Christianity Declining

Yesterday I did a post to this blog titled, Young Americans Dumping Religion at an Alarming Rate.  This morning I listened to a sermon by Pastor Trevor Hammack on a similar topic. The title of his sermon is Christianity Declining, and his text is Leviticus 10.

Pastor Hammack starts off his sermon by warning that it will be controversial (it is) and that most people will not agree with everything he has to say (I didn't).  But aside from having some very good things to say, I found it interesting that Pastor Hammack would choose Leviticus 10 for his text. Specifically, Leviticus 10:1-3 says:

"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therin and put incense theron, and offered up strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come neigh unto me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aron held his peace."

I think pastor Hammack picked a good text for this sermon.  People are getting tired of all the gimmicks the church is using to try to draw people in. This is the basic thrust (as I understood it) of Pastor Hammack's message. 

Someone once said: "It can be exalting to belong to a church that is five hundred years behind the times and sublimely indifferent to fashion; it is mortifying to belong to a church that is five minutes behind the times, huffing and puffing to catch up." That is where most churches are today. (See my recent post, The Southern Baptist Convention: A Cauldron of Compromise and Corruption?)

But I was first exposed to this story in Leviticus 10 in a sermon I heard over 30 years ago by Pastor Paul Den Butter. The text for that sermon was John 4:24 ("God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth"), and his topic was True Worship.

In this sermon Pastor Den Butter refers to this passage in Leviticus, and applies it to our worship today. God did not allow the sons of Aron to worship him in any way they please. And he is not pleased with the church today when they try to follow in the sons of Aron's footsteps.

For excerpts from that sermon, see my post, Some Thoughts on True Worship.

Some Thoughts on True Worship

In a recent post I was critical of Contemporary Christian Musician, Carrie Underwood for kissing a 12 year old boy on the lips (and for previously coming out in favor of same sex marriage). You can read this post by clicking on The Brave New World of Contemporary Christian Musicians.

It has been said that any  fool can criticize, and most fools do. What the world needs is not people who stand on a soap box and look down on others, but people who can humbly point to a better way. To that extent I want to offer two things which I think will make our (and now I'm speaking to born again Christians) worship more acceptable to the Lord Jesus.

The first is the book by Dr. Michael Horton, called A Better Way - Rediscovering the Drama of God Centered Worship.

And the second is an excerpt from a sermon I heard over 30 years ago by Rev. Paul Den Butter. The text of his sermon was John 4:24 and Exodus 20:25:

"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." - John 4:24

"And if thou wilt make an alter of stone unto me, thou shalt not make it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it." - Exodus 20:25

I think this sermon was preached around 1980. Anyway, that is around the time I wrote the following excerpts down in my diary:

"...they have to be very careful that they do not make it (an alter of stone) of hewn stone. And they may not use any tool, any hammer or axe or whatever. They may not use any tool to beautify those stones. They must take simply the rock, the unadorned stones.

"'Ah, but then the alter is not nice, Then the alter is not beautiful. Then it is simply a primitive thing.'

"Well, that's what it may be in our estimation, but it's God's will, is it not? Whether it is a primitive thing or not, it is God's will that the alter will be built of rough stones and that no tool will be used.

"'Ya, but those stones are going to be much nicer if you use some chisel, and if you make some ornaments, some adornments on those stones. The alter is much more beautiful and much more serviceable in your worship service.'

"Ah, but the principle is not what I like, not what I think that is nice and beautiful, not what adorns my worship service, but the principle is what God has said!

"Not my taste determines, but God's command. God has the right to determine what it should be like. And this is a principle nearly almost forgotten. It was perfectly understood by our Reformers. They did not look for innovations, They did not look for all sorts of adornments in the church. Why do people today look for all sorts of things that beautify the worship service and make it more attractive? Why do we see vestments in all sorts of colors?

"I'm convinced it is simply to fill the aching void of the absence of reality. When the Church of Christ was most vigorous in its spiritual life, it had the most simple form of worship. When God converted most people, and when God's children were edified in the worship service, and when the Lord was present in the worship services, it may have been in a barn or in an open field, the worship as such was as simple as simple can be.

"But what do we see today? That in direct proportion to the loss of true spiritual life there is an increase in forms and ceremonies. And the forms and ceremonies are meant to fill the vacancies of true spiritual life. And so Satan is using tools to adorn our alters, but in the meantime he is polluting it. He's corrupting the worship.  And men are willing instruments in his hands."

Very strongly recommended reading:

A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship, by Dr. Michael Horton