONE ANOTHER
Few modern praise choruses teach or admonish. Instead, most are written to stir the feelings only. They are too often sung like a mystical mantra with the deliberate purpose of putting the intellect into a passive state while the worshiper musters as much emotion as possible. Repetition is deliberately built into many praise songs precisely for this purpose.
Like it or not, today’s songwriters are teachers too. Many of the lyrics they are writing will soon be far more deeply and permanently ingrained in the minds of Christians than anything they hear their pastors teach from the pulpit.
Although not true in every case, the theological depth that generally characterizes contemporary praise choruses is not as profound and not as precise. In fact, for some songs it might be appropriate to ask if the contemporary church is collectively guilty of dishonoring God with our faint praise.
ADDENDUM: A CHECKLIST FOR CHURCH MUSIC
So how can churches be God-honoring in the music they use?
Neither personal preferences nor cultural trends can be our guide. …Scripture must be our authority. (John lists ten questions church leaders should ask about the worship music they use).
Quotes for Pastors
Tommy Jenkins
In this review I would like to quote some statements from chapter 7 titled Solid Rock? What the Bible Says about Contemporary Worship Music by John MacArthur.
…this chapter focuses on the often controversial topic of contemporary music. Should the church only sing hymns, should it sing praise choruses, or should it land somewhere in the middle? And what are the biblical principles for determining these standards?
…a profound change took place in church music sometime near the end of the nineteenth century. The writing of hymns virtually stopped. Hymns were replaced by “gospel songs”—songs generally lighter in doctrinal content…
The key difference was that most gospel songs were expressions of personal testimony aimed at an audience of people, whereas most of the classic hymns had been songs of praise addressed directly to God.
A NEW SONG
The man most commonly regarded the father of the gospel song is Ira Sankey, a gifted singer and songwriter who rode to fame on D. L. Moody’s coattails.
…for more than seventy years virtually no hymns have been added to the popular repertoire of congregational church music.
My remarks are by no means meant as a blanket criticism of gospel songs. Many familiar gospel songs are wonderfully rich expressions of faith.
In general, the rise of the gospel song in congregational singing signaled a diminishing emphasis on objective doctrinal truth and a magnification of subjective personal experience.
…traditionalist critics who attack contemporary music merely because it is contemporary in style…need to think through the issues again.
…the concern I am raising has to do with content, not merely style. Judging from lyrics alone, some of the most popular old-style music is even more offensive than the modern stuff. example “In the Garden”
Numerous gospel songs suffer from the same kind of weaknesses. In fact, many…are practically devoid of any truly Christian substance and are thick with sappy sentimentality. “Love Lifted Me,” “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” “Whispering Hope,”…
…neither the antiquity nor the popularity of a gospel song is a good measure of its worthiness.
Sadly, by the end of the century the gospel song had muscled in and elbowed out the classic hymn. And so the trend Sankey began all but ended the rich tradition of Christian hymnody that had flourished since the time of Martin Luther and even long before.
Before Sankey’s time, hymns were composed with a deliberate, self-conscious, didactic purpose. They were written to teach and reinforce biblical and doctrinal concepts…
Indeed, it may be the case that modern church music has done more than anything else to pave the way for the sort of superficial, flippant, content-starved preaching that is rife today.
THE ERA OF THE PRAISE CHORUS
Praise choruses, like hymns, are usually songs of praise addressed directly to God.
But unlike hymns, praise choruses generally have no didactic purpose. Praise choruses are meant to be sung as simple personal expressions of worship, whereas hymns are usually corporate expressions of worship with an emphasis on some doctrinal truth.
SONGS, HYMNS, AND SPIRITUAL SONGS
The biblical prescription for Christian music is found in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
…careful distinctions between these words is not essential, or Scripture would have recorded those distinctions for us.
The greater significance of the expression “Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” seems to be this: Paul was calling for a variety of musical forms and a breadth of spiritual expression that cannot be embodied in any one musical form.
The prevailing mood in modern evangelical churches—where people seem to want to binge on a steady diet of nothing but simplistic praise choruses—also destroys the principle of variety Paul sets forth here.
…I am convinced Christian songwriters today are making a similar mistake by failing to write substantial hymns while purging the old hymns from our congregational music repertoire and replacing them with trite praise choruses and pop-song look-alikes.
TEACHING AND ADMONISHING ONE ANOTHER
Few modern praise choruses teach or admonish. Instead, most are written to stir the feelings only. They are too often sung like a mystical mantra with the deliberate purpose of putting the intellect into a passive state while the worshiper musters as much emotion as possible. Repetition is deliberately built into many praise songs precisely for this purpose.
Like it or not, today’s songwriters are teachers too. Many of the lyrics they are writing will soon be far more deeply and permanently ingrained in the minds of Christians than anything they hear their pastors teach from the pulpit.
Although not true in every case, the theological depth that generally characterizes contemporary praise choruses is not as profound and not as precise. In fact, for some songs it might be appropriate to ask if the contemporary church is collectively guilty of dishonoring God with our faint praise.
ADDENDUM: A CHECKLIST FOR CHURCH MUSIC
So how can churches be God-honoring in the music they use?
Neither personal preferences nor cultural trends can be our guide. …Scripture must be our authority. (John lists ten questions church leaders should ask about the worship music they use).
Quotes for Pastors
Tommy Jenkins
Quotes from "This Little Church Stayed Home: A faithful church in deceptive times" by Gary Gilley (Book 2)
Preface
“…despite all the claims of spiritual interest, despite the runaway numerical growth at the celebrated megachurches, despite frequent ‘sightings’ of revival and despite the rapid succession of fads (from Promises Keepers to the ‘Prayer of Jabez’ to ‘Forty Days of Purpose’ to ‘The Passion of the Christ’), each promising to reform the church, the fact is the church’s light is flickering.”
“Megachurches (worship attendance of 2000 or more) are springing up weekly (There were 842 in February of 2004) church buildings are rapidly being constructed, Christian concerts and rallies are well attended….”
“However…George Barna…informs us that since 1991 there has been a 92% increase in the number of adults in America who do not attend church (from 39 million to 75 million).”
“Then U. S. News and World Reports in its 19 April 2004 issue stated, “Surveys confirm that the percentage of Americans attending a weekly worship service fell appreciably during the past four decades. From roughly 40 percent in the 1960’s, it today hovers at about a quarter.’ Something just does not add up.”
Barna writes, “Unchurched people are not just lazy or uninformed. They are wholly disinterested in church life.” Gilley adds, “This analysis should come as no surprise in light of Scripture” (Rom. 3:11 – “There is none who understands” and Cor. 1:18 – “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness”).
“What are the followers of Christ to do? Barna suggests that the church reinvent their core spiritual practices while holding tightly to their core spiritual beliefs.”
“This strikes me as the same rhetoric that the seeker-sensitive church has been propagating for years. For two decades the church-growth experts have told us that if we are to attract the unchurched, we must change the way we ‘do church’. We must offer them new ‘settings and experiences’. We must meet their perceived felt-needs. We must do away with biblical exposition and focus on stories. We must eliminate dogma and become relevant. We must do away with hymns and major on contemporary music.”
“Now, after two decades of church leaders buying and implementing everything that the market-driven qurus have offered, we find far fewer people attending church services (of any kind). Their methodologies have failed, yet Barna encourages us to keep it up.”
“But this is the wrong approach. The church cannot, as Barna has noted, compete with the world system.”
“The Christian community has something to offer that no one else has: the truth as found in Jesus Christ and the Scriptures.”
“I want to discuss what God says a church should be….”
“If much of the modern church has sold its birthright and gone ‘to market’, what would a church look like that resisted these trends and ‘stayed home’?”
“This will be the approach that will be followed in this book.”
What do the Scriptures say?
“Harvard professor Kirsopp Lake [writing in the 1920s and representing the emerging liberal wing of Christendom] made this insightful observation: “…the fundamentalist may be wrong. I think he is. But it is we who have departed from the tradition, not he….”
“Fundamentalists (those who adhere to the fundamentals of the faith) had not, and have not moved. Their authority continues to be the Scriptures. They attempt to develop their personal lives and local churches according to the instruction and model found in the Bible.”
“The classic liberal, lacking confidence in the Word, marching to the tune of modernity, developed a quasi-Christianity created in the image of man – they have reaped what they sowed.”
“The so-called new paradigm church movement today has not bothered to dispense with the Scriptures.”
“The problem is they lack confidence in the Scriptures and have therefore co-mingled it with a plethora of supplemental sources.”
“In the infant days of the church, as outlined in the book of Acts, we find a newly regenerated people, with no money, no buildings and no program having an astonishing impact on their world in a very short time. As the newly born church began, what was important to them?”
1) Evangelism (2:41, 47) 2) Worship (2:46 – 47) 3) Prayer (2:42) 4) Truth (2:42) 5) the ordinances: Baptism (2:41) and communion (2:42) 6) Purity (5:1 – 6).
“…despite all the claims of spiritual interest, despite the runaway numerical growth at the celebrated megachurches, despite frequent ‘sightings’ of revival and despite the rapid succession of fads (from Promises Keepers to the ‘Prayer of Jabez’ to ‘Forty Days of Purpose’ to ‘The Passion of the Christ’), each promising to reform the church, the fact is the church’s light is flickering.”
“Megachurches (worship attendance of 2000 or more) are springing up weekly (There were 842 in February of 2004) church buildings are rapidly being constructed, Christian concerts and rallies are well attended….”
“However…George Barna…informs us that since 1991 there has been a 92% increase in the number of adults in America who do not attend church (from 39 million to 75 million).”
“Then U. S. News and World Reports in its 19 April 2004 issue stated, “Surveys confirm that the percentage of Americans attending a weekly worship service fell appreciably during the past four decades. From roughly 40 percent in the 1960’s, it today hovers at about a quarter.’ Something just does not add up.”
Barna writes, “Unchurched people are not just lazy or uninformed. They are wholly disinterested in church life.” Gilley adds, “This analysis should come as no surprise in light of Scripture” (Rom. 3:11 – “There is none who understands” and Cor. 1:18 – “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness”).
“What are the followers of Christ to do? Barna suggests that the church reinvent their core spiritual practices while holding tightly to their core spiritual beliefs.”
“This strikes me as the same rhetoric that the seeker-sensitive church has been propagating for years. For two decades the church-growth experts have told us that if we are to attract the unchurched, we must change the way we ‘do church’. We must offer them new ‘settings and experiences’. We must meet their perceived felt-needs. We must do away with biblical exposition and focus on stories. We must eliminate dogma and become relevant. We must do away with hymns and major on contemporary music.”
“Now, after two decades of church leaders buying and implementing everything that the market-driven qurus have offered, we find far fewer people attending church services (of any kind). Their methodologies have failed, yet Barna encourages us to keep it up.”
“But this is the wrong approach. The church cannot, as Barna has noted, compete with the world system.”
“The Christian community has something to offer that no one else has: the truth as found in Jesus Christ and the Scriptures.”
“I want to discuss what God says a church should be….”
“If much of the modern church has sold its birthright and gone ‘to market’, what would a church look like that resisted these trends and ‘stayed home’?”
“This will be the approach that will be followed in this book.”
What do the Scriptures say?
“Harvard professor Kirsopp Lake [writing in the 1920s and representing the emerging liberal wing of Christendom] made this insightful observation: “…the fundamentalist may be wrong. I think he is. But it is we who have departed from the tradition, not he….”
“Fundamentalists (those who adhere to the fundamentals of the faith) had not, and have not moved. Their authority continues to be the Scriptures. They attempt to develop their personal lives and local churches according to the instruction and model found in the Bible.”
“The classic liberal, lacking confidence in the Word, marching to the tune of modernity, developed a quasi-Christianity created in the image of man – they have reaped what they sowed.”
“The so-called new paradigm church movement today has not bothered to dispense with the Scriptures.”
“The problem is they lack confidence in the Scriptures and have therefore co-mingled it with a plethora of supplemental sources.”
“In the infant days of the church, as outlined in the book of Acts, we find a newly regenerated people, with no money, no buildings and no program having an astonishing impact on their world in a very short time. As the newly born church began, what was important to them?”
1) Evangelism (2:41, 47) 2) Worship (2:46 – 47) 3) Prayer (2:42) 4) Truth (2:42) 5) the ordinances: Baptism (2:41) and communion (2:42) 6) Purity (5:1 – 6).
Church Discipline is Part of "Doing Church"
It is unfortunate that most pastors today are not as concerned about the biblical doctrine of church discipline as our Lord was (Matthew 18:15-20).
When they debate methods of “doing church,” this subject is noticeably missing from the dialogue. It is the type of music, method of outreach, the question of drama and entertainment that is front and center today.
Let someone else deal with church discipline; we will give ourselves to the ministry of the Word. The trouble with that attitude is that church discipline is a doctrine of Scripture.
To any pastor who is serious about “doing church” and understands that church discipline is a crucial part of his responsibility, there are several informative books that I would like to recommend. These books will lay a firm foundation for him to follow and will help him better understand the biblical mandate and method for church discipline:
1. Beyond Forgiveness: The Healing Touch of Church Discipline by Don Baker, published by Multnomah Press. This book deals with the discipline and restoration of a local church staff member.
2. A Journey into Purity by Richard Belcher, published by Rassbury Press. This book deals with the subject of church discipline in a theological novel format and would be a great book to introduce your congregation to the subject.
3. A Guide to Church Discipline by J. Carl Laney, published by Bethany House Publishers. This book lays out the step by step method of church discipline and answers many questions concerning it. The forward is written by John MacArthur.
4. The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter, published by John Knox Press. This puritan classic is a good source of teaching on church discipline. In chapter two, “The Oversight of the Flock,” section 1, “The Nature of this Oversight,” Baxter has an extended treatment on the method of exercising church discipline.
Together, these sources should give a pastor all of the information that he may need to enter upon the important work of church discipline.
When they debate methods of “doing church,” this subject is noticeably missing from the dialogue. It is the type of music, method of outreach, the question of drama and entertainment that is front and center today.
Let someone else deal with church discipline; we will give ourselves to the ministry of the Word. The trouble with that attitude is that church discipline is a doctrine of Scripture.
To any pastor who is serious about “doing church” and understands that church discipline is a crucial part of his responsibility, there are several informative books that I would like to recommend. These books will lay a firm foundation for him to follow and will help him better understand the biblical mandate and method for church discipline:
1. Beyond Forgiveness: The Healing Touch of Church Discipline by Don Baker, published by Multnomah Press. This book deals with the discipline and restoration of a local church staff member.
2. A Journey into Purity by Richard Belcher, published by Rassbury Press. This book deals with the subject of church discipline in a theological novel format and would be a great book to introduce your congregation to the subject.
3. A Guide to Church Discipline by J. Carl Laney, published by Bethany House Publishers. This book lays out the step by step method of church discipline and answers many questions concerning it. The forward is written by John MacArthur.
4. The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter, published by John Knox Press. This puritan classic is a good source of teaching on church discipline. In chapter two, “The Oversight of the Flock,” section 1, “The Nature of this Oversight,” Baxter has an extended treatment on the method of exercising church discipline.
Together, these sources should give a pastor all of the information that he may need to enter upon the important work of church discipline.
Quotes from "The Expository Genius of John Calvin" by Steven J. Lawson
Preface – “…sad to say, we live in a generation that has compromised this sacred calling to preach. Exposition is being replaced with entertainment, preaching with performance, doctrine with drama, and theology with theatrics.” (p. XI)
“The greatest season of church history---those eras of widespread reformation and great awakening---have been those epochs in which God-fearing men took the inspired Word and unashamedly preached it in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (p. XII)
“By overwhelming consent, he [John Calvin] remains the greatest biblical commentator of all time.” (p. 4)
“…when John was 14, he entered the University of Paris to study theology in formal preparation to become a priest. Calvin’s time at the university resulted in a master of arts degree at age 17.” (p. 6)
“Frail in stature, Calvin suffered many ailments.” (p. 15)
Calvin permitted only the Word of God, the Psalms to be sung in his church. (p. 23)
“Calvin’s deeply embedded convictions about the supreme authority of the Bible demanded an elevated view of the pulpit.” (p. 24)
“This commitment to the undisputed authority of the Bible compelled him to preach verse by verse through entire books of the Bible.” (p. 24)
“It is the expositor’s task, he believed, to bring the supreme authority of the divine Word to bear directly on his listeners.” (p. 26)
Calvin wrote, “God will have His church trained up by the pure preaching of His own Word, not by the contrivances of men [which are wood, hay and stubble].” (p. 30)
“As a faithful shepherd, he fed his congregation a steady diet of sequential expository messages.” (p. 32)
“This verse-by-verse style---lectio continua, the ‘continuous expositions’---guaranteed that Calvin would preach the full counsel of God. Difficult and controversial subjects were unavoidable. Hard sayings could not be skipped. Difficult doctrines could not be overlooked. The full counsel of God could be heard.” (p. 32)
“Whether the biblical book was long and extensive…or brief and short…Calvin was determined to preach every verse.” (p. 34)
“In Calvin’s words, preaching is ‘the living voice’ of God ‘in His church.’”(p. 35)
”In all of life, one supreme passion consumed John Calvin: the glory of God.” (p. 39)
“…this commitment to God’s glory heavily influenced Calvin’ biblical exegesis. When he studied, it was to behold the majesty of God.” (p. 40)
“The pastor, he wrote, “ought to be prepared by long study for giving to the people, as out of a storehouse, a variety of instruction concerning the Word of God.” (p. 41)
Calvin’s personal motto was, “My heart I give to thee, O Lord, promptly and sincerely.”
(p. 44)
“Two things are united,” he confessed, “teaching and prayer; God would have him whom He has set as a teacher in His church to be assiduous in prayer.” (p. 44)
Calvin “… preached no less than ten times a fortnight to the same congregation.” (p. 46)
“Calvin was not a silver tongued orator, but a Bible-teaching expositor.” (p. 55).
“When Calvin stepped into the pulpit, he did not bring a manuscript of his sermon with him.” (p. 57)
“Calvin believed spontaneous preaching helped yield a ‘lively’ delivery, one marked by energy and passion.” (p. 58)
“In Bible exposition, substance is to be desired above style, and doctrine before delivery.” (p. 65)
“Calvin is the founder of the modern grammatico-historical exegesis.” (p. 69)
“…Calvin insisted on sensus literalis, the literal sense of the biblical text. He rejected the medieval quadriga, the ancient interpretation scheme that allowed for literal, moral, allegorical, and analogical meaning of a text.” “The true meaning of Scripture is the natural and obvious meaning.” (p. 71)
“When Calvin protested against allegorizing, he was protesting not against finding a spiritual meaning in a passage, but against finding one that was not there.” (p 72)
Calvin declared, “I have felt nothing more important than a literal interpretation of the biblical text. (p. 72)
“Calvin’s purpose in preaching was to render transparent the text of Scripture itself.” (p. 73)
“Calvin used cross-references sparingly. It appears that he desired not to wander unnecessarily from the primary passage that lay open before him.” (p. 73)
In Calvin’s preaching, two kind of cross-referencing are evident. In the first, Calvin cited a passage without attempting to quote it verbatim. (p. 73) “On other occasions, Calvin directly quoted verses or passages, either by reading them, reciting them from memory or paraphrasing them.” (p. 74)
“Throughout his ministry, Calvin kept his preaching singularly focused on explaining the God-intended meaning of the biblical text.” (p. 79)
“While there is only one correct meaning to a passage, there are multiple ways of conveying that meaning in a sermon. This difference accounts for the art of preaching.” (p. 84)
“The Reformer [Calvin] wrote his first book in Latin and preached in his native French from either a Hebrew or Greek Bible.” (p. 85)
“Calvin also spoke in simple sentences that were easily accessible to his listeners.” “As he preached, Calvin’s towering intellect nearly always lay ‘concealed, behind [his] deceptively simple explanations of his author’s meaning.’” (p. 87)
“Calvin will never speak the original Greek word and will rarely refer to ‘the Greek.’” (p.88)
“Another means Calvin employed to explain a biblical text was to restate a verse in alternative words. He would adopt a different sentenced structure and use synonyms.” (p. 88)
“Calvin’s signature formula to introduce a restatement was ‘It is as if he were saying…’” or “in other words…” (p. 93)
“He showed little concern to supplement his exposition with quotations from other authors. For Calvin, nothing must overshadow the Word.” (p. 96).
“Philip Schaff…notes, “[Calvin] lacked the genial element of humor and pleasantry; he was a Christian stoic: stern, severe, unbending, yet with fires of passion and affection glowing beneath the marble surface;.” (p. 99)
“He was by nature and taste a retiring scholar, but Providence made him an organizer and ruler of churches.” (p. 99)
“Calvin rightly believed that he did not need to make the Bible relevant---it was relevant.” (p. 104)
Calvin wrote, “We have not come to the preaching merely to hear what we do not know, but to be incited to do our duty.” (p. 104)
“He preached primarily to edify and encourage the congregation God had entrusted to him. In short, he preached for changed lives.” (p. 104 -105)
“Calvin was never needlessly harsh or domineering with his own congregation.” (p. 105)
“Calvin often utilized first person plural pronouns-- ‘us’ and ‘we’--as he exhorted his congregation.” (p. 106)
“…Calvin was a master of the art of pastoral exhortation with inclusive language.” (p. 106)
“Without a doubt, loving admonishment and reproof were a part of Calvin’s preaching.”
“All true exposition of Scripture must include such correction.” (p. 112)
”For Calvin, preaching also required an apologetic defense of the faith.” “In Calvin’s view, the full weight of Scripture must be brought to bear against theological error, whether inside the organized church or outside it.” ( p. 112)
“At the heart of this practice was a holy compulsion to guard the glory of God, defend Christ’s matchless character, and protect the purity of the gospel.” (p. 112)
“Calvin took every opportunity to uphold sound doctrine and to refute any and all contradictions to it. He was a staunch guardian of the truth.” (p. 115)
“Calvin’s expositions were approximately one hour in length, some six thousand words each.” (p. 120)
“In the conclusion of each sermon, Calvin first gave a short summation of the truth he had exposited. He then passionately called for his hearers’ unqualified submission to the Lord.” (p. 120)
“Finally, he concluded with public prayer, committing his flock into the sovereign hands of the Lord.” (p. 120)
“These concluding prayers were vertical in their thrust, pointing his listeners upward to God.” (p. 126)
“This was the passion of Calvin’s preaching. Start to finish, it was soli Deo Gloria—for the honor and majesty of God alone.” (p. 129)
“The greatest season of church history---those eras of widespread reformation and great awakening---have been those epochs in which God-fearing men took the inspired Word and unashamedly preached it in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (p. XII)
“By overwhelming consent, he [John Calvin] remains the greatest biblical commentator of all time.” (p. 4)
“…when John was 14, he entered the University of Paris to study theology in formal preparation to become a priest. Calvin’s time at the university resulted in a master of arts degree at age 17.” (p. 6)
“Frail in stature, Calvin suffered many ailments.” (p. 15)
Calvin permitted only the Word of God, the Psalms to be sung in his church. (p. 23)
“Calvin’s deeply embedded convictions about the supreme authority of the Bible demanded an elevated view of the pulpit.” (p. 24)
“This commitment to the undisputed authority of the Bible compelled him to preach verse by verse through entire books of the Bible.” (p. 24)
“It is the expositor’s task, he believed, to bring the supreme authority of the divine Word to bear directly on his listeners.” (p. 26)
Calvin wrote, “God will have His church trained up by the pure preaching of His own Word, not by the contrivances of men [which are wood, hay and stubble].” (p. 30)
“As a faithful shepherd, he fed his congregation a steady diet of sequential expository messages.” (p. 32)
“This verse-by-verse style---lectio continua, the ‘continuous expositions’---guaranteed that Calvin would preach the full counsel of God. Difficult and controversial subjects were unavoidable. Hard sayings could not be skipped. Difficult doctrines could not be overlooked. The full counsel of God could be heard.” (p. 32)
“Whether the biblical book was long and extensive…or brief and short…Calvin was determined to preach every verse.” (p. 34)
“In Calvin’s words, preaching is ‘the living voice’ of God ‘in His church.’”(p. 35)
”In all of life, one supreme passion consumed John Calvin: the glory of God.” (p. 39)
“…this commitment to God’s glory heavily influenced Calvin’ biblical exegesis. When he studied, it was to behold the majesty of God.” (p. 40)
“The pastor, he wrote, “ought to be prepared by long study for giving to the people, as out of a storehouse, a variety of instruction concerning the Word of God.” (p. 41)
Calvin’s personal motto was, “My heart I give to thee, O Lord, promptly and sincerely.”
(p. 44)
“Two things are united,” he confessed, “teaching and prayer; God would have him whom He has set as a teacher in His church to be assiduous in prayer.” (p. 44)
Calvin “… preached no less than ten times a fortnight to the same congregation.” (p. 46)
“Calvin was not a silver tongued orator, but a Bible-teaching expositor.” (p. 55).
“When Calvin stepped into the pulpit, he did not bring a manuscript of his sermon with him.” (p. 57)
“Calvin believed spontaneous preaching helped yield a ‘lively’ delivery, one marked by energy and passion.” (p. 58)
“In Bible exposition, substance is to be desired above style, and doctrine before delivery.” (p. 65)
“Calvin is the founder of the modern grammatico-historical exegesis.” (p. 69)
“…Calvin insisted on sensus literalis, the literal sense of the biblical text. He rejected the medieval quadriga, the ancient interpretation scheme that allowed for literal, moral, allegorical, and analogical meaning of a text.” “The true meaning of Scripture is the natural and obvious meaning.” (p. 71)
“When Calvin protested against allegorizing, he was protesting not against finding a spiritual meaning in a passage, but against finding one that was not there.” (p 72)
Calvin declared, “I have felt nothing more important than a literal interpretation of the biblical text. (p. 72)
“Calvin’s purpose in preaching was to render transparent the text of Scripture itself.” (p. 73)
“Calvin used cross-references sparingly. It appears that he desired not to wander unnecessarily from the primary passage that lay open before him.” (p. 73)
In Calvin’s preaching, two kind of cross-referencing are evident. In the first, Calvin cited a passage without attempting to quote it verbatim. (p. 73) “On other occasions, Calvin directly quoted verses or passages, either by reading them, reciting them from memory or paraphrasing them.” (p. 74)
“Throughout his ministry, Calvin kept his preaching singularly focused on explaining the God-intended meaning of the biblical text.” (p. 79)
“While there is only one correct meaning to a passage, there are multiple ways of conveying that meaning in a sermon. This difference accounts for the art of preaching.” (p. 84)
“The Reformer [Calvin] wrote his first book in Latin and preached in his native French from either a Hebrew or Greek Bible.” (p. 85)
“Calvin also spoke in simple sentences that were easily accessible to his listeners.” “As he preached, Calvin’s towering intellect nearly always lay ‘concealed, behind [his] deceptively simple explanations of his author’s meaning.’” (p. 87)
“Calvin will never speak the original Greek word and will rarely refer to ‘the Greek.’” (p.88)
“Another means Calvin employed to explain a biblical text was to restate a verse in alternative words. He would adopt a different sentenced structure and use synonyms.” (p. 88)
“Calvin’s signature formula to introduce a restatement was ‘It is as if he were saying…’” or “in other words…” (p. 93)
“He showed little concern to supplement his exposition with quotations from other authors. For Calvin, nothing must overshadow the Word.” (p. 96).
“Philip Schaff…notes, “[Calvin] lacked the genial element of humor and pleasantry; he was a Christian stoic: stern, severe, unbending, yet with fires of passion and affection glowing beneath the marble surface;.” (p. 99)
“He was by nature and taste a retiring scholar, but Providence made him an organizer and ruler of churches.” (p. 99)
“Calvin rightly believed that he did not need to make the Bible relevant---it was relevant.” (p. 104)
Calvin wrote, “We have not come to the preaching merely to hear what we do not know, but to be incited to do our duty.” (p. 104)
“He preached primarily to edify and encourage the congregation God had entrusted to him. In short, he preached for changed lives.” (p. 104 -105)
“Calvin was never needlessly harsh or domineering with his own congregation.” (p. 105)
“Calvin often utilized first person plural pronouns-- ‘us’ and ‘we’--as he exhorted his congregation.” (p. 106)
“…Calvin was a master of the art of pastoral exhortation with inclusive language.” (p. 106)
“Without a doubt, loving admonishment and reproof were a part of Calvin’s preaching.”
“All true exposition of Scripture must include such correction.” (p. 112)
”For Calvin, preaching also required an apologetic defense of the faith.” “In Calvin’s view, the full weight of Scripture must be brought to bear against theological error, whether inside the organized church or outside it.” ( p. 112)
“At the heart of this practice was a holy compulsion to guard the glory of God, defend Christ’s matchless character, and protect the purity of the gospel.” (p. 112)
“Calvin took every opportunity to uphold sound doctrine and to refute any and all contradictions to it. He was a staunch guardian of the truth.” (p. 115)
“Calvin’s expositions were approximately one hour in length, some six thousand words each.” (p. 120)
“In the conclusion of each sermon, Calvin first gave a short summation of the truth he had exposited. He then passionately called for his hearers’ unqualified submission to the Lord.” (p. 120)
“Finally, he concluded with public prayer, committing his flock into the sovereign hands of the Lord.” (p. 120)
“These concluding prayers were vertical in their thrust, pointing his listeners upward to God.” (p. 126)
“This was the passion of Calvin’s preaching. Start to finish, it was soli Deo Gloria—for the honor and majesty of God alone.” (p. 129)
Training Men to Lead
“I will therefore that men (Gk. aner – male in distinction to female) pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands (hands unstained – a holy walk) without wrath and doubting (anger and disputing).” (I Tim. 2:8)
Pastors who seldom call others to lead in prayer are missing a tremendous opportunity to disciple men in the assembly. Others should be called upon, not only in Sunday school classes and other weekly Bible studies, but also in the morning worship service. I am not alone in thinking this. Warren Wiersbe, in his little book titled, In Praise of Plodders, says, “Some ministers pray too often in the Sunday service and they ought to invite others to share in this ministry.” Of course if this has not been his custom, he may have to orient the men of the congregation by informing them ahead of time that he would like for them to lead in prayer at the opening or closing of the service.
If the leader would call upon others to pray, he would find that they would begin to develop in the area of leadership. He should call upon men in general and not only those who are aspiring to lead. Of course, there will be occasions when the pastor may need to open or close the service in prayer, but he should not reserve that place entirely for himself.
Don’t be hesitant to call upon men to lead in prayer. It will stretch them. It will help them learn to pray aloud – to pray in public. It will encourage them to lead their own family in prayer before meals and at family devotions. They will become leaders in their families.
If pastors and elders would call upon other men to lead in prayer, the people would be taught that not only the trained clergy is able to address God in prayer in the worship service, but all spiritual men may do so. And visitors would see that the pastor is not the only spiritual man in the congregation.
Pastors who seldom call others to lead in prayer are missing a tremendous opportunity to disciple men in the assembly. Others should be called upon, not only in Sunday school classes and other weekly Bible studies, but also in the morning worship service. I am not alone in thinking this. Warren Wiersbe, in his little book titled, In Praise of Plodders, says, “Some ministers pray too often in the Sunday service and they ought to invite others to share in this ministry.” Of course if this has not been his custom, he may have to orient the men of the congregation by informing them ahead of time that he would like for them to lead in prayer at the opening or closing of the service.
If the leader would call upon others to pray, he would find that they would begin to develop in the area of leadership. He should call upon men in general and not only those who are aspiring to lead. Of course, there will be occasions when the pastor may need to open or close the service in prayer, but he should not reserve that place entirely for himself.
Don’t be hesitant to call upon men to lead in prayer. It will stretch them. It will help them learn to pray aloud – to pray in public. It will encourage them to lead their own family in prayer before meals and at family devotions. They will become leaders in their families.
If pastors and elders would call upon other men to lead in prayer, the people would be taught that not only the trained clergy is able to address God in prayer in the worship service, but all spiritual men may do so. And visitors would see that the pastor is not the only spiritual man in the congregation.
Quotes on Humor in Preaching
While preaching is a serious business - it is God’s means of saving lost sinners (I Cor. 1:21), a good case can be made for the use of humor in preaching. Jesus had a sense of humor, and He often used humor in His preaching. The book of Ecclesiastes says, “There is a time to laugh and a time to cry” (3:4). I have at least two books in my library on the humor of Jesus, one by David Redding and the other by Elton Trueblood. Dr. Larry Michael has a chapter on laughter in his book titled Spurgeon on Leadership.
Our Puritan forefathers were rather stern when it came to preaching, but C.H. Spurgeon, who has been called “the last Puritan,” was known to have had a great sense of humor which he often used in his preaching. A lady once complained to Spurgeon that he used too much humor in his sermons. Spurgeon replied, “Well madam, you may very well be right; but if you knew the number of jokes I do not tell you, and the number of things that I refrain from saying you would give me credit.”
The great evangelist George Whitfield never used humor. John Piper seems to have this view, yet he often injects humor into his sermons. Martyn Lloyd Jones had a similar view of humor in preaching. Others make a great use of humor; Charles Swindoll is a good example as are also Alistar Begg and David Jeremiah. Both Swindoll and Jeremiah offer recordings of excerpts from their sermons of their humor. A humorous story can bring light on a major point. The trick is to keep humor and gravity in balance. Humor should seldom be used for sake of humor, I think.
The great reformer Martin Luther gave nine properties and virtues of a good preacher. First, [he said] he should, “…teach systematically…[and] have a ready wit…”etc.
In his book, Lectures on Preaching, Phillips Brooks called humor one of the most helpful qualities that the preacher can possess.
John Stott, who went to be with the Lord in 2011, said, “We should press [humor] gladly into service in the cause of the gospel.”
John Ortberg believes “…humor must always be the servant of the message. If humor does nothing to forward that purpose, then the preacher must willingly jettison it from the sermon.”
Even Lloyd Jones said, “I would not dare to say that there is no place for humor in preaching, but I do suggest that it should not be a very big place because of the nature of the work and because of the character of this truth with which we are dealing.”
I think that Haddon Robbinson gives the proper balance on the subject of humor in preaching in his book, Biblical Preaching when he writes, “…the cardinal rule of humor is [that] it must serve the truth.”
Our Puritan forefathers were rather stern when it came to preaching, but C.H. Spurgeon, who has been called “the last Puritan,” was known to have had a great sense of humor which he often used in his preaching. A lady once complained to Spurgeon that he used too much humor in his sermons. Spurgeon replied, “Well madam, you may very well be right; but if you knew the number of jokes I do not tell you, and the number of things that I refrain from saying you would give me credit.”
The great evangelist George Whitfield never used humor. John Piper seems to have this view, yet he often injects humor into his sermons. Martyn Lloyd Jones had a similar view of humor in preaching. Others make a great use of humor; Charles Swindoll is a good example as are also Alistar Begg and David Jeremiah. Both Swindoll and Jeremiah offer recordings of excerpts from their sermons of their humor. A humorous story can bring light on a major point. The trick is to keep humor and gravity in balance. Humor should seldom be used for sake of humor, I think.
The great reformer Martin Luther gave nine properties and virtues of a good preacher. First, [he said] he should, “…teach systematically…[and] have a ready wit…”etc.
In his book, Lectures on Preaching, Phillips Brooks called humor one of the most helpful qualities that the preacher can possess.
John Stott, who went to be with the Lord in 2011, said, “We should press [humor] gladly into service in the cause of the gospel.”
John Ortberg believes “…humor must always be the servant of the message. If humor does nothing to forward that purpose, then the preacher must willingly jettison it from the sermon.”
Even Lloyd Jones said, “I would not dare to say that there is no place for humor in preaching, but I do suggest that it should not be a very big place because of the nature of the work and because of the character of this truth with which we are dealing.”
I think that Haddon Robbinson gives the proper balance on the subject of humor in preaching in his book, Biblical Preaching when he writes, “…the cardinal rule of humor is [that] it must serve the truth.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)