THE REAL ISSUE

A Church of Christ (non-instrument) minister in Nashville is presently writing a series of articles in Texas’ Firm Foundation on “Instrumental Music: The Real Issue Involved.” It is refreshing to see Tennessee and Texas get together like this, for it has not always been the case. In fact the Firm Foundation was born out of concern for Tennessee heresy. The issue that time, back in 1884, was rebaptism. “Uncle Dave” Lipscomb, editor of the Gospel Advocate, believed, like Alexander Campbell before him, that faith in Christ is sufficient grounds for being baptized, and that one does not have to understand that it is for the remission of sins. So, the Nashville editor opposed the rebaptism of Baptists, believing that they should be accepted as brethren in Christ.

Austin McGary, a rough and tumble sheriff-preacher on the Texas frontier, strongly disagreed. He not only bushwhacked his way across Texas, rebaptizing all those he could who had not consciously been baptized for the remission of sins, but he established the Firm Foundation to promote the idea and to oppose Editor Lipscomb in Nashville. Churches divided and court suits followed. I have recently read some of these trials in Texas courts, one of them going to the highest court in the state. In some cases one side is referred to as “the Firm Foundation faction.”

For decades the Tennessee-Texas relationship among Churches of Christ was tense to say the least, and even today the fences have not all been mended, leaving a few mavericks to run at large. It is a long way from Nashville to Abilene. You might try driving it sometime! Even if you try flying it there is no way to make it in one hop. You have to change planes in Dallas!

So there are some of us who note with glad hearts when a Nashville writer appears in the Austin journal, even if it takes a series against instrumental music to do it. It is often the case that folk are united more by what they are against than by what they are for, if indeed that is unity.

There is yet another journal among us that has a series going on instrumental music, Truth Magazine out of Dayton, Ohio, though it is a Texan that authors the lead article, “Instrumental Music and the Silence of the Scriptures.”

The articles in the two papers have a similar view as to the real issue: it is a matter or respecting Biblical authority. This means that we non-instrumentalists respect the authority of Scripture while the instrumentalists do not. The Texas paper puts it this way: “The real issue involved in this controversy is the authority of the Bible, and the authority of the Bible is at the very heart of man’s relationship with God. It is not so much the presence or absence of an organ in a church building as it is the attitude toward divine authority which such presence or absence reflects.”

In other words, if there is an organ in the church that shows that the people do not have the right attitude toward the Bible. The Ohio journal says this: “The absence of mechanical devices of music in our meeting houses serves as a witness to our adherence to a respected principle of Bible interpretation, the prohibition of divine silence. “ The article closes with this daring judgment: “The Christian who consistently exalts the will of God above man’s, through an application of this principle, will never worship God in music, except by singing.”

This language is strong and unmistakable. One says our instrumental brethren do not respect the authority of the Bible, and since this is basic to our relationship to God their integrity as Christians is challenged. The other says that if people “exalt the will of God above man’s” they will sing only acappella, which is to say, of course, that if they use an instrument they are putting man’s will before God’s.

It is hard to believe that these two writers could read a journal like the Christian Standard, for example, and charge that those who write for it do not honor the authority of Scripture. I would hazard the guess that if an impartial judge were to study “their” papers over against “our” papers he would find as much, if not more, allegiance to Scripture in theirs as in ours. Their preachers and their churches respect the authority of the Bible as much as any of us. I circulate at large among both groups and I see no appreciable difference. Perhaps we all need to grow closer to Scripture.

The music question is not a matter of some of us honoring the authority of Scripture and others not, but a matter of interpreting the Scriptures differently --- or a matter of interpreting the silence of Scripture differently, if you like. The brother who referred to the “prohibition of divine silence” as a respected principle of interpretation would favor me with the name of any hermeneutical authority that cites such a principle. This would have to mean that God prohibits anything that the Bible is silent about. If this is true, we are all under condemnation.

What this amounts to is that each of our sects is very selective about how it interprets Biblical silence. If we wish to erect a multi-million dollar edifice, which includes all the modernity of the most fashionable denomination, we do not let Biblical silence get in our way. But when others practice what we don’t want, such as instrumental music, we ungraciously accuse them of not respecting Scripture, the silence of Scripture, mind you.

The two journals that I have quoted represent different kinds of non-instrument Churches of Christ. The Firm Foundation stands with those churches that support Herald of Truth and all such cooperative enterprises, while Truth Magazine opposes Herald of Truth, etc. These churches are no longer in fellowship with each other. The Ohio paper charges that the real issue is not a cooperative radio-TV program, but an attitude toward the authority of Scripture, that the Texas paper has surrendered its allegiance to “the silence of Scripture.” After all, where does the Bible say anything about having such an arrangement as Herald of Truth? So, those who support it no longer respect Biblical authority.

The Texas paper on the other hand considers those who oppose what they have, despite the silence of Scripture, as fanatics and hobbyists, perhaps even as troublemakers and factionists. Yet all they are doing is making the same argument that the Texas paper makes against those who have the instrument.

At my side is still another journal. Gospel Tidings out of Fort Worth, Texas and emanating from the non-Sunday School Churches of Christ. Edited by an irenic soul, Larry Branum, it is more concerned for peace and unity than the old controversial issues, which reflects the change taking place among these people. But still they believe the Sunday School to be wrong (which is their right, of course) and they have always argued, like the editors described above, that to promote the Sunday School is to impose upon the silence of Scripture and to challenge the authority of the Bible.

There is still another journal that comes my way that represents still another kind of Church of Christ. It is anti-instrument and anti-Sunday School, but also contends that the Supper should be served in only one container, and so they are called “one cup” churches. While they too are becoming more unity conscience, they believe that those who use more than one cup (does the Bible not say that Jesus took the cup?) do not show proper respect for the authority of the scriptures.

They all say the same thing, and the list could be extended to include the Church of Christ that believes a precise order must be followed in the assembly, as per Acts 2:42, and that segment that insists that only wine should grace the Lord’s table. And on and on. They all say that the real issue is not classes, cups, instruments, grape juice, or what have you, but an attitude toward the authority of Scriptures. Those who have what I object to do not respect the authority of the Bible like I do, and those who object to what I have are antis and fanatics. What I object to is a matter of faith; what they object to is a matter of opinion. That is the party line of all our sects.

The answer to all this sectarian garbage is simple enough: “Accept one another, just as Christ accepted us to the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7). And the first verse of that chapter says that we are to accept each other “but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.”

That is my own posit on exactly. I accept all these brother editors that I have referred to, realizing that we will never agree on such matters. But we don’t have to. But we do have to accept one another, in spite of the differences. Romans 14 would never have been written if Christians had to see everything alike. The apostle plainly says in verse 5: “Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.” How beautifully liberating that is. I don’t have to judge my brother over these matters that seem petty to me. I am only to love and accept him. God will judge him as to the place he gives to his scruples, and especially for the way he treats his brethren who differ with him. “To his own master he stands or falls” (verse 4). Again, how liberating! I do not have to judge my brothers who differ with me. I am to love them, for it is the debt I can never pay (Rom. 13:8).

But we are judging when we say that we are the only ones that respect the authority of the Bible. Unless they see it our way and practice it the way we do we charge that they are placing man’s will above God’s. That is being sectarian.

All these editors believe the basics of Scripture, such as the seven ones of Eph. 4, which the apostle lays down as the foundation for unity. They differ only upon what the Bible says nothing about, its silence, or in areas where differences can be expected. It is upon these that we can be united, if we are not already. We may be like the quarreling married couple that resolved to stop such foolishness when they realized that God had lovingly made them one. We are one in Christ. We only need to cut out our sinful judging of each other over our opinions and deductions.

This means that we can have Churches of Christ that are instrumental and those that are not, those that have Sunday Schools and those that do not, those that support Herald of Truth and those that do not, and so on, and still be a united part of the great Church of God in heaven and on earth.

Can it really be any other way? Has it ever been any other way, even among those congregations in the New Testament? They all respected the authority of the Scriptures, but still they differed. --- the Editor