p. 19 | Behavior in the House of God by CLARENCE SANTEE

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 12, 1910

Behavior in the House of God

By CLARENCE SANTEE

THAT there is a growing tendency on the part of many to regard the house of God with less respect and reverence than formerly, has been remarked many times. But God is as holy now as in ancient days. His name demands the same honor. His people will soon stand in his presence, and be at home in his courts. Surely, then, instead of slackness there should be a more earnest seeking of God for that solemn reverence and faith with which angels come into his presence.

God has not left us untaught in this matter. Paul says: “These things write I unto thee, . . . that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Tim. 3: 14, 15.

While this text refers to more than the behavior of a person in the church building, it evidently embraces this also. In “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 491, we read: “From the sacredness which was attached to the earthly sanctuary, Christians may learn how they should regard the place where the Lord meets with his people. There has been a great change, not for the better, but for the worse, in the habits and customs of the people in reference to religious worship. . . . The reverence which the people had anciently for the sanctuary where they met with God in sacred service, has largely passed away.”

This is how God regards these matters. It is a serious condition. We hear some boast of their liberty and freedom to speak and do as they choose. If they would choose God’s way, it might be a safe guide, but a man’s own way invariably leads downward. From the text quoted above it is plain that God would have order in his church.

Please study the following quotation from the Testimonies on this subject:—

“There should be rules in regard to the time, the place, and the manner of worshiping. . . . When the worshipers enter the place of meeting, they should do so with decorum, passing quietly to their seats. . . . The whispering and laughing and talking which might be without sin in a common business place, should find no sanction in the house where God is worshiped. . . . Let there be no stopping in the aisles to visit or gossip, thus blocking them up so that others can not pass out. . . .

“Parents, elevate the standard of Christianity in the minds of your children; help them to weave Jesus into their experience; teach them to have the highest reverence for the house of God. . . . Brethren, will you not devote a little thought to this subject, and notice how you conduct yourselves in the house of God, and what efforts you are making by precept and example to cultivate reverence in your children? . . . God gave rules of order, perfect and exact, to his ancient people. Has his character changed? Is he not the great and mighty God who rules in the heaven of heavens? . . . Parents should not only teach, but command, their children to enter the sanctuary with sobriety and reverence.”—Id., pages 491-496.

One serious feature that leads to the disrespect shown by many children in the house of God, is found in the statement, “They are too often found in groups away from their parents, who should have charge of them.”

And ministers need to exercise care. “There should be a radical change in this matter all through our churches. Ministers themselves need to elevate their ideas, to have finer susceptibilities in regard to it. It is a feature of the work that has been sadly neglected.”—Id., page 499.

The lack of respect that is so often manifested by both parents and children, as indicated in the above Testimony, produces results even beyond the days of meeting and character building in this world. I will quote another most solemn Testimony:—

“In heaven there is perfect order, perfect obedience, perfect peace and harmony. Those who have had no respect for order or discipline in this life would have no respect for the order which is observed in heaven. They can never be admitted into heaven; for all worthy of an entrance there will love order and respect discipline. . . . When Christ shall come, he will not change the character of any individual.”—Id., Vol. IV, page 429.

When we see a child quiet and orderly in the house of God, choosing a place by his parents, rather than by those of his own age in some back part of the building, we say, “If that child is not led off by later associations, he will be found in the active work of God.” On the other hand, when we see a child loud, violent, and coarse in the sacred place of worship, resenting the interference of church officials, sometimes upheld by parents in the same spirit, seeking out a place where he will be encouraged by others, inexperienced like himself, to disturb and annoy, we can but say, from the light God has given, “If that child is not changed, made over new, as surely as the message came to Eli that his sons were lost beyond pardon, so surely the message must come to such parents that the order of heaven can never be marred with such as these.”

Some parents may be tempted to feel that they have delayed too long in taking up the burden, but let them remember that God’s resources are infinite; that the love of his heart for the wayward child, be it son or daughter, is boundless; and that abiding faith will accomplish all things.

“All things are possible to him that believeth.” CLARENCE SANTEE.