“I don’t have any problem with instrumental music,” a brother or sister affirms. Such statements are heard more frequently from people with long standing connections to the church. Since I believe there are good biblical reasons for rejecting instrumental music, I am distressed at hearing such declarations. Often, I believe, they are symptoms of larger problems.
The quest for a “new hermeneutic” that received so much attention a few years ago was, in my opinion, a search for a way of reading the Bible that would enable “us” to be accepted by Evangelicals, to be no longer considered outsiders.
The “new hermeneutic” leads to acceptance of instruments in worship, allows for wider use of women in worship leadership and enables preachers to say baptism is essential for salvation while still accepting unimmersed people as Christians. Becoming an accepted denomination among denominations seems to be the reason for it, and complete loss of every distinctive element of the restoration plea is the fruit of it.
[Editor’s Note: For the same reason as the foregoing, I started writing a book, the title and thesis of which is, “Converting the Church to Christ.” There is an apparent disconnect by many Christians and several congregations from biblical authority and the distinctive characteristics of the church for which Jesus Christ died and over which He is the Head, as well as the children of God for whom He will come back to retrieve. There is an obvious need for a brotherhood wide demonstration of conviction and conversion in the practice of all aspects of Christianity. ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
