If you’ve read focuspress.org for any amount of time, you know I am not one given to constant back-patting of ourselves. If anything, I typically go in the other direction in a desire to push us forward and “excel still more.” Still, there are times when it does us good to remember why we do what we do, and that God is pleased when we do right.
As both a minister and a writer it’s a big part of my work to read broadly, both staying up on modern ideas and learning those found in church history. In reading more recent books, it’s struck me just how well we in the churches of Christ have done to side-step some of the pitfalls that the denominational world can struggle to navigate.
Here are three examples that have come up in my recent reading:
We emphasize participation vs. passivity.
As churches who practice congregational singing and Biblical preaching (see below), if you attend there is an expectation you will engage and participate. Each one typically has their songbook open to participate in the worship of song, and their Bible open to follow along with the preaching.
Where worship in song is performed by a band, there is often no expectation that each attendee would join in by singing. You go to take in the worship they put on. I’ve argued before that we could do far better in availing ourselves of “what every joint supplies,” but the emphasis on every one of us coming together in one voice to glorify God (Romans 15:6) is one area in which we do well.
We emphasize worship rather than entertainment.
Closely related to the previous point, we tend to avoid framing worship as entertainment. More and more commonly, worship becomes something to experience rather than something to offer. A great deal of expertise is applied in creating a setting musically and visually to produce a “worship high” in the audience. Rather than coming to pour out a heart already full of praise, adoration, and thanks to God, the expectation is that they come to be filled up.
You can see the issue here – experience puts the human at the center of worship and makes us the intended target of it, rather than placing God at the center and making Him the recipient. Churches of Christ do well to bring the spirit of the psalmists into our worship, with each member “entering His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4).
We emphasize Biblical preaching.
This is not a broad swipe to say “everybody who isn’t among us never opens the Bible,” nor an insistence that every building with “church of Christ” on the door faithfully bases their sermons in the Bible. However, among our fellowship there’s typically an expectation that sermons will be Biblically centered.
Whether by expository, verse-by-verse preaching or lessons filled with B/C/V references (though I recommend the former), most congregations expect their preacher to show them what the Book says and make it the foundation of each week’s lesson. This is often not the case in other groups. Even among themselves many of the denominations decry the commonplace practice of slapping a verse or two onto a feel-good motivational speech.
Our people’s insistence on food from the Bible, along with elderships’ watchful expectation of sound teaching, and preachers trained in the practice of starting with the Bible, leads to an expectation that when you worship with one of our congregations, you’re going to hear what God has to say. We aim to build the lesson around the Bible rather than building Bible verses around the lesson, and for that the churches of Christ should be commended.
There will always be room for improvement, and it’s never a good idea to rest on our laurels and become proud of ourselves. We are merely humble servants, striving to do what is right. At the same time, it’s good to remember that the right is, in fact, right. May we stand firm on that which we do well, and continue to excel still more.
