Controversial Wednesdays – Not Following Scripture
Ben Arment has the infamous “Wednesday Morning Run-down”.
Stuff Christians Like has “Serious Wednesdays“.
In light of our latest Ellen posts, I’m thinking BeDeviant needs “Controversial Wednesdays”.
I’m just warning you: This could be a potential barn-burner. A friend suggested this question to me the other day and I loved it. I pose to you what he posed to me:
In what ways are churches NOT following Scripture?
The suggestion he gave was church elders. I’m extrapolating on his suggestion, but the classifications for who an elder should be is pretty stringent:
- Beyond reproach.
- Faithful in marriage.
- Not violent or a heavy drinker.
- Likes having people over to visit.
There are more, but chances are you can already see where some of your elders (or deacons or council) don’t fit the bill.
So let’s tackle this head on:
- Where do you see churches not following the commands of Scripture?
- What is a helpful suggestion to “correct the course”?
Ready? Go. Let us know in the comments.
Well, I think a big spot is the Acts 2 church, or at least churches that claim to follow the Acts 2 model.
Most churches that say that are not following this model in reality, but they like how it sounds and what it looks like.
I can become pretty cynical about all of this, so I will stop with that comment.
What about 1 Corinthians 14 on orderly worship. Paul makes it clear that we are all to bring something to worship, yet worship has primarily become the focus of one speaker and/or one worship leader?
Well, as a Church of God member, we don't even have Elders, which I believe is an extreme weakness in our denomination. We have a council, but they only “advise” the pastor, and have no real authority. He retains absolute power at the local level, which is really too much for one guy, no matter how noble.
Passing the offering plate – not Biblical, but probably not wrong or sinful either. I just hate it because it goes against the “don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Jesus' words) principle.
Whenever I read about communion in the Bible I always wonder how we came up with the way we do it today. In the Bible it sounds like a shared meal, none of this bits of cracker and thimbles of grape juice passed around the sanctuary.
[This coming from a Baptist-turned-Episcopalian who now takes bread and wine on a weekly basis.]
Good. Good eye. How do we do this different? Or …. do we?
It seems we have taken a sacred, corporate meal (Seder) and stripped it down in order to be efficient and able to serve in large quantities. Funny though, that it was designed (and commanded) to be done in the home, with the head of that household leading the sacraments. Of course, now we have turned it into a part of our programming where the preacher leads it and we can bang it out in under 5 minutes. Just like so many other elements of our services, the focal point is one person, everyone else consumers or observes. Note: I have nothing agaisnt churches who celebrate communion in their corporate gatherings – but I would at least like to see the Seder taught…
You ask the RIGHT questions.. (That is, if you're striving to be a theological gadfly…) Seems to me that you're friendly with the God Who Disturbs… (Eagle's nests, swords in families, etc.) Thanks & keep it up!
Assigned seating within the sanctuary.
“This section reserved for parents with children.”
Baloney. Jesus loves children. Why sequester them away from others?
We NEED to isolate the children – they can bother people with their laughing, crying and adorableness
And what's all this about caging the drummer?
I mean really, people.
I say, “Free the drummer!”
“Free the drummer,” I say.
We NEED to isolate the children – they can bother people with their laughing, crying and adorableness
And what's all this about caging the drummer?
I mean really, people.
I say, “Free the drummer!”
“Free the drummer,” I say.