Volume 45   Number 5                                                            January 2003

The warnings not to add to or take from God's Word are clearly implied in scripture. Warnings that are often explicitly stated (Proverbs 30:5, 6; Revelation 22:18,19). Yet the never-ending yearning to disregard these warnings lurks in man's heart with tragic results even in the church.

This article was prompted by a situation recently called to my attention. It brings home with stark sadness what happens to a congregation when man's ways begin superseding God's ways, when adding and subtracting replace holding fast. It is the story of a church of Christ in the south which is "imploding" as they embrace more modern denominational practices for the sake of reaching more people. This particular case focuses on the allowing of instrumental music into the Sunday School. This and other liberal flirtations have, apparently, elevated the stress in this congregation between those standing for the truth and those who aren't bringing them to the point of implosion.

The specific issue that this congregation is wrestling with is not my primary concern here. While I certainly believe it to be wrong to bring instrumental music into the church, I am more struck by how easy it is for congregations to be docilely swept away from the truth, to be "so easily tossed to and fro", to cuddle up to the "wolves in sheep's clothing" and all the while think they're enlightened?

Why do people so readily lose sight of and toss aside the basic and scriptural reasons we practice and stand for such things as a cappella music, mutual ministry, weekly communion, congregational autonomy, immersion for the remission of sins, the sanctity of marriage, New Testament church government, etc.? Forgetting that these practices do make a difference, that what church one belongs to does make a difference. Being alert to this growing compromising of the church is so important. Today far too many view religion as they do their motor oil: "Each may have some slight differences, but if you stick with a major brand you'll be okay."

The reasons for this doctrinal slippage are numerous. When family members slide from the truth, it's easier to say: "Does it really matter?" than to stand firm for the truth even if it brings family strife. When job or school offers pull us into areas where there is no faithful congregation, it's easy to buffer our compromise with: "It doesn't really make a difference". But could there not be another underlying reason. Have we often stopped teaching effectively on such issues?

How easy it is for us to avoid what might be uncomfortable issues under the banner of harmony and then suddenly wake up and find the church has lost its distinctiveness. To discover that we're becoming one of "them" rather than one of "His". To be like the Israelites who wanted a king to be like everyone else. To be viewed by the community, and even some in the pews, as just another church in town, rather than showing forth God's distinctive plan.

Certainly, these topics need to be taught in love and meekness, and maybe that has not always been done, but they need to be taught all the same. We have young people and new Christians who are being bombarded with opposite teachings: "It doesn't really matter which church you attend or how you worship." How will they know unless they are taught? Even the older need these truths reinforced and restrengthened lest they drift.

Every congregation should have a conscious plan to see that these basic truths are taught regularly and skillfully. Not ad nauseam, but taught none the less. But I fear many congregations are failing to teach these issues effectively with the resulting development of a generation that neither knows nor sees their importance.

I recall fondly a lesson by the late Bro. Wilford Landes regarding retaining the "ancient landmarks", citing such passages as Deuteronomy 19:14; 27:17; Proverbs 22:28; 23:10. Proverbs 22:28 is particularly striking: "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set". Applying this spiritually it is the landmarks that our Father (not fathers) has set that we must not remove. Man's eternal temptation to improve God's plan, make it more socially acceptable, politically correct or user friendly misses the point. The church is for the glory of God not the convenience or amusement of man.

Paul so laments those "carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness...". He so urges that we "be no more children, tossed to and fro". But Satan's plan continues. Convince them it doesn't make any difference, that it's just a matter of opinion. But how we worship and what we practice do make a difference and these distinctive issues must be taught if we want them to be retained.

The church is not to be what the world wants but what God wants. And if we are not diligent in our teaching, we will not remain the church.