The God of Israel had this to say regarding the spiritual status of His people, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6 NKJV). Is it possible for spiritual Israel (the church of the Lord) to be rejected because of the lack of the knowledge of the Word of God? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” There is always the probability that the church of Jesus Christ can lose its identity because of ignorance of the Holy Scriptures. Where there is a void in the understanding of the Bible, there is the potential of being led astray from the teaching of the Lord. When this happens, an apostasy usually occurs over a period of time.
We must never assume that all Christians have a proper understanding of biblical matters. Therefore, it is of necessity that elders require of their preachers and teachers to present lessons and sermons over a broad spectrum of subjects pertaining to the authority of the scriptures, how to rightly divide the Word of God, the identity of the church of our Lord, acceptable worship as well as the grace and love of God. There is always a great need for a balance in the preaching of the Word of God.
The apostle Paul instructed Timothy in this manner, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). The next generation untaught will be unlearned in the ways of the Lord, and there will be the ever-present danger of drifting away from New Testament Christianity. You only have to read the writings of university professors, preachers, youth ministers and others involved in the leadership of the church to know that there is a woeful lack of Bible-based convictions regarding the identity of the church, what constitutes scriptural worship, the essentiality of baptism and other needed subjects.
One of the areas in which attitudes have changed over the years is regarding acceptable music in our worship to God. Several years ago, I read that a large congregation was wanting a “Student Minister” to work with young adults. The advertisement stated that the candidate should be “comfortable with both acapella and instrumental form of worship.” I thought that was a bold statement to make; however, brethren now know this is more common than we ever imagined.
An area congregation began in recent times to have what they call an “Alternative Instrumental Worship” on Sunday. Thus, the elders of that congregation are now trying to satisfy the different segments of the membership. The elders of this congregation previously were allowing members to use the instrument during the weeknights but not on Sundays. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah, the prophet of God, sent for the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah to meet with him on Mount Carmel so he could prove whose God should be served. Ahab also sent for all Israel to be present at Mount Carmel for this occasion. “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people answered him not a word” (verse 21 ASV). The thought I want to glean from this passage is, there comes a time when the children of God must make very important decisions regarding what is authorized in our corporate worship to God. If instrumental music is acceptable in worship, why not use it in all the assemblies? On the other hand, if acapella music is the only authorized and acceptable music to be used in our assemblies, then, we are only to sing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). It is confusing and misleading for elders to offer an alternative worship where the instrument is used while in another assembly only acapella singing will be used! Why go ‘limping between the two’? Both assemblies cannot be acceptable to God if what is being done in one is not scriptural.
It is absolutely necessary for each child of God to study the Holy Scriptures and to rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). We must “no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine…” (Ephesians 4:14 NKJV). We must understand that what is not authorized by the Word of God must be rejected. The apostle Paul wrote to the church of God with this admonition, “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written…” (1 Corinthians 4:6).
[Editorial Note: This article is highly commendable, as well as much needed throughout the worldwide brotherhood – always crucial everywhere. No amount of restudying the plain and easily understood biblical information upon the pages of inspiration relative to the exclusive identity of the Lord’s church, including its worship, will produce different results – if fairly inspected by honest and open hearts. Hence, it is no wonder that dishonest hearts seek a different doctrinal mechanism that flies in the face of logical and rational normal communication – both common and ordinary daily exchanges as well as pertaining to God’s Word. Only singing, neither accompaniment by instruments (including clapping and stamping) nor augmented with extraneous vocal sounds (e.g., oohs, aahs, humming, whistling and other non-words), is biblically authorized for Christian worship by the New Testament (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Period! End of story! ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
