“Not All Progress Is Good”

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Could someone please explain to me their viewpoint on the progressive nature of the church?  Is it okay to diminish standards (i.e. dress codes, song selections, fellowship gatherings that have nothing to do with Jesus, etc.) in the church to bring people to the church?  Shouldn't Jesus be enough?

Sincerely,
Old-Fashioned

Dear Old-Fashioned,

The culture of the day has always affected the church, for good or ill.  The church can adapt to the culture as long as those adaptations don’t compromise the pattern of the Scriptures.  There are only certain things the church can do as worship (read “Order of Operations” for details), and there are only certain things the church can participate in (read “Down With Denominationalism” for details).  Within that general pattern laid out for the church, we have the freedom to decide the details.  For example, the church is commanded to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col 3:16), but we have the freedom to decide which specific songs are sung.  The church has general authority to sing, and the specifics are up to us.  Whenever God gives the church a general command, we have the freedom to use wisdom with the details.  However, when God gives a specific command, we don’t have the right to deviate from that pattern.  We aren’t allowed to add or subtract from God’s Word (Rev 22:18-19).

All of this leads us to our final point; some cultural changes in the church are perfectly fine, but other cultural changes are a deviation from the Lord’s pattern.  There is nothing wrong with a church attempting to meet the needs of the society it is in (1 Cor 9:20-22), but it is wrong for a church to be swept away by the tides of society and go beyond what God has written (1 Cor 4:6).

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