Listen Carefully to God's Voice

The religious creeds of men have proved to be divisive and contrary to Jesus' desire that his followers be united (John 17:21). The unity of believers is only possible by rejecting the religious creeds and traditions of men and joining upon the clear teaching of Scripture. Heirs of the Restoration Movement continue to call for the abandonment of creeds and a return to simple New Testament teaching. The plea "speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where it is silent" has been heralded as the way to unity.

Slogans can, however, become creedal statements. Religious creeds divide, and apparently so do slogans. Churches of Christ have been ravaged with division even though the call is for unity. The statement "speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where it is silent" has been the center of the controversy of how one is to interpret the silence of the Scriptures. If the Bible is silent on a matter, does that leave Christians free to use judgment on the matter or does it prohibit any action at all? Is silence permissive or prohibitive? Traditionally many within Churches of Christ have taken the position that silence prohibits action. Yet this has proven inconsistent and unrealistic. The claim that we must strictly follow the "pattern" in the New Testament would prohibit the use of airplanes to preach the gospel, the use of the Internet, and even word processors to write sermons. Usually, these practices are justified with the term "expediency." Yet this term is often used in a subjective way that is inconsistent and misleading.

It seems to me all the talk about "silence of the Scriptures" and "speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where it is silent" has created a confusing religious environment among us that only results in frustration and division. Surely God's word is simple to understand and does not require intricate theological training in hermeneutical methodology. God sent his word so that everyone can understand the truth from prince to peasant (John 8:31-32). I want to present a more simplistic approach to describing the way God authorizes religious action.

When God speaks, he says what he means to say and expect us to take it seriously. Early in his Word, God continually expresses the importance to "listen carefully" to what he has spoken and commanded (Deut. 5:1; 12:1; 15:5; 17:19; 19:9; 28:13; 32:46). In the Christian age, we are instructed to listen carefully to the instructions given through Jesus Christ (Mark 9:7). We must take the Word of God seriously as being the instructions that will guide us in all matters of religious faith and practice (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

God says what he intends to say. In our faith we must operate by listening to the voice of God recorded in the pages of Scripture. God gives the level of specificity to his instructions that he intends to give. When God has been specific about something we are to do, then every other item of the same category is excluded. For instance, it can be established that the cumulative teaching of God directs that the correct method of New Testament baptism is immersion, therefore all other methods of baptism are excluded (sprinkling, pouring, etc.). The fact the the Bible is "silent" about baptism by sprinkling is really irrelevant. God was specific about what he desired. It really has nothing to do with silence; it has everything to do with the specificity of the command.

Sometimes, however, God's commands are only general in nature and he does not give specifics. When God has not been specific about a matter, then he leaves it up to our judgment and option in carrying it out. For example, God has instructed that Christians assemble together for worship (cf. 1 Cor. 11). Yet, a survey of New Testament teaching demonstrates that God has not been specific as to the location of the assembly. Therefore the decision as to where to meet is left up to the decision of Christians today (rented hall, owning a building, in a personal dwelling, etc). There are many areas in our faith that God has left up to our individual judgments or the discretion of the leadership of churches. Too much division has occurred among us when some people force their opinions and methods upon others as though theirs is the "only Scriptural way."

Too often I hear Christians say that we cannot do a certain thing in the church because "we don't have any example of that in the New Testament." Well, there are lots of things we do not have examples of that we constantly use in the church today (telephones, refrigerators, water fountains, electricity, etc.). It really is not a question of whether or not you have an "example" of something. The question is "what has God said?" We must carefully examine the total collection of God's instructions in his word and determine how specific he has been about something. If he has given specific instruction, we cannot vary from that. But if he has given general instruction, then the methods of obeying that instruction is up to our judgment and opinions.

The problem that often occurs is that some attempt to assemble verses together in such a way to make a pattern of religious methodology where God has not been specific. Thus, some have attempted to assign specificity to God's instructions where he has been general. Division occurs when these brethren force their twisted interpretations (opinions) upon others as though they were matters of faith and fellowship. Let us be very careful to listen to God's voice in Scripture. May we all strive to handle God's word correctly (2 Tim. 2:15) and determine where He has been specific and where he has left methods up to our own judgments.

Will You Follow the Evidence?

For centuries people believed that Aristotle was correct when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he was not wrong.

Anyone could have easily taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height and see if the heavier object landed first. But no one conducted this experiment until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle’s death.
In 1589, Galileo summoned the most educated professors to the base of the Tower of Pisa. From the top of the tower, Galileo pushed off a 10 pound and a 1 pound weight. Both of the objects landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied their own eyesight. They continued to say that Aristotle was right.
In matters of your personal faith, do you follow the evidence of Scripture or do you blindly accept what you have always been taught? Do you simply follow the religious traditions of what the church has always done? Do you blindly accept what preachers and church leaders of the past proclaimed? Or are you willing to examine the evidence and go wherever it takes you? As Christians, we must be willing to reexamine our beliefs and make sure they pass the test of Scriptural evidence. “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Cor. 13:5).

A Plea for Consistency

I am currently taking a graduate class called "Contextualization." In this class we have discussed how that in evangelism sometimes former beliefs of a convert are never really rejected, but instead religious beliefs are blended together. What often happens in far eastern countries is that "converts" to Christianity end up accepting Jesus but simply adding him to their firm beliefs in other gods also. This blending together of beliefs is called "syncretism" and we see it taking place in our country today in the form of religious "pluralism." But before we point fingers at how people in other countries "blend" beliefs together, perhaps we should examine ourselves. I am amazed at how often I perceive that we in the churches of Christ take pride in "restoring the first century church" when many of our methods and practices have simply been adopted from denominationalism. For example, I have literally heard people say that we should always offer an invitation at the close of the sermon because it is Scriptural. Yet, in reality there is no biblical instruction about offering an invitation. This is simply our tradition. It seems likely to me that our tradition of offering an invitation following a sermon likely came from the denominational concept of an "alter call." There are traditionalists among us who claim that offering the invitation is the "Scriptural" thing to do (and you are "liberal" if you do not), when in reality we simply adopted it from the denominations. Yet, many of these same individuals claim that churches that raise hands in prayer are "trying to be like the denominations" when in reality we do have Scriptural instruction to do this very thing (read 1 Tim. 2:8)! What is my point? I simply desire that we study our Bibles and be consistent in our convictions!