A Christian Service or a Show—Which?
By Editor
In one of the daily papers in a certain locality there appears the following advertisement, supposed to be of a Christian service in a Christian meeting-house: "GREAT ILLUSTRATED PROGRAM TO-NIGHT
"WHERE?
"At the — Church, of Course.
"Congregational singing from a hymnal twenty feet square. Two thousand feet of moving pictures on 'The Holy City' (the American Passion Play). Illustrated lecture, 'Life and Times in Sunny Australia,' by ———, just arrived from Australia. Have you heard it said, 'Folks don't go to church now as in the good old times'? Then follow the crowd this very night to 'the Friendly Church.' Disillusionment awaits you."
The foregoing matter was duly and strikingly displayed so as to catch the eye. And we will ask the reader to strike out the few words referring to "church," and see if the advertisement might not seem to be of just an ordinary entertainment. The moving pictures of "The Holy City," to be sure, seem at first glance to leave the impression that you are going to have something distinctively religious. But when you get the parenthetical statement that it is "the American Passion Play," then you are led to ask, Is the performance to be religious, or is it to be semi-theatrical? Passing the moving picture section of the program, what do we find that pertains to a church service on a Sunday night in an "illustrated lecture" on "Life and Times in Sunny Australia"? This would certainly be a perfectly appropriate topic for a lecture; but why call it a part of a religious service on the particular night of the week when so many people go to the church for divine worship? In "the good old times" that the advertisement speaks about, the people went to church to hear the gospel preached, and crowds waited upon the soul-cheering, even tho it was a heart-searching message. And there are thousands of people to-day who are longing to hear the same message of salvation that pours from the sacred Book when it is allowed to tell the story of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men. How sad it is to call men to the house that has been dedicated to the service of God, to listen to a program such as is outlined in the foregoing, and try to have them think they are worshiping the great Jehovah! Good music has its place, and lectures on Australia, or any other country, are highly appropriate; but to the soul who may have chanced to step into that church on that particular night with the hope of hearing the story of salvation through Christ, the whole service must have been very disappointing. Does not the advertisement of that church service show that we have reached a condition in society in which men are seeking mere pleasure and entertainment more than the real service of righteousness? To be sure, there are those now, as has ever been the case, who are truly seeking after God, and who find more pleasure in the study of His Word than in anything else. But ordinary preaching no longer attracts the crowds. The crowds must have excitement and "entertainment." And yet the people in general seem to desire a semblance of religion of some kind. They are not willing to have it appear that they are irreligious, hence entertainments that are semi-theatrical, or of the character of secular lectures, are brought into the church to draw the crowds, and many of the people have led themselves to believe that such is the divine worship of Jehovah. We commend the following scripture, in this connection, to the careful consideration of the reader, and we quote from the "Twentieth Century New Testament" because of its modern language and forceful way of telling the story: "Be sure of this, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be selfish, mercenary, boastful, haughty, and blasphemous. They will be disobedient to their parents. They will be ungrateful, impure, incapable of affection, merciless, slanderous, wanting in self-control, brutal, careless of the right, treacherous, reckless, and puffed up with pride. They will love pleasure more than they love God; and while they retain the outward form of religion, they will refuse to allow it to influence them. . . . Their minds are corrupted, and, as regards the faith, they are utterly unsatisfactory. . . . You know what persecutions I went through; and yet the Lord brought me safe out of them all! Yes, and all those who aim at living a religious and Christian life will have to undergo persecution; while wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves. But you, Timothy, must stand by what you have learned and accepted as true. . . .
"I solemnly charge you, in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus, who will one day judge the living and the dead—I charge you by His coming and by His kingdom: Proclaim the message, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, encourage, always willing to make allowances and to impart instruction. For a time will come when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will follow their own wishes, and procure themselves a crowd of teachers, in their itching for novelty. They will turn a deaf ear to the truth, and give their attention to legends instead. But you, Timothy, must always be temperate, Face hardships; do the work of a missionary; discharge all the duties of your office." 2 Timothy 3; 4:1-5.
The foregoing is a scripture that it is well to study closely. It matters not what the version we read, the story is the same. The text tells of those who retain the outward form of religion, but who refuse to allow it to influence their lives; and as regards the faith, they are utterly unsatisfactory. It says they will not tolerate sound teaching, but they follow their own wishes, and procure themselves a crowd of teachers, in their itching for novelty; they give attention to legends rather than to the truth itself. Now if we believe the Bible, we must acknowledge that the Lord caused the foregoing text to be written by inspiration nearly two thousand years ago. And if we will observe the first statement made in it, we will see that the conditions described are to exist in the last days. And is it not truly marvelous how accurately the conditions in this time fit into what the text predicts for the "last days"? Of course, when people think they are doing some smart thing, when they are getting crowds to their church, and regard it as a great personal achievement rather than a manifestation of the power of God, it is not to be expected that they will take seriously the foregoing warning from Timothy. To listen carefully to what that scripture says, and to give heed to it, would show the wrong of following any such theatrical methods to get people to come to the place that is supposed to be a house of worship. And when any one is intoxicated with the idea that he is having brilliant success, he hates to think that he is making a failure, and at the same time is fulfilling divine prophecy by exhibiting his abilities for catering to those who are "itching for novelty." Concerning the gospel, God's Word says: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. 1:16. Observe that the text says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The very gospel itself is power. And if a minister or a church has the gospel, that minister or that church will have power. And power is able to draw as no fantastic methods can. For the individual who is drawn by the power of the gospel itself will come again and again, and does not need to have some new and exciting thing continually studied up to draw him to the house of God. Again, we have this promise: "Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8. God promises His Spirit, and His Spirit brings power, and that power is the power of God unto salvation. Then if we are seeking to save souls, we will seek for the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we may offer men the gospel that brings salvation. We may not always have the big crowd, but we will have those who are seeking to know God and to have eternal life. But let us not make the mistake of deceiving ourselves into believing that we are serving God by seeking out inventions to draw those who are "itching for novelty." God's Word should be closely heeded, for it tells the story of this time just as it is. T.