Monday April 16, 2012

Read Deuteronomy 12:1-4

 

Do you know the peril of the pendulum? Basically it describes human reaction, or more correctly, over reaction, to some issue. As humans we tend to react and go to the other end of the extreme. As an example, the word ‘worship’ was correctly adjusted in Christian circles to refer to all of life, rather than to just Sonday services. However, beware the peril of the pendulum! Many believers now get annoyed when the word ‘worship’ is used for our Sonday gathering. Be assured! By referring to Sonday services as ‘worship’ no one is advocating that we forget God throughout the week. No one is advocating salvation by works. No such

annoyance is needed because Deuteronomy 12 refers to worship as the gathered body in the temple, the forerunner of our church!

 

Throughout the Old Testament and throughout the New Testament God tells us what He does and does NOT like in our worship services. Again, because of the perilous pendulum we have formed extreme camps. The regulative principle campers argue that God has communicated to us everything He desires to be in our worship services and everything else should be carefully avoided. The normative principle argues that anything not expressly prohibited is allowable as long as it keeps the unity and peace of the church. Can you see the extreme error on both sides? The Word of God does not tell us that we should have Sonday school classes during the service time but we should not for that reason rule it out as a possibility. At the other extreme the Word of God does not expressly prohibit the baptism of animals but that should not, logically and theologically, be encouraged!!!

 

What we need to do is find a middle ground that brings honour and glory to God. Certain things are obviously negated by Scripture. One church, I visited on the web, is based around screaming one’s desired blessing to the Lord. Louder screams attract more blessing. Another is based around yelling obscenities at God. Neither are glorifying to the Lord Jesus Christ. Another church I visited expected my young, energetic children to sit still and quiet for over an hour and to listen to a long liturgy that made no sense to them.

 

Worship on a Sonday is primarily about God, about relationship and about each other. While there are guidelines, rules and regulations, it’s meant to bless us, to edify us and to draw us nearer to God and to each other. Let’s make sure that happens this week.

 

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray that your church service this week will be a blessing and edification to all who attend. Pray that everyone in your church would be there this week. Pray that each and every single person in your church would see the need and the benefit and the blessing of being at church each and every Lord’s Day.

¥ Pray that God would excite Christians about His services and His Body, the church. Pray that we would see a ground swell of excitement rising up and pouring out into our communities.