History of Preaching: ubilee 98 spent an estimated
1/4 million dollars show casing performance preaching. However,
preaching is evangelism and has no permanent role in the established
church. Perhaps God is now punishing the "one another" churches or
families for allowing the "threshing oxen" to move into the tent and
become surrogate father and even husband. God ordained that the
elders be the Pastor-Teachers over the local flock and allowed
monetary "honor" for those full time preaching and teaching.
The following notes certainly
do not describe the earlier minister who was at the disposal of the
local congregation as their employee rather than as their master
"stopping the fountains of learning." After all, Jesus fired those
"taking away the key to knowledge."
By establishing this as the
"ground
zero" of
Biblical
authority it may be
appropriate to build upon this with ministers but there is no role
for professional, one-man rule of pastors.
Captain Edward Johnson, in
about 1631, wrote on what became Harvard University. The learned,
reverend, and judicious Mr. Henry Dunster had received a patron for establishing a college.
And he notes:
"And as in all the
other passages of this history the Wonder-working Providence of
Sion's Saviour hath appeared, so especially in this work, the
Fountains of learning being in a great measure stopped in our native Country at this time, so that the
sweet waters of Shilo's streams must ordinarily pass into the Churches through the stinking channel of prelatical
pride, beside all the
filth that the fountains themselves were daily encumbered withal,
insomuch that the Lord turned aside often from them, and refused the
breathing of his blessed Spirit among them, which caused Satan (in
these latter days of his transformation into an Angel of light)
to make it a means
to persuade people from
the use of learning altogether, that so in the next generation they
might be destitute of such helps as the Lord hath been pleased hitherto
to make use of, as chief means for the conversion of his people and
building them up in the most holy faith,
as also for breaking down the
Kingdom of Antichrist."
The Post-Modern view is that
all that is valid in the Bible is the "Core gospel." This denies the
value of the Doctrine or teaching by and about Jesus. At the same
time, those who see themselves and their books as inspired add their
own doctrine which often conflicts with Paul's doctrine.
Furthermore, even without
imbibing the Spirit of the Word, an increasing number of ministers
(servants) see themselves as having command authority to run the
church they are hired to serve.
Because of this fact all
faithful believers should follow a "scorched earth" policy and, like
Paul, deny the located preacher any command authority and see them as
employees for whatever extra-Biblical ministeries they need
By removing the
legalistically presumed authority to camp out in a local church in
order to usurp the entire authority from the elders and senior
leaders of the church,
it is possible to
rebuild or restore
the church to its original position and to be faithful to the leaders
of the American Restoration Movement whose primary "restoration" was
to, like Jesus, fire the clergy who "take away the key to knowledge"
and thereby tear down an Old Testament legalistic framework of
priests and musical Levites still demanding the tithe
This, of course, involves local
leaders unselfishly seeing that their financial aid should go to
sending ready and willing men and women into all the world.
Out of Jubilee 98, Jubilee 99
and Jubilee 2000 comes the machinery for dominant pastors to manipulate the local assembly by adding unlawful
"miniseries" such as Musical Worship Teams and stand-up or
non-sedantary women preaching with a tune. This outlawed "authority."
Out of the Zoe Group comes the
machinery for theatrical performance sold as "worship" or "worship
leadership." This is defacto ruling over the church because Biblical
rule is teaching.
In a conspiracy, churches which
have grown
effete from consuming
too much "chichen soup for the soul," seek to elevate women to a
co-equal but equally unscriptural role and at the same time diminish
the role or growth potential for developing male leadership. Perhaps
it is easier to "control" female, stand-over rule than that of mature
males. However-
Female
Command Authority is Sexual
Authority
Having disposed of "doctrine"
it is easy for those usurping authority to discount as inspired Paul
who demanded:
But I suffer not a
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in
silence. 1 Timothy 2:12
The only way that women can
ignore this 'doctrine' is to deny inspiration or falsely Accuse Paul.
This denial along with performance preaching "with a tune" is the
first step to exercising feminine or effeminate sexual authority. There can be no stand up or
non-sedantary roles for women in the public assembly which does not
ignorantly put this sexual power into operation. Seeker forms of
performance worship is a deliberate attempt to use feminine or
effeminate sexual authority to "attract the customers." And so all
history identifies musical worship with this form of sexual
authority. The word Paul used is:
Authenteo (g831) ow-then-teh'-o; (a worker); to act of
oneself, i.e. (fig.) dominate: - usurp authority over
The silence which contrasts
with usurping authority is:
Esuchia
(g2271( hay-soo-khee'-ah; fem. of 2272; (as noun) stillness, i.e.
desistance from bustle or language: - quietness, silence.
Esuchios (g2272) hay-soo'-khee-os; a prol. form of a comp.
prob. of a der. of the base of 1476 and perh. 2192; prop. keeping
one's seat (sedentary), i.e. (by impl.) still (undisturbed, undisturbing):
- peaceable, quiet.
Men who endorsed or
participated with women "thrusting themselves forward" were almost
universally effeminate or homosexual theatrical performers or
involved in the pagan temples where sexual services were what fueled
the "collection plates."
"The adored wife of
the fallen Hector, is taken as a concubine by the authentes, who can command her domestic and sexual
services. The word also
occurs in a homosexual sense in a speech by Theseus, king of Athens, where love of young boys was
considered a virtue rather than a vice." ( Charles Trombly,
Who Said Women Can't
Teach, p. 174)
At the time of Christ,
authority was used in the sense of a "self-thrusting one" could mean both to murder and to
create. In magical circles it has to do with source or originator which had a sexual meaning.
"Michael Clycas,
the Byzantine historiographer, uses this verb to describe the woman, 'who make sexual advances to men and
fornicate as much as they please without arousing their husband's
jealous.'" (Charles
Trombly, Who Said Women
Can't Teach, p.
176)
Ephesus was famous for its shrine of Diana,
where thousands of sacred prostitutes believed fornication
brought believers
into contact with deity
in much the say way the Gnostics used authentia to bind the flesh
and the divine
together.
When these owm converted to Christianity they had to unlearn these pagan practices.' Trombley, p. 177)
A pro-feminist author
nevertheless confesses: "By thrusting themselves forward as the originators or inspirers of religious hymns
or creative drama, the woman would be exercising sexual authority. This has nothing to do with "authority
to speak" because non-inspired men not "senior male husbands" have no
more authority.
"Ephesus was famous
for its shrine of Diana, where thousands of sacred prostitutes
believed fornication brought believers into contact with deity in
much the same way the Gnostics used authentia (authority) to bind the flesh and the divine
together. When these women converted to Christianity they had to
unlearn these pagan practices. 'Virtually without exception,
female teachers
among the Greeks were courtesans, such as Aspasia, who numbered Socrates and Pericles
among her students. Active in every major school of philosophy,
these hetairai made it evident in the course of their
lectures that they were available afterwards for a second occupation.
But the Bible teaches that to
seduce
men in such a manner
was indeed to lead them to slaughter and the halls of death (cf.
Prov. 2:18; 5:5; 6:27; 9:18).
The verb
authentein is thus peculiarly apt to describe both the
erotic and
murderous." (Trombley,
Who Says Women Can't Teach, p. 177).
Rather, it is not possible to
use performing women or non-sedantary women without the shameful
exercise of sexual authority. This is why Paul identified public
performance by women as a shameful thing. Because the nature of men
has not changed, the law has not changed:
women should remain
silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in
submission, as the Law says. 1 Corinthians 14:34
If they want to
inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home;
for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 1
Corinthians 14:35
This applied also to men unless
they had an inspired revelation which others did not know:
But if there be no
interpreter, let him keep silence
in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. 1
Corinthians 14:28
Talent-based performance by
either male or female presumes some kind of authority which neither
has. This authority was that by performance power or even madness
they believed that they could ignore "doctrine" and originate new
doctrine:
Did the word of God
originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 1
Corinthians 14:36
............ If anybody thinks
he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that
............ what I am writing to you is the Lord's
command. 1 Corinthians 14:37
............ ............
If he ignores this,
he himself will be
ignored. 1 Corinthians
14:38
Outside the assembly (1Cor
11:1-16) men who caught their wives standing over men having
abandoned the symbol and means of her devotion to her husband would
be infuriated. However, their wives and daughters can stand over and
exercise the same
sexual authority (to get 'em back Sunday night, dead or alive} and
the men are seduced into believing that it is spiritual. However, to use women to attract "customers" or
"attendees" to "church" is to restore the "sacred prostitute" who
could be both male and female.
Much of the error which came
into the church was based upon the inability to differentiate between
Christian or Pagan worship or the Old Covenant and its sacrificial
worship system and the New Covenant with its rational worship
service. For instance, the introduction of musical instruments is
based upon the use of instruments connected with animal sacrifices in
the OT. And the introduction of soloists or choirs is based upon the
fact that there was a class of officer called the Levitical
singers.
The False Commercial
Prophetesses
Prophesying in the secular or
"like the nations" sense meant with musical instruments:
MOREOVER David and
the commanders of the
army separated to the
service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who
should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and
the number of the workmen according to their service was: 1
Chronicles 25:1
However, these men did not
predict future events or teach the Word of God.
No man or woman had the
authority to invent or compose something which had not been written.
Paul's statement indicates that none of the Corinthians were inspired
-- as we might expect from the role of the Apostles -- and they
should give attention to what had been written.
Likewise, thou son
of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which
prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
Ezekiel 13:17
And say, Thus saith
the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and
make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls Will ye
hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that
come unto you? Ezekiel 13:18
And will ye
pollute me among my people for handfuls of
barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not
die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying
to my people that hear your lies? Ezekiel 13:19
Pollute means:
Chalal (g2490) khaw-lal'; to wound, to
dissolve; figurative to profane
(a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by
an "opening wedge"); denom. (from 2485) to play the flute: gather the grape thereof, take
inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane
(self), prostitute, slay
(slain), sorrow, stain,
wound.
The "law" Paul alluded to
included the Seeker-Friendly women who prophesied (this prophesying
was with musical instruments) in order to attract seekers by making
their souls "fly" To fly is to "extend the wings" perhaps to "come
into the presence of God" as advertized by modern Musical Worship
Facilitators. It is to "blossom" to break forth or to "flourish" or
"grow." This is essentially the salvation which only God can
do:
Wherefore thus
saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye
there hunt
the souls to make them fly,
and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even
the souls that ye hunt to make them fly (flourish). Ezekiel 13:20
This was the use of sexual
authority to hunt souls to increase the customers for the personal
gain of the prophesiers:
For the
commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of
instruction are the way
of life: Proverbs 6:23
To keep thee from the evil
woman, from the
flattery of the tongue
of a strange woman. Proverbs 6:24
Lust not after her beauty in
thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. Proverbs
6:25
For by means of a whorish woman
a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will
hunt for the precious life. Proverbs
6:26
Can a man take fire
in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Proverbs
6:27
The talent as well as the dress
of the false prophetesses exercised sexual authority to make people
reject the word of God and accept the "doctrine" right out of her
head:
Your
kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your
hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye
shall know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 13:21
Because with lies
ye have made the heart of the righteous sad,
whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked,
that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
Ezekiel 13:22
Therefore ye shall
see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and
ye shall know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 13:23
The false Commercial
Prophets
Isaiah wrote God's warning
about Israel's daily "religious festivals"-
And the harp, and
the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but
they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation
of his hands. Isaiah 5:12
Therefore my people
are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their
honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with
thirst. Isaiah 5:13
Therefore hell hath
enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their
glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth,
shall descend into it. Isaiah 5:14
These same leaders who
substituted musical rejoicing for the Word of God:
Which justify the
wicked for
reward, and take away
the righteousness of the righteous from him Isaiah 5:23
These people were busy building
up the house by the use of Seeker-Friendly worship or threats.
However, the motive of the clergy leaders was "seeing godliness as a
means of financial gain"=
They
build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with
iniquity. Micah 3:10
The heads thereof
judge for reward,
and the priests thereof teach for hire,
and the prophets thereof divine
for money:
yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us?
none evil can come upon us. Micah 3:11
Therefore shall Zion for your
sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the
mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. Micah 3:12
BUT in the last days it shall
come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted
above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. Micah 4:1
And many nations
shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his
ways, and we will walk
in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Micah 4:2
Financial Authority only
Through Domination
Because both male and female
performers believed that even their madness came directly from their
gods as a form of inspiration, they saw "talent" as religious and
"godliness as a means of financial gain."
The Didache prescribed the
itinerant "prophet" who later became "resident"&emdash;
"Let every apostle,
when he cometh to you, be received as the Lord; but he shall not
abide more than a single day, or if there be need, a second likewise;
but if he abide three days, he is a false prophet. And when he
departeth let the apostle receive nothing save bread, until he
findeth shelter; but if he ask money, he is a false prophet."
(Didache or The Teachings of the Apostles, 11)
"But if he wishes
to settle with you, being a craftsman, let him work for and eat his
bread. But if he has no craft, according to your wisdom provide how
he shall live as a Christian among you, but not in idleness. If he
will not do this, he is trafficking upon Christ. Beware of such men.
In like manner a true teacher is also worthy, like the workman, of
his food." (Didache
Text)
Jesus gave a direct command and
set an example for this practice:
Say not ye, There
are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you,
Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already
to harvest. John 4:35
And he that reapeth
receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he
that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. John 4:36
And herein is that
saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. John 4:37
I sent
you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured,
and ye are entered into their labours. John 4:38
Because many of the Samaritans
believed in Jesus they asked him to remain with them:
So when the
Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry
with them: and he abode there two days. John 4:40
Paul did not bring the gospel
into disrepute as other pagan religions by working when the people
worked and then taught them when neither was working:
And found a certain
Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his
wife Priscilla, (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to
depart from Rome:) and came unto them. Acts 18:2
And because he was
of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought (ministered by working): for by their occupation
they were tentmakers. Acts 18:3
And he
reasoned in the
synagogue every
sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Acts 18:4
Reasoned is not the same as
"preaching" but is discoursing the revealed Word of God:
Dialegomai (g1256) dee-al-eg'-om-ahee; mid. from 1223 and 3004;
to say thoroughly, i.e. discuss (in argument or exhortation): -
dispute, preach (unto), reason (with), speak.
And Paul, as his manner was,
went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Acts 17:2
Example: Yea, ye yourselves know, that these
hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with
me. Acts 20:34
Direct Command: I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring
ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts
20:35
The "many" throughout the
churches were self-elected preachers. However legal it might be for
temple servants to eat of the offerings in the temple, or a threshing
oxen to nibble the grain while it threshes or the soldier to get his
daily dole of food, the Christian church does not depend on "you owe
me a salary" but "I am a slave of Lord Jesus Christ and slaves make
no demands." Paul told the Thessalonians:
For yourselves know
how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly
among you; 2 Thess 3:7
Neither did we eat
any mans bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night
and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: 2 Thess 3:8
Paul's example actually becomes
a command for others:
Not because we have
not power, but to make
ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. 2 Thess 3:9
For even when we
were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
2 Thess 3:10
For we hear that there are some
which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are
busybodies. 2 Thess 3:11
Now them that are
such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with
quietness they work, and eat their own bread. 2 Thess 3:12
Only those who presumed to be
priests of this new opportunity would suggest that they should eat
without working. Others would simply be allowed to starve to death.
However, by pretending as in Corinth to be "super apostles" they
could fool the people into treating them as they did the pagan
priests and priestesses.
Seeing that many
glory (rejoice, boast as prayer see
halal or o.t. praise) after the flesh, I will
glory also. 2 Cor 11:18 (Music hits the flesh)
For ye
suffer
fools (ignorant, mind-rejecting,
egotistical) gladly
(with sensual delight,
lust), seeing ye yourselves
are wise (conceited) . 2Co.11:19 (This is
irony)
............
For ye
suffer,
............ if a man bring you into bondage,
............ if a man devour you,
............ if a man take of you,
............ if a man exalt (lift up, puts on airs)
himself,
............ if a man smite you on the face. 2Cor
11:20
But who is going to be "staff"
and administer all of those programs? Well, the underemployed people
with no Biblical authority or visible means of support naturally
hatch programs out of viper's eggs to keep everyone busy.
But how can I build my
retirement plan and be a servant of God? Well, history proves that
God gets His job done only with those whom Paul claimed would be
better off if they did not marry and not expect to live long enough
to retire. The early church spread into the whole known world by men
who took vows of poverty: the church ended its grouth when clergy
restored an Old Testament priesthood.
The love for charismatic
speakers has always been thicker than the blood of Christ. Those who
accept such lustful worship should remember Herod:
And upon a set day
Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat
upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. Ac 12:21
Demegoreo (g1215) day-may-gor-eh'- o; from a
comp. of 1218 and 58; to be a people-gatherer, i.e. to address a public assembly: - make an
oration.
Demos
(g1218) day'-mos; from 1210 (bind or bond) ;
the public (as bound together socially): - people.
Agora (g58) ag-or-ah'; , (to gather; prob.
akin to 1453); prop. the town-square (as a place of public resort);
by impl. a market or thoroughfare: - market (-place), street
And when her
masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul
and Silas, and drew them into the market place unto the rulers,
Ac.16:1
And the people gave a shout,
saying, It is the voice of a god (theos or chief), and not of a man
(ordinary fellow). Ac 12:22
Phoneo
(g5455) fo-neh'-o; from 5456; to emit a sound (animal, human or
instrumental); by impl. to address in words or by name, also in
imitation: - call (for), crow, cry.
And immediately the angel of
the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was
eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. Ac 12:23
But the word of God grew and
multiplied. Ac 12:24
Many preachers claim to be Post
Modern. That is, they accept only the "core" that Jesus is Lord.
After that they believe that they have their own "assignment" for
their time and place to be the twentieth century Christ.
Others denounce the God-given
and history-honored belief that authority comes from God through
"commands, examples and inferences." One eldership (preacher
dominated) claims that they have graduated above the commands of
God.
We accept the spoken and
written word of people as authority. All who preach and all who write
and publish believe that they can exert their
mind, spirit and influence through ink on paper. In a much more
powerful way, the witness of God (the witness of the Spirit) is
greater:
If we receive the
witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he
hath testified of his
Son. 1 John 5:9
He
that
believeth on the Son of
God hath the
witness in himself:
he that believeth not God hath made him a liar;
because he believeth not
the record that God
gave of his Son. 1 John 5:10
The First Wide-Spread heresy
history of preaching,
history of preaching,
"The McClintock and
Strong Cyclopedia not only speaks, in general terms, of
'heresy largely pervading the church and making
rapid headway' at that very time, but it specifies 'the appointment of
singers as a distinct
class of officers in the church' with 'the consequent introduction of
profane music';
and why should not
instrumental music have been introduced if the carnal wishes of the
people called for it" (Kurfees, p. 123)
"The first change in the manner
of singing was the substitution of singers who became a separate
order in the church, for (to replace) the mingled voices of all
ranks, ages, and sexes, which was compared by the great reformer of
church music to the glad sound of many waters" (H. H. Milman, Hist.
of Christianity, Vol, iii, pp. 406, 409).
You are forced to denounce
"doctrine" because doctrine or the inspired teachings of Paul is that
"I permit not women to teach over you." The 'silence' actually
demands that women be sedentary and not try to imitate the preacher
and song leader by hop, skipping, and wringing hands to violate the
silence demanded by all non-inspired people who presume
authority.
Musical worship teams manned by
clergy women presume top be Levitical or lower-clergy with authority
to usurp authority and preach as long as they use a tune. This was
one of the earliest heresies.
"The lower clergy
were almost universally the presenters, for the singing of the
congregation was regarded as such an integral part of the divine
service that only clerical officers should direct it." (John Fletcher
Hurst, History of the Christian Church, vol. I., p. 357).
Another heresy was replacing
the Biblical Text with self-composed songs and sermons:
"In Gnostic circles
religious poetry arose to compete with the Old Testament Psalms. Some
Catholics therefore distrusted the composition of hymns after this
pattern, on the ground that they might smack of heresy. Yet from at
least the second century hymns were written by the orthodox which,
like their Gnostic
counterparts, employed
the forms of Greek poetry...
Until near the end of the
fourth century, in the services of the Catholic Church only the Old
Testament Psalms and the hymns or canticles from the New Testament
were sung:
the other hymns
were for personal, family, or private use. Gradually there were
prepared versical paraphrases of the Psalms, hymns with lines of
equal length, and hymns which were acrostic." (Latourette, p.
207).
A third heresy was the
introduction of preachers trained in the Greek Theater:
Changes in the beliefs and
practices of the church are never to be seen in isolation. For
instance, it is generally agreed that one form of worship will exist
where the church meets in the home as a community worship center but
quite another if one builds a huge building in an attempt to restore
the Temple. One might feel quite rational speaking Biblical truth to
one another while a pipe organ thunders in accompaniment but
embarrassed beyond belief if our child insists upon playing the
accordion to enhance our effort to teach our neighbor in our
home.
And the same teacher who stands
in the pulpit, pumps up his chest, thunders denunciation, takes
samples of the Bible and supplies his own application, would hide his
face in shame if caught using the same methods while teaching his
child how to operate the video recorder.
What one practices in religion
then is directly related to the place where he worships and it is no
accident that most deviations from Biblical worship followed changes
in the way the church was organized, how it saw itself, and the the
nature of its worship center.
Emphasis upon Preaching as
Heresy
It would be difficult to
imagine a liberal theologian singing, dancing, playing instruments or
any other ecstatic act in the belief that they will somehow come into
contact with their god. However, liberal theology has developed from
the subjective mind. The formulators of such doctrine believed that
their "left-brained" rationalism has arrived at a "right-brained"
view of God. The proof that liberalism prevails is contained in the
very sermons themselves. Talk about me, talk about you, talk about
Philosophy, talk about modern experience, talk about the urban church
outgrowing rural songs, but never deliver the "Word as it has been
delivered." It must be enhanced so that the little people can
understand.
MOST
CHRISTIANS
TODAY call the main Sunday
morning hour "the worship service." This is dead wrong for several
reasons! Though worship is part of what the congregation should do
together, "teaching" is to be the driving activity of the Local
Church. Too, an I must be careful here, though
worship is for all -- male and female -- the way it's carried out
today, often
............ it's a FEMININIZATION of the church
service.
............ Whereas, teaching is VIRILE and MEATY
and speaks head-on to males.
And still, little content:
"According to
Marshall McLuhan in his theory of communication, hot communication is
communication that has content, that appeals to men and moves men
through the mind on the basis of that content.
Cool communication
is a kind of personal first-order experience wherein one is moved but
without any content passing through his mind, his reason.
Click for
more.
"Father John Culkin, Director
of the Communications at Fordham University, a follower of McLuhan,
says this: 'Gutenberg came and the Reformation came. Electronics
comes and the ecumenical movement comes.' He means that the
ecumenical movement is rooted for its unity in the midst of a
contentless situation, a situation that is completely cool and has
nothing to do with objective doctrinal truth.
"Equally, the new existential
theologians in our churches live only in the area of cool
communication. They have denied content&emdash;content is not
important to them...T.H. Huxley in 1890 saw that the day would come
when theology would be separated from everything that has anything to
do with fact and as such would never be open to challenge."
(Schaeffer, The Church before the watching world, p. 68).
A Preaching performance as a
profession developed from the Greek theater and was performed by
those whom Paul said saw godliness as a means of financial gain.
Dominant preachers and a dead, silent church go together. No wonder
they need visiting preachers, musical worship teams and other devices
to prop up a failed institution.
"The priests of the
pagan temples had been paid from the purse of the Empire, but now
Caesar was a Christian and the priests of Mars and Venus hastened to
their baptisms.
For the
first
time in the history of
the church, salaries were paid to Christians workers. Tradition has it
that Constantine's mother was the first to give the money for the
erection of a church building... All this (meetings in homes) was
over now. The rags of persecution gave way to softer garments, and the church began to enjoy the feel of
silk upon its flesh. Thus the Pergamos stage of church history came
into being, the church was married to the world." (Barnhouse, D.G.,
Revelation, Zondervan, p. 52).
The world if filled with
faithful gospel preachers whose motive is love for the truth and
whose pay is subsistence. However, as in the early church, those
trained in preaching performance of speaking, drama, singing, playing
musical instruments or dancing saw "godliness as a means of financial
gain." Because most of these forms were non-lethal battles between
performers, most religious division is a battle over turf by the
sensitives trying to be top billy goat who gets the girls and
emasculates the guys:
"They made their
voices sweet with musical cadences and modulations of tone and echoed
resonances. They thought not of what they were saying, but of how
they were saying it. Their thought might be poisonous so long
as it was enveloped in honeyed words. Philostratus tells us
that Adrian, the sophist, had such a reputation in Rome, that when
his messenger appeared with a notice that he was to lecture, the
senate emptied and even the people at the games abandoned them to
flock to hear him..
"You might hear many poor
wretches of sophists, shouting and abusing each other, and their
disciples, as they call them, squabbling; and many writers of books
reading their stupid
compositions, and many poets singing their poems, and many jugglers
(buffoons) exhibiting their marvels, and many soothsayers giving the
meaning of prodigies, and then a thousand rhetoricians twisting
lawsuits, and no small number of traders driving their several
trades.
"The Greeks were intoxicated
with fine words; and to them the Christian preacher with his blunt
message seemed a crude and uncultured figure, to be laughed at and
ridiculed rather than to be listened to and respected. (Barclay,
William, First Corinthians, p. 19-20)
"Perhaps professor would be a
rough modern equivalent to Sophist. It has a similar range from
Professors of Greek to Professors of Phrenology and although some
Professors research,
all teach, and
all are paid which was a great reproach to the
Sophists.
Some of them were serious philosophers, educators or scholars; others
only cheap-jacks, who professed to teach only the sublime art of
getting on. Did you want to improve your memory: Did you want
to be a £1,000-a-year man? Some Sophist would teach
you--for a fee. Sophists went from city to city, lecturing on
their particular subject, some indeed undertaking to lecture on any
subject, but always for
a fee. (Kitto, The
Greeks, p. 168).
To make the point, Paul worked
when the congregation worked and he dialoged when they were not
working. He told the churches: "If they will not work do not let them
eat" from your hard-earned plate.
Sure, an ox eats while he is
threshing but when the field is threshed he does not keep on until
the grain is all gone. He moves on to the next field. Paul would say
that the honest evangelist increases the harvest in white
fields.
The modern preaching
performance movement could not function without a charismatic leader
who can, through anticipation and mind-altering devices cause someone
to begin the tongue speaking "exercises." He depends on personal
relationships "thicker than the blood of Christ." Like modern
singing, preaching is often a charismatic affair where the preacher
"soars away."
Kildahl says,
"It is not uncommon
for linguists to be able to tell which prominent itinerant
glossolalist has introduced a congregation to tongue-speaking.
Relatively few men and women travel the tongue-speaking circuit. The
glossolalic styles of Bennett, Bredesen, Christenson, du Plessis,
Mjorud, and Stone are distinctive enough to be identifiable by
observant linguists." (Kildahl, John P., The Psychology of Speaking
in Tongues, Harper and Row, 1972, p. 53).
The pattern has almost always
been an authority figure who expects someone to exercise some
phenomenon. An immature person often a child performs the exercise,
others see this as proof of authority and repeat the condition, when
one loses confidence in the preacher the phenomenon often stops and
the person feels that they have been duped. A colonial period writer
jokes about a preacher who was disappointed when a sermon did not get
response because it worked on everyone else.
Like Pavlov's dogs, it has been
pointed out that these men or women do not necessarily have to speak
in tongues, get excited, or even suggest that others speak in
tongues. The group is so conditioned that when the "guru" begins to
speak a simple nonBiblical sermon the reflex action occurs and people
begin to speak in tongues who could never have been induced to do so
with a very powerful but less-known public figure. This is why,
perhaps, that a select few men can rip off over a hundred million
dollars a year from people. However, their are many more petty
criminals whose take is substantial.
We need, therefore, to look at
some of the conditions which ripped the preaching task from the hands
of self-sacrificing men who had no charisma and placed it in the
hands of men and women who can manipulate others.
In his discussion of the tongue
speaking phenomenon in Corinth Bruner says:
"At a time when
there is a rising protest against monologues and therefore sometimes
monotonous "one man ministries' in the churches, and when it is
complained increasingly that
the preacher is one
of the few remaining public figures whose formal remarks allow no
public interrogation or discussion (even Presidents are subjected not
to the discipline of public interview),
it is perhaps in order for the
churches to look here in Corinthians to their earliest structures.
Perhaps the worship services should include or append a period of
thoughtful discussion following the sermon--or sermons (v. 29)--in
place of the often dull and unprofitable responsive readings before
it and of
some of the singing which seems
to be often, at the conscious or mental level at least,
low-level
glossolalia with
instrumental accompaniment." (Bruner, Frederick Dale, A Theology of
the Holy Spirit, Eerdmans p. 300).
The Original Condition
When the Jews returned from
Babylonian captivity the clergy built their pitiful little temple
which brought tears to the eyes of the people who had worshiped
Solomon's temple; but the common people went out into their
communities and even Nehemiah's cursing them and pulling out their
hair could not bring them back to support the Temple. While he called
the people back to devotion to God many of the people returned--as
had been prophesied--to a life which the prophets characterize as the
harlot returning to the streets with her harp to solicit business.
Many of the devout people built community schools (they were not
"church houses") in which they could instruct themselves and their
children in the Word. It is said that the people "abandoned the
symbol in favor of the book."
In the Synagogues a course
involved reading and explaining their Scriptures in three years.
Connected to many of these synagogues was a school for teaching the
Word to the children.
"The rabbi Simon
ben Shetach, brother of the queen Salome Alexandra and the president
of the Sanhedrin, opened the first beth ha-sefer, house of book, in
Jerusalem. His example was followed, and little by little a whole
system of public instruction came into existence.
Some thirty years
after the death of Christ, in about the year 64 A.D., trabbihe high
priest Joshua ben Gamala promulgated what may be considered as the
first educational legislation: there was nothing wanting--the parents
were obliged to send their children to school, there were punishments
for idle children and those too often absent." (Quoted in Wilson,
Hermon O. and Womack, Morris M., Pillars of Faith, p. 192).
You can bet that this priest
did not occupy the little boys with cut outs and paste ups when they
were at home "surfing the internet."
Of the education of the youth,
the Talmudic tractate Pirke Aboth, says that "At five he must begin
the sacred studies; at ten he must set himself to learning the
tradition; at thirteen he must know the whole Law of Yahweh and
practice its requirements; and at fifteen years begin the perfecting
of his knowledge." Paul attended such a school and then studied under
Gamaliel.
Paul instructed Timothy to give
himself to the public reading of the Scripture and to preaching. That
is, he preaches to the outsider but he reads and explains what
Scripture he had available to the congregation. Preaching "in church"
would consist of explaining the Word without cutting and pasting it
into a sermon.
Paul went into the Synagogue
and argued about the kingdom of God (Acts 19:8) and when he had to
leave that place he hired the lecture hall of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9)
and took his disciples with him and had discussions on a daily basis.
The word is disputing in the KJV but it comes from dialegomai which
means that he "reasoned" or "discoursed" with the people.
When it is said that "Paul
preached until midnight" our legalistic mind cannot imagine preaching
until midnight without a "preacher." However, when Paul "preached" he
was always the keriah
or crier who spread out into the community with the "news." He was
the kerusso
who was "to cry or proclaim as a herald." He was the euagellizo who "announced the good news." He was, in short,
defined by the only Biblical title which was not preacher but evangelist. The evangelist preached
(out there) and the Pastor-Teacher taught the word in his own small
house church or converted synagogue.
When Paul is said to preach
in English, he "dialogued" in the Greek:
"DIALEGOMAI
primarily denotes to ponder, resolve in one's mind; then, to
converse, dispute, discuss, discourse with; most frequently, to
reason or dispute with." In Acts 20:7 and 9 "the A.V. (KJV)
translates it 'preached,' this the R.V. corrects to 'discoursed,'
lit., 'dialogued,' i.e. not by way of a sermon, but by a discourse of
a more conversational character." (Vine, p. 319).
Learning from a sermon or
lecture is almost impossible.
When Paul went into an
established church the assembly would be more like our Sunday Schools
than our worship service which makes a deliberate effort to focus the
congregation on the celebrative preacher.
"Although the
sermon was not an
essential part of the synagogue
service, the
translation and explanation of the Scripture lesson was a step in the
direction of a preaching service. There is evidence that an
exposition of the lesson formed a part of the Sabbath afternoon
service. In earliest times the sermon seems to have been connected
with the reading from the Prophets. Anyone able to instruct might be
asked to preach (Acts 13:15).
The preacher spoke
from a sitting
position on an elevated
place (Luke 4:20). (Feiffer, Charles F., Between the Testaments, p.
63 Baker Book House).
Following this early model
would almost guarantee that the church would never fall under the
clutches of a charismatic preacher. Can you imagine what would happen
if the church put its focus upon the Word instead of the "Preacher?"
What would happen if the church honored its members by allowing the
one with information to speak? What would happen if the preacher had
to read a long passage and then restrict himself to explaining the
passage? Wouldn't the Holy Spirit who inspired the Word rejoice and
bless the reading? How about making the preacher sit down, quit
pacing to excite the crowd, speak in a conversational or dialogue
fashion, and tape his arms to his side so that he could not wave them
like girlish antenna.
A comedian recently
said that he had to be careful not to wave his hands above his
shoulders for fear of being seen as gay. The church "fathers"
agreed.
After the evangelist set the
church in order this reading-teaching task was assumed by the
pastor-teacher who "read the Scriptures for up to three hours and
discoursed in the sense of explaining any difficult passages."
The evangelist is the spreader
of the news--he is not the author of the news. Robinson says,
"At its heart, this
is a moral matter. In the ancient world the herald not only had to
possess a powerful voice, but qualities of character as well. Hauch
Friedrich observes":
"In many cases
heralds are very garrulous and inclined to
exaggerate. They are thus in danger of giving false news. It is
demanded then that they deliver their message as it is given to them. The essential point about the report
which they give is that it does not originate with them ...The herald does not express his own
views. He is the
spokesman for his master... Being only the mouth of his master, he
must not falsify the message entrusted to him by additions of his
own." (Robinson, Homiletics, p. 804).
Paul insisted of the elders:
Holding fast the
faithful word as he hath
been taught, that he
may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the
gainsayers. Tit.1:9
Robinson gives as an example
the following passage which charismatic often use to prove that if
two people pray in agreement that God is virtually under bondage to
do whatever we demand. This is simply an example of the pagan belief
that God can be "captured and put in a box or in a house." Here is
the passage--
Plucking proof-texts out of the
air to defend modern performance religion may be a denial of God's
power rather than demonstrating trust. MacAuthur in Homiletics and
Hermeneutics says:
"Preaching appears
in the Bible as a relaying of what God has said about Himself and His
doings, and about men in relation to Him, plus a pressing of His
commands, promises, warnings, and assurance, with a view to winning
the hearer or hearers ...to a positive response." (Homiletics, p.
820).
When Paul "preached" he was
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and his sermons or letters
became "case law" once they were recorded. No person who is not
divinely inspired can preach in this way. Those who follow the
inspired messengers can do nothing but teach and repeat that message
faithfully. Change occurred when men observed the theater and
ecstatic prophets or prophetesses and adopted the same psychological
devices.
The weapons of the church are
weapons against supernatural manifestations or anything which
minimizes the
For though we live
in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we
fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they
have divine power to demolish strongholds.
We demolish
arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of
God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10:3-5
Paul instructed Timothy how to
conduct "church" and he as a delegate from an Apostle had the
responsibility to transfer this information to senior men within the
church so that when Timothy went on to his next assignment the local
assembly could continue to read and study the Word.
But as for you,
continue in what you
have learned and have
become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are
able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:14-17
Again, Paul defined the
resources of teaching and this excluded "composed" songs or
sermons:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Col 3:16
Again we say: if Paul demands
that the Colossians "teach" and "admonish" one another as they speak
the Word, in this passage he shows us the only source which is
suitable to get the job done.
Paul further warned Timothy:
Preach (publish as
a herald with no changes) the Word; be prepared in season and out of
season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and
careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up
with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will
gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their
itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the
truth and turn aside to myths (preacher's jokes and mythical
illustrations). 2 Tim 4:2-4
Notice that Paul did not say
"preach about the Word" but preach the word. We ask the same
question: can we correct, rebuke, and encourage without using the
Word? When the symptoms are that we want to make our worship services
more dynamic and exciting can we know with certitude that we are not
tickling ears?
Paul makes it clear that only
Holy-Spirit revealed material is suitable for the assembled church
and his instructions to Timothy is consistent in all of the other
epistles and church history for hundreds of years where what we not
call "singing" they called "reading the Word" perhaps in the style of
cantillation:
Until I come,
devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and
to teaching. 1 Tim 4:13 (See also 1 Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16).
What would our Lord or Paul say
to us when we read 1 Cor. 13:2 part "c" and then expand this into a
forty-five minute sermon? A friend once said that sermon notes were
like "dried tongue--the longer you chew them the bigger they
get."
"The word that is
employed for this "anaginosko, anagnosis) is the technical term for
the cultic reading
aloud of the Old
Testament in the synagogue. By applying this terminology to the
reading of his own epistles
he not only
ascribes the same authority to the apostolic word as to the Old
Testament writings...
He also combines a quotation from the Old Testament with a word of
Jesus and introduces the whole with the familiar formula:
'for the Scripture
says.'" (Ridderbos,
Hermon, Paul, P. 483 an Outline of His Theo., Eerdmans)
Not even Balaam violated the
explicit command of any kind of prophet. That is, what God gave him
to speak he spoke and could not do otherwise.
Balak said to
Balaam, "Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn't you come to
me? Am I really not able to reward you?" "Well, I have come to you
now," Balaam replied.
"But can I say just
anything? I must speak only what God puts in my mouth." Num 22:37-38
Not even Jesus Who was full
Deity (Col 2:9) spoke anything from His human wisdom. Rather, the man
Jesus spoke only what the Spirit Father in Him told Him to
say:
Then said Jesus
unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know
that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath
taught me, I speak these things. Jn. 8:28
I speak that which I have seen
with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Jn. 8:38
For I have not spoken of
myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what
I should say, and what I should speak. Jn.12:49
Therefore, those who claim a
new "assignment" to preach the "core" and rise above 'command,
example and inference" from Jesus or His inspired apostles have
become deluded and therefore themselves strong deluders. There is
nothing more powerful than defending a "pay check" which most are
receiving by stealing from the poor.
Balaam demonstrated a high
ethical standard when he said:
'Even if Balak gave
me his palace filled with silver and gold,
............I could not do anything of my own
accord, good or bad,
............
to go beyond the command
of the LORD--
............ and I must say only what the LORD says'?
Num 24:13
The primary failure of the
early and modern church is the failure to see God's spiritual
influence as a teaching influence and not to produce ecstatic
preaching. Unless a speaker claims divine inspiration he is under the
Balaam Rule not to go beyond what the Lord has commanded. Initially
the apostles had the power to proclaim God's Word and did not dare go
beyond it; they considered their writings inspired and final; and,
therefore, those who are not supernaturally inspired are left with
the Biblical record--honestly presented and unembellished.
"They were taught
the doctrines concerning God, creation, providence, sacred
history, the fall, the incarnation, the resurrection, and future
rewards and punishments. Their books were portions of the
Bible...
When the
ecclesiastical spirit overcame the apostolic and Gospel teaching,
the study of the Bible was largely displaced by ritual ceremonies and priestly confessionals. A few
faithful continued to teach the Bible, as the Waldenses and the
Lollards." (Schaff-Herzog Religious Ency., Sunday schools, p.
159).
"Christianity had ceased (about
AD 200) to be the close brotherhood which it was at first; it had
developed a complicated organization,
with a marked
distinction between clergy and laity;
the conception of priest and sacrifice had won a place.
And as the body changed, so did its worship; the place which had
sufficed for the simple, informal gatherings of the first Christians
was no longer adequate" (Shaff-Herzog, Architecture, p. 264).
"The public portion of Sunday
worship began with Scripture reading, interspersed with the singing
of psalms. These selections presented three passages, the prophets,
the epistles, the Gospels, and were so read as to cover the Bible in
the course of successive Sundays...
In the Arian
struggle the use of hymns other than psalms grew common, and was
furthered in the West with great success by Ambrose of Milan.
"The latter part of the
fourth and the first
half of the fifth
centuries was above all others an age of great preachers in the ancient church...In form it was often highly
rhetorical, and the hearers manifested their approval by applause.
Yet, while this preacher was probably never excelled, preaching was
by no means general, and in many country districts, or even
considerable cities, few
sermons were to be heard." (Walker, Williston, Hist of Ch. Ch., Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1918 p. 167-168)
"The bombastic rhetoric which had ruled in the Roman world since
the death of Cicero
was now introduced
into the Christian pulpit, and the congregation burst forth in
applause extravagant enough for a welcome to a chief returning from
the conquest of a new province." (John Fletcher Hurst, History of the
Christian Church, vol. I., p. 357).
Just as the Jews sought to
enhance God's Word by preaching and having these thoughts given
greater weight than the inspired record,
the early churches
after the clergy grasped control over the presbytery violated the
Jewish mandate against formalized preaching; and rhetoric began to
compete with the substance of the Word.
Style over content is an old
Greek concept which has progressively grown worse to the almost total
demise of reading the inspired Word which was preached once for all
times by the inspired apostles, prophets, and writers. The preachers
put themselves in the place of God Himself by feeling that their
explanations of the Word were more important than the inspired
message itself.
One of the oldest sermons in
Second Clement
concerned repentance. It was taken from Scripture and the writer
says:
"Brothers and
sisters, after the God of truth, I am reading
to you an exhortation to give attention to the things written, in
order that you may save yourselves and one reading among you. (19:1;
cf. VI. 25)
As late as Justin Martyr, A.D.
150, the emphasis was upon reading the writings of the apostles often
for three hours while evangelists were doing the work of the
evangelist by traveling where the Gospel had not been preached to
convert people and establish new churches.
"On the Lord's Day
all all Christians in the city or country meet together, because that
is the day of our Lord's resurrection; and
then we
read the Apostles and
Prophets.
This being done, the President makes an oration to the assembly
to exhort them to
imitate and to
practice the thing which
they have heard,
and then we all join in prayer, and after that we celebrate the
Lord's Supper" (Justin Martyr, Apology).
Justin defines exhorting as
urging the compliance with what has been read
for up to three hours. This too was the function of the Synagogue
reader who read and urged but did not in the beginning
"preach."
As having the pastor-teacher
read and explain the Word gave way to celebrative and ceremonial
showmanship in preaching, the simple singing of Biblical materials
lost out in the race against soloists, choirs, hand clapping, dancing
in the aisles, and other activities which repulsed the more
spiritual.
"After each verse
an Aramaic rendering was given by an interpreter, who in Palestine
was bound NOT to use a written translation and not to allegorize"
(The New Shaff-Herzog, Ency., p. 215).
"...the sermon was
missionary and apologetic in type and suited to instruct the catechumens. It
took the form of explication and application of the text, using particularly the method of allegory,
which from that
time on became prevalent and controlled the homiletical use of
Scripture until the Reformation" (The New Schaff-Herzog Religious
Encyclopedia, Preaching, p. 150, Period 200-300 A. D.).
The changes which occurred
With the arrival of the church
building, recognition by the state, and the turning inward of the
church, the preacher who had been the evangelist out in the cities
and villages preaching, setting churches in order, and then moving on
in search of souls, became the bishop usurping local authority and
began preaching to the saved. The following quotation takes note of
the daily meetings of the church and an intimate connection between
the social and worship activities of the church. Into this melee the
church added various musical forms including antiphonal and
responsorial singing and daily preaching.
"With the victory
of Christianity and the development of the service
came a soaring of the
sermon. Preaching
became more frequent, being employed even during the week and during
fast seasons in some places daily.
As the Church during that
period assimilated more and more Greco-Roman culture, the sermon
developed para passu. The most noted Christian preachers had not
seldom been educated in the rhetorical schools of the heathen, and employed in their sermons the rule
of rhetoric and the artistic effects taught there, and polish
became almost an
end, often giving more
brilliancy than warmth.
The hearers came to look for
esthetic satisfaction rather than for
edification, leaving after the sermon and before the Eucharist." (The
New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, Preaching, p. 150, Period
300-450 A. D.).
"In the East the sermon was
often imaginative, poetic, even bombastic and wordy;
in the West the rhetoric was more sober, and the sermon practical,
simple, and clear." (The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia,
Preaching, p. 150).
In later church history, the
preaching took precedence over Bible teaching and study and
rhetorical styles became very popular. Church history is abundantly
clear that placing the emphasis upon pomp and ceremony--at the
expense of the word of the Holy Spirit, the Bible--led to various
styles of worship services which were to attract crowds or cater to
the ego of the speaker.
Preaching by the direction of
the Holy Spirit was fundamental in the forming churches and reading
the work-product of the Spirit through the apostles and prophets with
explanations continued until the very nature of the church changed
and it reverted to being priest-oriented. A preaching performance was
necessary when the preacher gave up on the Word:
"The public prayers
had now lost much of that solemn and majestic simplicity, that
characterized them in the primitive times, and which were, at
present, degenerating into a vain and swelling bombast." (Mosheim, Eccl. Hist., Vol. I., p. 303).
This repulsive formalism is the
inevitable result of seeing prayer as an act of worship rather as a
means of communicating with God and seeing singing as an act of
worship concedes defeat to those who want to enhance the act.
During the early Restoration
Movement, Isaiah Boone Grubbs, Professor of NT Exegesis and Church
History in the College of the Bible, Lexington, Ky., in decrying the
secularizing influence of formalized music said,
"There sits the
congregation, mute as in death.
Here the godless choir and noisy fiddler fill the air with soulless
strains,
while the preacher, precious man, speaks his pretty piece of poetry
as musically as possible by way of a solo, or as a sort of
interlude." (Kurfees, Instrumental Music, p. 233).
The very purpose of preaching
modeled after the Greek drama was to excite and incite the
congregation through loud speech, a rhythmic almost sing-song chant
so common among television preaching, gestures to excite the
audience, and the neglect of quiet Scripture reading. Reading was
abandoned simply because the masses could not be attracted by
Scripture designed for those "seeking the narrow way and the small
door."
When the church abandons pure
Biblical studies and turns to preaching as performance or
personality-based rhetoric the church, as Amos warned, is hungering
and thirsting for the Word and cannot find it.
Erasmus on the Preaching Monks
And of these, a
great part build so much on their ceremonies and petty traditions of
men
............that they think one heaven is too poor a reward for so great merit,
little dreaming that the time will come when Christ,
............ not regarding any of these trifles,
............ will call them to account for His
precept of charity.
One shall show you a large
trough full of all kinds of fish;
............ another tumble you out so many bushels
of prayers;
............ another reckon you so many myriads of
fasts,
............ and fetch them up again in one
dinner
............ by eating till he cracks again;
another produces more bundles
of ceremonies
............ than seven of the stoutest ships would
be able to carry;
another brags he has not
touched a penny these three score years
............ without two pair of gloves at least upon
his hands;
another wears a cowl so lined
with grease
............ that the poorest tarpaulin would not
stoop to take it up;
another will tell you he has
lived these fifty-five years like a sponge,
............ continually fastened to the same place;
another is grown
hoarse with his daily chanting;
another has contracted a lethargy by his solitary living;
and another the palsy in
his tongue for want of speaking.
And yet these kind of people,
though they are as it were of another commonwealth, no man dares
despise, especially those begging friars, because
they are privy to
all men's secrets by
means of confessions,
as they call them. Which yet were no less than treason to discover,
unless, being got drunk, they have a mind to be pleasant,
and then all comes
out, that is to say by hints and conjectures but suppressing the
names.
But if anyone should anger
these wasps,
they'll sufficiently revenge themselves in their public sermons and
so point out their enemy by circumlocutions
that there's no one
but understands whom 'tis they mean, unless he understand nothing at
all;
nor will they give over their
barking till you throw the dogs a bone. And now tell me, what juggler
or mountebank you had rather behold than hear them
rhetorically play
the fool in their preachments,
and yet most sweetly imitating
what rhetoricians have written touching the art of good speaking?
Good God! what several postures they have!
............ How they shift their voice,
............
sing out their words,
............ skip up and down,
............ and are ever and anon making such new
faces
............ that they confound all things with noise!
And yet this knack of theirs is
no less a mystery that runs in succession from one brother to
another; which though it be not lawful for me to know, however I'll
venture at it by conjectures.
A preaching performance for
profit will doom both the preacher and his audience. There simply is
no way of encouraging women to become performance preachers with or
without a tune without looking to the unlawful role of uninspired
preachers presuming to exercise the mediating role of Jesus and
emasculating the male leadership of the church.
However, it is not possible to
get women to abandon performance roles as long as men usurp the
authority of Christ, the Word and the body of Christ in performance
preaching.
This is the historical view of
the early church Fathers and the leaders of the American Restoration
Movement. To the extent that churches have allowed themselves to
again slip back under dominant pastors they have abandoned the ideals
of restoration.
It is a fact that probably most
located preachers would love to obey the Great Commission and go
preach where the gospel is unknown. However, selfish leadership
demands "seeker-friendly" performance to attract the local audience
to pay for the building and largely ignores the demand to send those
willing to go.
"Those who lord it
over the people will soon begin to destroy them. The word Balaam
means 'the destroyer of
the people.' If we turn
back to the history of this strange figure as recorded in the book of
Numbers we find that which clarifies three passages in the New
Testament where 'the error of Balaam' (Jude 11), 'the way of Balaam'
(II Pet. 2:15) and 'the doctrine of Balaam' are discussed."
(Barnhouse, D.G., Revelation, Zondervan, p. 54
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