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An evil
resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its
imprudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to
notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an
abnormal rate evil for evil. It has worked like leaven until
the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a
cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their
mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a
view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did,
the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then
winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she
tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them
under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first
contention is that providing amusement for the people is
nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the
Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak
of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature." That is clear enough. So it would have been
if He has added, "and provide amusement for those who do not
relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found.
It did not seem to occur to Him. Then again, "He gave some
apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the
work of the ministry." Where do entertainers come in? The
Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets
persecuted because they amused the people or because they
refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again,
providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching
and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the
attitude of the Church to the world? "Ye are the salt," not
sugar candy-something the world will spit out, not swallow.
Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their
dead." He was in awful earnestness!
Had Christ
introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His
mission, He would have been more popular when they went
back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do
not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell
them we will have a different style of service tomorrow,
something short and attractive with little preaching. We
will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they
will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the
people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over
them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the
Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel
amusement. Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean
out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its
absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and
employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked
up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they
did not pray, "Lord grant Thy servants that by a wise and
discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these
people how happy we are." If they ceased not for preaching
Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments.
Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the
gospel. They "turned the world upside down." That is the
difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and
rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to
apostolic methods.
Lastly, the
mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It
works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and
scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway,
speak and testify. Let the heavy-laden who found peace
through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to
whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's link in the
chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to
answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The
need of the hour for today's ministry is believing
scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one
springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is
biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men
on fire. |
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