Last month, I wrote about the subject of change facing the Church and how change is not new in her history. The topic, as I stated then, is one of great discomfort, especially to me. Now, I want to approach it from a different angle altogether.
As I sit here keeping an eye on my youngest while the family enjoys a few days of respite away from home, I must confess I have a habit of people-watching. I enjoy observing people and their habits. At this particular time, there are a few folks about and so, as a result, I have the ability to make a number of deductions on the basis of what can easily be noticed. Indeed, in the last three days, having visited this same spot, I have accumulated a body of data and have come to an overwhelming conclusion. We, Americans, are truly a self-indulgent people!
This self-indulgent drive affects everything we do—how we eat (obviously), what we buy (advertising thrives on it), where we live (best schools, malls, etc.), even where we choose to worship (best music, programs, and the like). Self-indulgence is nothing more than a pleasant-sounding cover, a facade, for the realistic truths (sins) of selfishness and self-centeredness. It is the placing of “self” at the forefront of everything in one’s life. If one “gets down to brass tacks”, self-indulgence is nothing other than idolatry of self under a new designation.
Having sermonized enough on what self-indulgence is, let me then answer the implicit question lurking in the reader’s mind: “What does self-indulgence have to do with the impending change in the Church?” I am beginning to seriously wonder how many of the changes within the Church over the last fifty years or so have truly been God-driven and how many have been due to the influence of the self-indulgence that has become so prevalent in our society? When people want what they want just because they want it...it is self-indulgence. This is exactly why I stated in the previous article that one must use the Scriptures, the whole counsel of God’s Word, as the basis for all things done in the Church. Otherwise, change in the Church is accomplished simply on the basis of who controls the majority vote at a given time, thus able to stamp “God wanted us to do it” on the action—a deed which is neither prudent nor Biblical.
If change is truly God-driven, it will, first of all, be in accord with His Word. The Holy Spirit never violates Holy Writ. Secondly, the outcome of the change will truly glorify God and edify His Church. In other words, it will be a positive benefit to the Church over all. The change will in no way assist in appeasing human nature, nor will it lower the standards of the Church in order to better relate to the culture. The best way over history for the Church to minister to the culture has always been for her to engage the culture by her distinction from it, not by her capitulation to it.
Be sure not to read into this more than is here. This is not an implicit attack on contemporary worship, means or music. Nor is it an extension of carte blanche, a blank check, to the movement. There is as much of a concern of self-indulgence in the contemporary worship movement as there is in those who hold to traditional forms of worship. Idolatry in the Christian camp knows no boundaries as it moves through our ranks. The truth we must remember is that worship is for God not for us. It is He who decides what He wants and then we follow His lead, not visa-versa.
These are dangerous waters for the Church to navigate. The reef of pragmatism on the one side threatens to destroy her. The sandbar of self-indulgence on the other gives her the possibility of running aground. Only by holding fast to the sureness of God’s Word can the Church ever hope to pass through these formidable times unto the safety that lies beyond in His promises for His people.
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