No. 51, October 2001

 

WE MUST TALK ABOUT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

 

            It is probably true, as some of our leaders are saying, that among our more “progressive” preachers there is not a one who believes that the use of instrumental music in worship is a sin. They certainly do not hold the position of the Churches of Christ of the 1940s that made the use of instrumental music a test of fellowship. There are no more sermons about the evils of instrumental music in worship.

 

            This is the case with most members as well. Instrumental music has become a non-issue.

 

            This does not mean, however, that they want to bring in the instrument. For the most part they don’t. The reasons vary. It is often a matter of conviction that a cappella music better reflects the worship of the primitive church. Or it might cause division, or at least be offensive. It would not be politically correct. Whatever the reason for remaining a cappella, it is different from the traditional position of the instrument being biblically forbidden and sinful.

 

            But hardly anyone is saying what we must start saying, We have been wrong about instrumental music. I am confident that that will be our conclusion once we broach the subject honestly.

 

            We have not been wrong in being a cappella. All churches sometimes sing a cappella. Some of the great choirs are a cappella. Some of the oldest denominations have historically been a cappella, such as in the Orthodox tradition.

 

            We have been wrong in that we have made the use of the instrument a test of fellowship. We have made our preference or opinion an essential to the faith. This is what we must confess and repudiate, even when we go right on being a cappella – as our own preference, while in brotherly love we recognize that others see it differently.

 

            In doing this we will have to confront our traditionalists who keep on parroting the old line that confines us to the backwaters of our sectarianism. As recently as 1995, Burton Coffman, a respected veteran minister, wrote an article in the Gospel Advocate entitled ‘The Sinful Use of Instrumental Music,” and Charles Hodge, another of our beloved preachers, only three years ago in the same journal insisted that “The entire future of our movement is at stake” if we change our position on this issue.

 

            We have to talk this out, boldly if need be, because of the place music has come to have in our culture. Ours, perhaps more than any other culture in history, is music-oriented. Virtually everything is music related, particularly religion. So long as we are stuck in the quagmire of “no instruments” we are not likely to attract the new generation that finds much of whatever meaning it has in music.

 

            We have congregations that realize this and find an escape from our debilitating dogma by using instruments in absentia, or in recordings that provide instrumental background music, often with a praise team that leads the congregation. They are nearly always our growing congregations. But they still don’t talk about it.

 

            But one church has begun to talk about it, and some interesting things have happened. When the Northwest Church of Christ in Seattle kept losing their young people, they set out to discover why. They found that they were going where they could express their devotion to God through music. They discovered what Lynn Anderson has been telling us for years, that “Music is the coin of the realm.”

 

            Milton Jones, who has been with Northwest for 25 years, decided to talk about it. He announced that he was going to address the controversial issue on a Sunday night. He had a full house, but there was tension. He spoke at length giving both sides of the issue, including a review of the division that led to separation of Churches of Christ. He told them he feared that we have turned a fringe issue into a matter of faith. He hardly knew where to stop. Frustrated, he suddenly quit and sat down on the front pew. There were moments of silence, then suddenly the congregation broke out in applause that went on and on and on.

 

            In writing about it Milton said, “We dared to talk about what we couldn’t talk about.” And they won in that those present could see that instrumental music is an issue that can be seen both ways, a matter upon which sincere people can and do differ.

 

            This resulted in Northwest resolving the issue by having a Sunday a.m. service that is instrumental. Two other services continue to be a cappella. People can choose according to their preference or conscience. This of course did not please some. Even if they could continue in an a cappella service they did not want others using instruments, not in their church, and so they left. “They couldn’t handle the freedom,” as Milton put it.

 

            Milton says the church has now positioned itself to minister to young people that they would otherwise lose. And he hopes that the church has learned something about freedom.

 

            He says the singing the first Lord’s day after that tense Sunday night was the best in the history of the church. Some told him that it was the first time they had sung a cappella because they wanted to rather than because they had to!

 

            In an update Milton reports that surprisingly after a year the two worship styles at Northwest have become non-competitive and intergenerational. The instrumental service has become the largest, but the a cappella services have also grown.

 

            What the Northwest Church of Christ has done is clearly historic and avant garde. It may well have set a precedent for other churches to follow, and at a cost. Already they have received some ugly e-mail, but in time our people will rise up and call them blessed for casting a vote for freedom. And for telling us as Milton does in his report, “When it comes to change, Churches of Christ are going to have to talk about the instrumental music issue,” – Leroy

 

            (Milton Jones tells his story in a book just off the press, The Transforming of a Tradition, edited by Leonard Allen and Lynn Anderson, which you can order from us at $16 postpaid.)

 

 

 

THE BALANCED CHRISTIAN

 

            The Greeks called it “the golden mean.” Virtue, they taught, is the proper balance between extremes. Courage is a virtue because it is the golden mean between cowardice on one hand and foolhardiness on the other. Generosity is a virtue in that it is that balance between stinginess on hand and extravagance on the other. It could be called poise or equanimity.

 

            The apostle Paul speaks to this is such surprising statements as “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful” (1 Cor 10:23), and “There is nothing unclean in itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean” (Rom 14: 14). Evil is to abuse what is inherently good. Good is the balance between extremes. Whether food or drink or sex, they are all good, but when abused they become gluttony, drunkenness, immorality. Sin may be defined, generally at least, as “taking a good thing too far” or as misusing a gift from God.

 

            The golden mean gives us balance in our judgment of others. We are to see a person’s behavior as a whole rather than in isolated incidents that may be contrary to the person’s real character. In our view of things generally we are to see the good along with the bad. Balance tends to temper judgments.

 

            During our present crisis in warring against terrorism, we must as a nation seek balance in what we do. Overreaction will only compound our problem.

 

            Balance should be a rule for interpreting the Bible. We err both when we make too little of what the Bible says and when we make too much. The names of religious parties often reflect an overemphasis. While we should be baptists, why must we be Baptists? Presbyters is a legitimate Bible subject, but why must we be Presbyterians. Every Christian should be pentecostal, but Pentecostal? We are evangelicals and adventists, but are we to be Evangelicals and Adventists? We are to be all these things in balance.

 

            Fundamentalists are an example of the tragedy of imbalance. They have such a view of what they call “biblical inerrancy” that they would have one question the integrity of the whole of Scripture if it has any errors at all.

 

            The charismatic movement may have blessed the church in some respects, but its contribution was marred by overdoing it. It is important that we be reminded of the millennium, the coming of Christ, the judgment, and the events of end-time, but when such themes are about all one talks about something is wrong.

 

            Any truth can be overemphasized to the point that the power of that truth can be lost or compromised.

 

            Our present emphasis on grace may be an example. We in Churches of Christ neglected grace for so long that when we at last recovered its power it knocked some of us off balance. Grace may dominate our thinking to the degree that we become antinomian in that law and works are no longer given their proper place. We must not forget that the Bible still says, “We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5: 10).

 

            We must balance grace with obedience. We are not saved only by grace but by “grace through faith” (Eph 2:8). There is no conflict between grace and the faithful response of obedience. Grace is expressed in hearing and doing Christ’s will (Mt. 7:24).

 

            Baptism is particularly an instance of “error through overemphasis” in Churches of Christ. It has become the sine qua non of the Christian faith with many of our people. Our stringent position on baptism has become our raison d’etre in that we have allowed it to define who we are.

 

            There were elements of this even in Alexander Campbell’s day. Some of his critics insisted that there could not be “Christians in the sects,” as Campbell implied in his call for the unity of all Christians, because they had not been baptized by immersion for the remission of sins.

 

            Campbell called this “ultraism,” noting that too much can be made of any biblical doctrine. He wrote, “I cannot therefore make anyone duty the standard of Christian state or character, not even immersion” (Mill Harb, 1837, p. 412). He distinguished between errors of the mind (understanding) and errors of the heart, the latter being much more serious. He allowed that a Christian might be wrong on some things, including baptism, and yet be generally obedient. It is the heart that counts, one’s sincere response to such light as he has.

 

            This points to the most important balance of all, that between knowledge and spirituality. Or as John Wesley put it: “Let us unite the two so long divided, vital knowledge and piety.” There is a tragic imbalance when one’s head is full of biblical knowledge and his heart is empty of devotion to God.

 

            How important this principle is for practical living! Whether it is the clothes we wear, the house we live in, the car we drive, the entertainment we choose, the rule should be balance, irrespective of how much or how little money we have.

 

            Then there is balance between work and play. Even J.P. Morgan, with all his accomplishments in the world of finance, said he couldn’t do a year’s work in twelve months, but he could in nine months. So he took three months off each year to do something special with his family. – Leroy

 

 

 

“THINGS OF WHICH THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT”

 

            That may be a strange way to put it, but that is how Thomas Campbell in his Declaration and Address explained divisions among Christians. Divisions are nearly always over things of which the kingdom of God is not, he wrote. It is a soul-searching charge. If believers separate from each other over the integrity of the kingdom itself, there might be justification for divisions. But over matters not of the kingdom?

 

            Negatives can be useful in determining the nature of things. If I know what something is not, it may help me to see what it is. If I know that democracy is not what one finds in Cuba or Iraq, I have a start in understanding what democracy is.

 

            Paul thought that way about the kingdom in that he said what it was not as well as what is is, as in Rom. 14:17: “The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Then there is 1 Cor 4:20: “The kingdom of God is not in word but in power.”

 

            If we look no further than these two passages we have a good idea about kingdom things. Righteousness means a right relationship with God, or a heart for God. Peace means a right relationship with others, or a heart for others. Joy in the Spirit is the quiet assurance that God is with us and in us. And power means that life is positive and meaningful, a life that is God-intoxicated.

 

            The negatives sharpen the positives. That the kingdom is not food and drink means that it is more than rules and dogmas, or, in this context, it is saying that the kingdom is not a matter of having it our way about all the details of life. That the kingdom is not in word but in power means that it is not a lot of big talk but in the loving things we do.

 

            You can make your own list of “what the kingdom is not.”

 

            We hear them all the time at church. Or you can look at the wreckage of division in the history of the church and make still another list. Campbell has a point: these are the things that have divided us.

 

            We don’t divide over what the kingdom is. These in fact unite us: a joyous life of peace in the Spirit, doing good things. Once we take all our Lord’s teaching about the kingdom, including the parables, we can say that the kingdom is Christ himself, or as the apostle put it, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.”

 

            That is the kingdom. All else is marginal. This doesn’t mean that marginal things are not important. It only means they are not crucial as are things of the kingdom.

 

            We can adapt an old slogan and put it this way:

 

            In essentials (things which are of the kingdom) unity;

 

            In marginal things, whether opinions, methods, theology (things of which the kingdom is not) liberty;

 

            In all things love. – Leroy

 

 

 

Between Us . . .

 

            While absent in body I was present in spirit at Cane Ridge, Ky. in August when so much was going on in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Cane Ridge Revival (1801), one of the birth places of the Restoration Movement. But I celebrated nonetheless by attending Cane Ridge at TCU, which was well done, with numerous preaching stations spread over the campus for simultaneous services as it was during the big revival 200 years ago. I also spoke that month on our Cane Ridge heritage at two Disciples of Christ churches: First Christian Church in my hometown, and at the First Christian Church in nearby Gainesville. I told them that our Cane Ridge heritage is a passion for the unity of all Christians as expressed by Barton Stone’s “Let Christian unity be our polar star.” I did the same at the Pecan Grove Church of Christ in Greenville, Tx.

 

            Ouida and I had a great time driving out to Midland, Tx. in September for a weekend at the Golf Course Rd. Church of Christ, one of the largest of our congregations with some 1700 members. We were in the home of John and Bobbi Huckabay, dear friends for a half century. One of my assignments was to address an adult class on heroes of the Restoration Movement, which had 300 in attendance, larger than most churches. Midland is of course “w” country. John, who himself knew “w” when he lived in Midland, showed me the President’s boyhood home which they are now preserving as a historic site. It is surprisingly quite modest. We also saw the school both he and Laura attended before they knew each other. Being the Sunday after Sept. 11, the church especially prayed for the nation and its leaders, for the President, and for the world. A few days later when President Bush addressed Congress and the world at one of the most critical times in our history, I thought of our trip to west Texas, and I asked myself if God had raised up that little boy in Midland for such a time as this. And I could still hear that Church of Christ in Midland, his hometown folk, praying for him.

 

            In September we were also in a weekend series with the Woodland West Church of Christ, another sizable congregation, in Arlington, Tx. One presentation was on the Scriptures that inspired a unity movement. It is heartening to find a renewed interest in our heritage. We learn more about who we are as a people when we know more about where we have been.

 

            I will be returning to Arlington Nov. 18 to be with the Central Arlington Church of Christ, 1130 W. Division, an African American congregation. You are invited to join us. Call 817-548-1556 for info.

 

            Ouida and I happened to be watching the news when the traumatic events of Sept. 11 began, and we, like most Americans, have followed the story with grave concern ever since. We too are praying tor both wisdom and courage for us all, especially for all the world leaders. I am troubled by a question that deserves more attention than it is getting. Why are we as a nation so intensely hated by these terrorists? It appears in fact that hatred of the United States is what makes many of them terrorists. Times of adversity are times for self-examination. Surely we cannot say God is behind all this, but we can say he might use it to get our attention.

 

 

 

            New Leaf Books is off to a phenomenal start in giving Churches of Christ groundbreaking reading material. We have already told you about the first titles published, and they are still available from us: Robert Richardson’s Communings in the Sanctuary ($14); Tim Woodroof’s A Church That Flies: A New Call to Restoration in Churches of Christ ($16); Milton Jones’ Christ – No more, No Less: How to be a Christian in a Postmodern World ($16). Two recent titles deserve your attention. The Transforming of a Tradition: Churches of Christ in the New Millennium, edited by Leonard Allen and Lynn Anderson is particularly significant in that it presents 14 essays out of the life of the church itself. These are younger leaders out in the congregations writing about how they are thinking and what they are doing, which is different from what the academicians have to say. ($16). The second title touches an area neglected by Churches of Christ, spirituality, particulary about making prayer meaningful. More Than We Could Ask: Reaching Upward to God and Outward to Others by Jim Clark. He claims that prayer not only changes lives but changes history. $16. All prices include postage.

 

            “Why I Left” books are not among my favorites, but Joe E. Lewis’ Leaving The Faith of My Fathers: A Spiritual Journey, is worth the reading in that it exposes the underbelly of Churches of Christ politics in the 1960s, especially in the colleges. After long years among us as a musician, he finally left after being fired twice for charismatic-like heresies. and joined the Presbyterians. But it is evident that he can’t quite give up his heritage. The Presbyterians call him their “resident Campbellite.” $20 postpaid.

 

            Ouida and I are rereading Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy, which we highly recommend as refreshingly insightful. The chapter on “A Curriculum for Christlikeness” is especially challenging. $23 postpaid.

 

            D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ Studies in the Sermon on the Mount may well be the best resource on that subject. It was first issued in a two-volume set and was out of print. It is now available in one volume, 584 pages. $26 postpaid.

 

            Richard T. Hughes’ How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind contends that the Christian faith not only does not hinder one’s intellectual pursuit, as some intellectuals claim, but actually enhances it. The author is candidly personal. revealing his own struggles. He draws upon a diversity of religious traditions to make his case. $18 postpaid.

 

            Our back issues of Restoration Review are now so few that we offer only 25 different issues from many years of publication. But these give one a good idea of what we said during those years. If we turn up a few more than that, we’ll add them for good measure. Only $10 for all.

 

            Ouida and I enjoyed a recent Wednesday night with the Argyle Church of Christ, which is only 12 miles from our home. They wanted me to tell them, based on our history in the Restoration Movement, who we are as Churches of Christ, or who we are supposed to be. They may have been surprised by what I said, but they seemed pleased to learn what a glorious heritage we have in “a movement to unite the Christians in all the sects,” and that while we are “Christians only” we are not the only Christians. What a beautiful people they are!