As I mentioned in the last post on this topic, 95% of the Churches of Christ would not have treated the reader so severely. However, I think this sort of conduct is going to become more common — not less. After all, their behavior is logical, given the false assumptions they start with — and lots of Churches of Christ share their starting assumptions. They just aren’t as ruthlessly logical in carrying them out.
You see, it all goes back to the ridiculous notion that violating a silence of scripture damns. I mean, we come up with some very questionable “logic” to conclude that instrumental music (or fellowship halls or church buses) are somehow sinful, and then we just leap to the conclusion that the sin necessarily damns, as though all sin damns. It’s absurd. And yet it’s what a lot of Churches of Christ teach. At least as to instrumental music, it’s the editorial position of every theological print periodical we have — other than the Restoration Quarterly. Continue reading
If you read the literature on reaching Postmodern people and young people, you’ll find a huge emphasis on “authenticity” in our worship. If you read older material on worship, you’ll find that “authenticity” is not a new concept. It’s just begun to receive a much greater emphasis because those outside the church have come to value authenticity so very much.
