“A Piece of My Mind”
February 2013 Newsletter from Donald Shoemaker
Advancing Christian Faith and Values,
Defending Religious Liberty for All,

Supporting Civility and the Common Good

through Preaching, Teaching, Writing, Activism and
Reasoned Conversations

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

Bible Insight: “Contemporary Worship” – “Contemporary”, yes, but is it “Worship”?

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24, a text that, among other things, should make us cautious about external show in worship)

1 Corinthians 14:26 is a foundational scripture for worship: “When you come together [‘sunerchomai’ – a technical term for the church gathering), …all [including singing] must be done for the strengthening of the church.”

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing each other with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs…” (Colossians 3:16—my rather literal translation of it)

First, let’s agree and admit: “God’s worship tastes are broader than yours or mine.” So what I like or what I prefer is not the issue. The issues are:
• Is our worship acceptable to God—the kind of worship he seeks?
• Is it spiritually strengthening to the congregation?
• If the occasion is evangelistic, is the music the best for the occasion?
• Does it make the church truly an engaged, worshipping body?
• Does it fulfill biblical teaching and commands? And (in matters not addressed in the Bible) does it fulfill biblical principles?

Here are five problems I have with some of the “contemporary worship” I observe (and I do benefit from much of it):

1. Platform Performance and a Spectator Audience rather than a Participating Congregation led by the Worship Team

Does the team in front truly lead the people in worshipping God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)? Or does it perform before them? (Does the show go right on even if watchers are not participating?)

A 20-something couple attended a contemporary worship service and found the audience standing for a long song time but most were noticeably not singing. Worse, this couple had taken a young, non-Christian friend to this service, and she was quite puzzled. “Why do they stand so long? Why aren’t they singing?” (The couple wrote me about their experience.)

This may be “contemporary”, but “worship” it ain’t! Likewise, “leading worship” is more than coaxing the audience to clap their hands, etc., along the lines of some older worship styles. Good worship leading is an art. It creates a “symbiotic” situation, where leaders and congregation are ushered freely and together into the spirituality of the worship experience.

 
2. Use of Technology and Special Effects that attract attention to themselves rather than to Jesus (or even hinder attraction to Jesus)

I tried to worship last year at a gathering that displayed, in my opinion, many distracting special effects—especially some little spotlight nuisances that sent their beams wandering through the audience during songs. How does this build the spirituality of the song time? What are we trying to prove?

Technology (lighting, amplification, projections, special effects) is “neutral”, neither commanded nor forbidden in the Bible. The use of technology therefore must be judged by its positive or negative effect.

The reformer John Calvin’s advice is helpful when considering things added to the worship of God that are not specified in the Bible. He speaks against “useless elegance and fruitless extravagance” and favors a decorum that fits “the sacred mysteries” and is “appropriate adornment” for the exercise of devotion. “Ceremonies…ought to lead us straight to Christ” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 10, Section 29). So we ask, “Does this particular use of technology lead us straight to Christ or not? Or does it even distract us from Christ?”

3. Selection of Songs and Style that doesn’t fit the context (the people who are there and the purpose of the gathering)

As a pastor for 44 years, I’ve learned the art of accepting people “where they are” and leading them from there to “where they ought to be”. In music, this includes broadening their tastes and appreciation, and doing so with a sensitive spirit.

This requires “gradualism”, building upon the ground they stand on, slowly expanding their grasp of music that will then build them up spiritually. You know how a cat acts when you take him suddenly from familiar surroundings to a strange place? You better be wearing gloves! We wouldn’t expect old-time gospel songs to be effective at a gathering of unchurched youth. Likewise, if a praise team is before an older crowd or a generationally mixed crowd and hits them with a style that narrowly fits a particular youthful stratum, then broader musical appreciation and spiritual growth are aborted.

And remember, the elderly folk aren’t into standing for 20+ minutes!

4. “Sloppy Agape” and the “Slurpization of God”

Some contemporary songs convey an erotic (romantic, but not in the negative sense of “eroticism”) rather than an agapic view of love (1 Corinthians 13). The agape love of God reaches down to us in our distress and does what is needed (John 3:16). It motivates us to agapic love for others (1 John 4:11). It’s not about getting the feeling that God has feelings of love for us.

I attended a church’s song service last year where the lyrics of one popular song said Heaven will come “like a sloppy wet kiss”! No wonder some talk of men (males) not caring for modern worship. Women either.

All worship leaders should study the transcendence, holiness and majesty of God and ponder their practical application to worship.

5. Weak or Wrong Teaching in the Song Lyrics

Singing is a time to teach and admonish with the truth (Colossians 3:16).

I’m delighted to see more contemporary songs focusing on our social duties as Christians. This has been a blind spot in contemporary music. “God of The City” is a top example of this development (O that it were more singable!).

But some songs go beyond this with themes and lyrics that are “post-millennial” (Jesus will return after the church establishes his kingdom on earth). Few Christians I know really believe this, but the songs they sometimes sing convey it anyhow. (Let it be said that the old “gospel songs” were sometimes doctrinally weak or wrong as well.)

I close with the powerful words of the relevant song, “Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above” by Johann J. Schutz (1675):

Thus all my toilsome way along I sing aloud Thy praises,
That men may hear the grateful song my voice unwearied raises.
Be joyful in the Lord, my heart. Both soul and body bear your part.
To God all praise and glory!

Religious Liberty Vigilance

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
– 1st Amendment (Our “First Freedom” in the Bill of Rights)

PROCLAMATION
honoring
Religious Freedom Day 2013

WHEREAS our nation’s founders recognized the importance of religious freedom and secured this liberty in the words of the First Amendment, declaring that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” and

WHEREAS the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, our country’s first legal safeguard for religious liberty, was adopted on January 16, 1786, and each year since 1994, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation on the importance of religious liberty recognizing, “our government did not create this liberty, but it cannot be too vigilant in securing its blessings;” and

WHEREAS the free exercise of religion has undergirded the social efforts of many Americans, notably Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday on January 15th we commemorate each year; and

WHEREAS the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” including the right “to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”; and

WHEREAS our country has embraced a tradition of religious liberty that has prevented religious domination, conflict and persecution and nurtured an environment where religion has flourished and where people have been left free to choose which faith they shall follow or none at all;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Bob Foster, Mayor of Long Beach along with Gerrie Schipske, Councilwoman of the 5th District, on behalf of the City of Long Beach do hereby declare January 16, 2013 to be “Religious Freedom Day” in our community. We encourage city government, community groups, schools and places of worship to reaffirm their devotion to the principles of religious freedom and educate and reflect on the importance of religious liberty so it may continue secure as part of our nation’s fabric. We also encourage citizens and government to be mindful of the principles of religious liberty in their decisions, attitudes, and actions.

Dated: January 16, 2013

[Adapted from a text prepared by Donald Shoemaker]

Upcoming Ministries

February 7 – Participate in a presentation on professional responses to the Salon Meritage incident (Oct. 12, 2011) for the Chaplain Corp of the Los Angeles Police Department

February 13 – Lead Ash Wednesday service of prayer, song, message and Communion at Grace Community Church of Seal Beach (7:00 p.m.)

Good News from Grace
www.gracesealbeach.org

Steve Williams was installed as the new senior pastor of Grace Community Church of Seal Beach on January 13.

An Ash Wednesday service, devoted to song, repentant prayer, and Communion, will be held at the church February 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Message of the Month – “Roe v. Wade at 40”
[slightly expanded from the Seal Beach/Los Alamitos Patch, Jan. 22, 2013]

“You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). For this scripture and other reasons I joined the “Right to Life” movement on January 22, 1973, the day “Roe v. Wade” was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. As Roe v. Wade reaches its 40-year mark, I want to make three observations about this landmark decision.

First, the court’s Roe v. Wade decision was far more expansive than necessary to decide the case before it. It gave unlimited right to an abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy and allowed limits during the second trimester only as were “reasonably related to maternal health”. For the third trimester, the court noted “the potentiality of human life” (the unborn) and said states could regulate or ban abortion at this stage except if maternal “health” (broadly understood) was at risk.

Roe v. Wade grounded abortion rights on a right to privacy that it found in the “penumbra” (we might say, “surrounding glow”) of the Constitution rather than in the words of the Constitution itself.

Thus the activist court “legislated” (made law) rather than “judged” law. Justice Rehnquist in dissent reminded the court it should never “formulate a rule of constitutional law broader than is required by the precise facts to which it is to be applied” (www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZD.html).

Second, public opinion has never been in accord with Roe v. Wade and is even less so now than in 1973. It also should fairly be said that public opinion doesn’t support the “Right to Life” side in all details either. Here are some samples of recent Gallup opinion polls (www.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx).

• Today 50% say they are “pro-life” compared to 33% in 1996. In 1996, 56% claimed to be “pro-choice” and today that number is 41%.
• 71% support requiring parental notification if the woman is under 18.
• 62% support legal abortion during the first three months of pregnancy, but 71% oppose it during second three months and 86% in the last three months.
• Still, 52% do not want to see the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade.

If we survey all the questions in the polls, we see most Americans are against most abortions and do not favor either an outright ban on abortions nor unqualified access to abortions.

Third, a new wrinkle has been added by the “contraception mandate” in what is popularly called “Obamacare”. Now the issue of religious liberty (the “free exercise” of religion guaranteed in the First Amendment) has been raised. In other words, the debate moves from what people should be free to do to what people and institutions with religion-based convictions can be forced to do.

“Obamacare” provides a very narrow and inadequate exemption for “houses of worship” but plans to force religious institutions (such as Christian colleges) to cover free access to contraception including, as feared by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “drugs which can attack a developing unborn child before and after implantation in the mother’s womb” (www.usccb.org/news/2011/11-154.cfm). This major debate will certainly go to the Supreme Court.

The current administration is no friend of religious liberty in my opinion. Ironically, President Obama’s 2013 “Religious Freedom Day” proclamation said, “As we observe [on January 16] Religious Freedom Day…let us honor it by forever upholding our right to exercise our beliefs free from prejudice or persecution” (www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/16/presidential-proclamation-religious-freedom-day).

Yes, Mr. President, let’s do that even if exercising religious liberty conflicts with your plans for expansive government control in matters previously thought to be better left to the consciences of individuals and the convictions of religious institutions.

Donald P. Shoemaker is Pastor Emeritus of Grace Community Church of Seal Beach. In 1980 he served as General Chairman of the National Right to Life Convention at the Anaheim Convention Center.

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

2012 was a year full of activity, but I did get some choice reading done:

The War of 1812 by Donald R. Hickey (200th anniversary)

The Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission by Donald G. Bloesch (spiritual nourishment; needed message)

The Infancy Narratives , vol. 3 of Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI (uplifting Christmas season reading; good set)

Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis by James L. Swanson (“prep” for the Lincoln movie)

Still the Best Hope (why American values must prevail over Leftism and Islamism) by Dennis Prager (highly recommended)

Bonhoeffer (faithful Christian martyr) by Eric Metaxas

 

“Christmas a Time for Tears” – Bible Insight

A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.
– Matthew 2:18 NIV (quoting Jeremiah 31:15)

Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, died giving birth to her second son, Benjamin. “So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb” (Genesis 35:19 ­20).

Rachel, who gave her life for her child, becomes the “weeping mother” in the Book of Jeremiah centuries later as the children of Israel pass her grave bound for captivity in Babylon. Both Jewish and Christian tradition sees Rachel weeping for generations of Israelites killed or taken captive.

Herod the Great was king when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. About the same time he revealed his paranoia and treachery by killing his own three sons. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Herod tried to trick the Magi (“Wise Men”) into revealing Jesus’ location so he too could come to “worship him” (really, to kill him).

An angelic dream to the Magi thwarted this, and in a rage (and to take no chances that this child might live) Herod ordered that all boys ages two and under in the region of Bethlehem be killed. Skeptics doubt this story, but it is “vintage Herod” and the number of innocent children killed in this horror was likely small by “massacre” standards.

But Herod’s treachery against his intended victim was thwarted once again by an angelic dream, this time to Joseph, who was told to take Mary and Jesus quickly to Egypt. Matthew sees in Herod’s murderous treachery the words of Jeremiah about Rachel’s tears brought to a new level, “fulfilled” at Bethlehem.

This Christmas season the story rose again to a new and barbaric level. Rachel is ever the “weeping mother” for innocent children violently killed.

Rachel weeps today over the innocents killed in Newtown, Connecticut. In her weeping we see the sorrow of God.

We weep with Rachel. We pray for the sorrowing—especially the families and first responders. We pray and work for solutions (not for “understanding”, for there is none to be had).

We have elected leaders to the sacred trust of ensuring “domestic tranquility”. We ask them to lay aside prejudice, favoritism and bias and strive for remedies—preventions that might work as much as possible in a very imperfect world where terrible evil still mars the Christmas message. Yet thereby this very evil reminds us how important that message still is.

 

“Prophets are Good for Business”

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18 NIV)

“If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit must pay for the loss” (example of the principles of liability and restitution, Exodus 21:33)

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way…” (Jesus teaches on settling matters without litigation, Matthew 5:25)

King Rehoboam “answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, ‘My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier’.” (1 Kings 12:13 ­14). Way to go, Rehoboam!

Many of us remember George McGovern, who died in 2012 at 90, as an unapologetic liberal and the antiwar candidate trounced by Richard Nixon in 1972. His acceptance speech at the Democratic convention (“Come Home, America!”), delivered in the middle of the night due to poor convention planning, seemed preachy and self ­righteous. I got a more balanced view of this man reading Stephen Ambrose’s book The Wild Blue (2001) on McGovern’s bravery piloting B ­ 24’s in World War II.

After his death an article he wrote in 1993 about a failed business venture, an inn and convention facility, got renewed attention. (www.inc.com/magazine/19931201/3809.html)

He speaks of two hard ­ learned lessons.

First, “America has become the most litigious society in the world.” This trend “wars against a congenial and humane way of life. We begin to see one another not as compatriots, neighbors, and fellow citizens but as potential plaintiffs and defendants. If we don’t stop suing one another for every possible misfortune or alleged negligence, we are going to undermine both the health of our economy and the quality of our society.”

Second, “legislators and government regulators must more carefully consider the economic and management burdens we have been imposing on U.S. business.”

“I’m for protecting the health and well-being of both workers and consumers. I’m for a clean environment and economic justice. But I’m convinced we can pursue those worthy goals and still cut down vastly on the incredible paperwork, the complicated tax forms, the number of minute regulations, and the seemingly endless reporting requirements that afflict American business.”

McGovern should have been a businessman before becoming a legislator. Perhaps all legislators should work in the private sector first.

“I would ask a lot of questions before I voted for any more burdens on the thousands of struggling businesses across the nation. For example, I would ask whether specific legislation exacts a managerial price exceeding any overall benefit it might produce. What are the real economic and social gains of the legislation when compared with the costs and competitive handicaps it imposes on businesspeople?”

Both of these lessons learned take us back to biblical values. As we “love our neighbor as ourselves” we work to resolve issues as much as possible in ways that build human harmony rather than create adversarial situations.

And government—a lesson the young King Rehoboam didn’t learn— needs to be responsive to the people and avoid being a drain on their productivity and resources.

 

Religious Liberty Vigilance – “Roe V. Wade” at 40
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… “
– 1st Amendment (Our “First Freedom” in the Bill of Rights)

January 22, 2013 marks the 40 th anniversary of “Roe v. Wade.”

One defense of “Roe v. Wade” is that, if government restricts abortion, it is “establishing religion” by accepting what a particular religion teaches about when life begins.

But I learned life begins at conception from my secular high school biology class. I learned of pre ­ natal human life from secular sources. I was uneasy about abortion before even considering what the Bible might say.

In reality, every view about the value and meaning of “human life” involves non-scientific, religious or otherwise metaphysical assumptions. Even the views that life beings at birth or that human life is reckoned to being at age two (yes, age two!) involve non ­scientific judgments.

Keeping religious voices silent on the topic of abortion is wrong from both constitutional and societal standpoints. People with biblically ­ formed consciences and a sense of social duty should never be intimidated by the efforts to shut their views up within stained glass walls.

See this Website from the U.S. National Library of Medicine for an objective perspective: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002398.htm

 

Upcoming Ministries

January 8 – Lead discussion on the church’s response to undocumented immigrants—S. Cal/Ariz. District of Grace Brethren Ministers at Bellflower Brethren Church (10:00 a.m.)

February 7 – Participate in a presentation on professional responses to the Salon Meritage incident (Oct. 12, 2011) for the Chaplain Corp of the Los Angeles Police Department

 

Good News from Grace
www.gracesealbeach.org

By a solid vote on December 9, the members of Grace Community Church of Seal Beach approved Steve Williams as the church’s next Senior Pastor. (At Grace, the “senior pastor” role is the only pastoral position that requires a vote by the congregation, and only at the time of hiring.)

Steve has served in pastoral roles at the church for 20 years and, with Associate Pastor Bob Wriedt, will lead the church well for years to come.

 

Message of the Month

I’ve seen a lot of fads come and go over 45 years of pastoral ministry.

Perhaps one of the worst, and the longest lasting, has been the “Church Growth Movement.” One starting point was Fuller Seminary in the School of World Missions. It captured the attention of pastors and lay leaders and built mega-churches—the “success” of which becomes the gold standard for judging ministries everywhere else.

Expository Bible teaching was replaced by motivational, “felt need” sermons. Sociological studies replaced Kingdom priorities in setting the church’s agenda. Marketing principles replaced biblical passions. Big ­ vision challengers replaced caring pastors. The pastor shouldn’t speak on controversial topics because this isn’t “seeker ­ friendly.”

Worship services were redesigned to draw the crowd. In so doing, they were stripped of many things distinctively Christian (like the reading of Scripture and intercessory prayer and symbolism) to be “non ­ threatening” to the “seeker.”

It would drive good pastors from the ministry wherever it gained dominance—pastors committed to the Word and to being good shepherds of the sheep. In one book, the author distinguished between two pastoral styles and how the church should move to the style that fits Church Growth. It even taught how to replace the “inferior” style pastor with a better one. In my opinion, the “inferior” pastor was the kind the Bible recommends and the “better” style is rejected in scripture.

As is usually the case, the church needed to hear some things the Church Growth Movement was saying. Certainly we ought to know our community and how to communicate with it and be sensitive to those who check us out (that’s simply called “showing hospitality”). Certainly some old, corny practices need to stop. But buying into the movement is something else.

A few voices spoke against this movement: H. B. London of Focus on the Family and Os Guinness ( Dining with the Devil ), among others.

One strong voice has been Donald G. Bloesch ( The Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission ).

“The dire need is for a faithful church rather than a successful church, a church under the cross rather than a church that has accommodated to the culture.”

“Many in the church growth movement believe that sociological understanding of those in the pew is as important to the success of the gospel as is the biblical truth which is proclaimed. As a result, theological convictions are frequently divorced from the work of the ministry. The marketing orientation in many churches takes this even further, erasing the distinction between the biblical Word and the world, robbing Christ’s cross of its offense, and reducing Christian faith to the principles and methods which bring success to secular corporations.”

A Joyous and Bountiful New Year to All!

www.donaldshoemakerministries.com

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