'Worship of Freedom' - an abuse of Freedom of Worship

Freedom of worship, like freedom of religion is one of the crowning acheivements of any civilization.  The United States of America - after 250 years - rightly prides itself in this area.   Some Christians, however, perhaps carried away by American culture - have long abused that freedom with what may be called the 'worship of freedom'.

The worship of freedom is when church members or a whole congregation value their freedom as more sacred than the wider Church.  Their freedom may even overrule the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ, as in the case of replacing the common cup (that He commanded!) with individual communion cups, reducing the subject to 'adiaphora' (indifferent things neither commanded nor forbidden).

The worship of freedom is when church members change congregations because the one they must leave does not honour their 'freedom' in one area or another.  A woman may leave a congregation because she does not feel free enough unless she can read (or preach) publicly in that congregation.  A man may leave a congregation because he wants the freedom to discard (or despise) the historic liturgy.  A pastor may lead worship in a t-shirt and abandon the liturgy and furnishings that have been provided by the congregation, throwing everything out in the name of freedom.  These Christians adore free forms of worship, free thinking, and free expression without realising that they are abusing their freedom by worshipping it.

I do not wish this to become a rant, and I appreciate that there are some conversations that are best had with AI (artificial intelligence), but this is not one of them.  Why?  Because the worship of freedom is a public offence, and a pastoral failure that cannot be simply left to a private chat with AI.  The worship of freedom is also a sin that cries out to Heaven since it insults the angels, archangels and all the company of Heaven.  Who do we think we are, and what are we worshipping if we put our recent inclinations in a superior place to that of the known convictions of the holy catholic Church?  

If Scripture speaks of a 'sign of authority'...'on account of the angels' then even Americans - for all their freedoms - should acknowledge that individual Christians, or even local congregations may have to hang up their freedom at times.  Like the armed forces that Americans so honour, Christians should recognise that some sacrifices have to be made in the interests of the wider community.  A soldier does not go on parade in a graphic t-shirt, sipping a latte in deference to his or her definition of freedom.  He may even have to wear a head covering!

Perhaps - even after nearly 50 years in the Holy Ministry - I am the 'weaker brother' who is easily offended.  At the very least I can relate to that person who feels offended by what looks to be the worship of freedom in a free country.  

I will always remember attending a Lutheran service where the pastor felt that the worship should be dumbed down for the sake of any visitors who might be attending that morning.  In freedom he felt that he could wear no vestments, use no liturgy, and show no ceremonial reverence, all for the benefit of the visitor off the street.  Well, there was a visitor that Sunday, and it was me.  Sure there was freedom in abundance, but my question was, 'Where is the reverence, the liturgy, and the worship of the Church'?

The catholic Consensus

A consensus is generally a very satisfactory thing to find.  It is a common human aim.  Consensus describes wide-spread agreement.  ‘The consensus’ can form a foundation for an individual’s beliefs.  Popular recently is the slogan  ‘trust the science’, or follow the science.  And many a person, trying to establish what they believe, don’t train to be a scientist, or claim to be one, but do their research (usually on the internet) to find what seems to be the consensus among scientists.  What they learn determines what they believe and trust.

Far more powerful than any consensus in any particular field, would be a ‘catholic consensus’.  To establish that would require finding out, not just what is held at the moment, but what has been agreed over a long period of time, as well as among a vast majority or people concerning a particular subject.  Common Law, ethics, or morality are examples of a universal consensus.  For instance, one could establish that there is a universal consensus that says ‘murder is bad’, or ‘caring for children is good’.

A universal consensus is a good place for one’s conscience to find refuge, too.  ‘I may be wrong’ becomes a safe thing to say, if one can then add ‘however the universal consensus is…’.  This is because one is less likely to be blamed for a mistaken notion if that idea can be proven to be part of a universal consensus.

Because so many generations of humanity have practiced religion, a universal consensus may be found there, too, if people are willing to look for it.  In the field of religious belief one may even use the word ‘catholic’ to describe a universal consensus.  Used to mean ‘universal’, ‘catholic’ could even be used to describe a Jewish consensus.  One could find in Judaism a ‘catholic consensus’ that there is only one true God.  A raison d’etre is usually the location for a religion’s catholic consensus.

Hence a universal consensus may not be very difficult to find in religion.  People being interested in that universal consensus is quite a different matter.  Where individualism is prized, or innovation highly esteemed, universal consensus has less attraction, supplanted as it is by opinions or new ideas, or even special revelations.

In Christian terms, the universal consensus is the unified voice of that 'great cloud of witnesses' who live in Heaven and on Earth, as to what is true about God and how He created us, and Redeemed us by His Son. The beliefs and practices of most Christians who have ever lived, and who live now concerning how God worked in the past, works now, and is worthy to be trusted and worshipped eternally is where it is easy to find a consensus.

Having said that, finding a universal consensus on a particular doctrine or practice is not always a comfortable discovery.  Take the universal consensus among Christians that it is too late to add further books to the Bible, and honour them as Holy Scripture.  To defy that consensus, a Mormon has to decide that a prophet like Joseph Smith (d.1844), or a ‘burning in the bosom’ trumps the catholic consensus of what Christians have believed across time, and in all places, all ages, etc.

Beyond the discomfort the universal consensus brings to cults and whacko sects, even many stodgy established denominations – like my own – may find the catholic consensus disconcerting in places.   The following is a list of practices and beliefs (in no particular order) that are demonstrably part of the universal consensus among Christians that – nevertheless - some denominations may find unsettling.

1.     Your church should have ranks of clergy who wear quite elaborate vestments leading worship services.

2.     Your church’s worship services should be liturgical, usually consisting of an outline of actions that are the same week by week.

3.     Your church should believe that Jesus Christ has promised to offer His Body and Blood under the forms of bread and wine for Christians to eat and drink at every Sunday service.

4.     Your church should use wine for the Blessed Sacrament displayed and distributed from a chalice.

5.     Your church should worship on Sundays.

6.     Your church should keep the same seasons, feasts and festivals every year, commemorating Christ, and honouring ‘saints’, the Blessed Virgin Mary among them.

7.     Your church members should make the sign of the cross as part of their identification with the prayer and devotion of the Faith.

8.     Your church should sing the Psalms in the Bible, as well as other hymns and spiritual songs.

9.     Your church should be decorated with symbols, statues, icons, paintings, sculptures, windows, candles, crucifixes, and other things as teaching aids and aids to worship.

10.  Your church should baptise people of all nations, and all ages – including infants.

11.  Your church should read from the Bible, preach sermons from the Bible, systematically, and devoutly, treating Holy Scripture with great honour – even kissing its pages.

12.  Your church should regard the place where worship is taking place as sacred, with Christ Himself mysteriously present where ‘two or three are gathered’ in His Name.

Now concerning these dozen items listed above - easily established – as part of the universal consensus among Christians of all times, I can honestly say they do not represent my personal choices, my tastes, my preference, my style, my anything.  That is precisely the point.  One can react to them, in submission or contempt, but one cannot claim to have invented them.  Whether or not one adopts them reflects how much one values the inheritance that has been conveyed from countless others through the ages who have gone before.

Now some, looking at this article, may ask, ‘What about Justification by Grace through Faith’, and what about the definition of the Gospel, and the number of books in the Bible?  Aren’t those things more important that whether there is a historical consensus on vestments? 

The catholic consensus has been described above in accurate, but broad terms, concerning the historic and present global reaction to the core teachings of the Christian faith.  There is no question of the importance of key elements of the Faith such as ordo salutis and the canon of Scripture, but the twelve things listed above are there not because they are more important, but because they are clearly agreed upon on a universal scale.

That is what needs to be recognised by Christians, whatever they believe.

Guard the windows to your soul

The adage ‘the eye is the gateway to the soul’ does not come from the Bible, but it cannot be overstated that God urges a Christian to guard what goes into his eyes.  Jesus Himself took pains to teach that “The eye is the lamp of the body.  So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,  but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!’ (Mat. 6.22-23).

In the same Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had just warned that  ‘I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell’ (Mat. 5.28-29).

We joke that there are things that one cannot ‘unsee’, but the ongoing effect of what Christians let into their minds through their eyes is no joke.  Many a despairing ‘sex addict’ would not be in such peril or ruin without first allowing into their eyes, what they should not have looked at in the first place.

Neurobiologists talk about addictive dependency upon the neurotransmitters in the brain associated with the ‘pleasures of sin’, but what is at stake is more than a mere biological hazard.  Diabolical forces, bent on damaging or destroying the ministry and witness of Christian pastors are extremely interested in the possibilities afforded by technology to make sinful images available to every man, woman, and child with nothing more sophisticated in their grasp than a ‘smartphone’.

Many a Christian ‘living in Sodom’ today think they can consume the same sort of ‘entertainment’ as ‘everyone else’, and not be affected.  But ‘remember Lots’ wife’ (Luke 17.32).  Lot and his family were among the few ‘righteous persons’ that could be found in the doomed city, yet even among them were ideas such as excessive drunkenness and incest, that likely came from being exposed to the sights of Sodom  (Gen. 19.32-35).

The New Testament warns, ‘Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted’ (Gal 6.1).  Yet, today, rather than keeping watch on ourselves, Christians watch media in which ‘transgression’ is the stock-in-trade of almost every online drama.  To paraphrase St. James, ‘My brothers, these things ought not to be so’.

And it is not just HD images that endanger Christian souls.  Salaciousness in print is everywhere.  What the spiritually dead intend to be ‘added spice’ to favour their material, is actually poison to the Christian.  A pornographic turn of phrase can be as hard to flush out of the mind as any image.

‘How can a young man keep his way pure?’ has become the most haunting question of our time.  And that question is not just for the young.  The answer - that is to be the believer’s prayer to God - is ‘by guarding it (our way of life) according to your word’ (Psalm 119.9). 

As we have seen God’s word provides abundant warning about the very thing that dissipates, degrades, and even destroys the faith and ministry of many a pastor.  The reality of life in this fallen world – and in our fallen flesh – is that there is no escape from temptation.  No amount of internet filters, content blockers, and Benedictine options can prevent all causes of sin.  Islam has tried veiling women from head to foot and that has not worked. 

As Cole Porter observed, ‘In olden days a glimpse of stocking, was looked on as something shocking, But Heaven knows:  Anything Goes’.  The ancient counsel of God’s word makes it clear.  The decision is not up to the Hollywood censors (if they even still exist), or to your ‘accountability partner’ (who had better not be your ecclesiastical supervisor).  The decision is up to you, the Christian pastor.  Are you going to guard your own eyes?  Otherwise, as God asks rhetorically, ‘Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? (Prov. 6.27-28). 

Nobody is going to do it for you.  All the hosts of Hell are pitted against you.  You can only protect yourself – calling upon all the heavenly support God will give you.  And when you fall, turn Satan’s victory sour by using your experience as a theology lesson.  The lessons taught by humility (and humiliation) before God’s holy Law may be the justification for the persistence of an ‘old self’ even after regeneration creates a ‘new self’ (Eph. 4.24). 

If God removed our sinful nature at baptism, some of us might never sin afterward.  Some of us – baptized as infants – would never in our whole lives remember what it felt like to be forgiven.  If we lived our whole earthly lives (like angels) without sinning, the value of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin would be reduced to a theological locus that provided no conscious benefit to us.  But that would not be the kind of theology that glorifies God as when the penitent pray, ‘naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Saviour, or I die!’ (Hymn by Augustus Toplady, (1776) ‘Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me!’

As it is, ‘scorned and covered with scars’, every Christian soul cherishes nothing more than the Gospel of the Saviour, the precious sound of Holy Absolution, and lives for the taste of Holy Communion.  For through faith in Jesus Christ, fellowship with God is restored, we ‘lay aside each earthly load, here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiv'n’ (Hymn by Horatius Bonar, (1855) ‘Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face’).

And forgiven of our many sins, we resolve to ‘go and sin no more’ (John 8.11).  As Charles Wesley expressed it so well, ‘My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee’ (Hymn by Charles Wesley, (1738) ‘And Can it Be, That I Should Gain’).

'Is that how I look?'

 

‘Is that how I look?’ –

the Importance of enhancing a preacher’s facial expressions.

One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been many preachers seeing themselves on screen and able to assess how they look to their congregations as they preach.  Perhaps for the first time pastors are asking themselves, ‘is that how I look?’, and – more importantly - ‘am I watchable’?

As in several other European cultures, North American piety takes a negative view of aspects of the theatre and entertainment being part of church services (with ‘children’s’ sermons’ being the exception).

An unnecessary association is made between some important features of dramatic arts, such as facial expression, and disingenuousness.  Intentional facial expressions are thought to detract from the honesty and sincerity of someone whose task it is to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the Truth.  This leaves dramatic facial expression to the realm of ‘foreign’ cultures, such as the Latino or Mediterranean types – among others.

The word  ‘hypocrite’ comes from the ancient Greek theatre, referring to the mask worn to project the emotion of the actor to members of the audience, even those occupying the most distant seats.  Yet, today’s negative connotation to that word need not reduce facial expression in the pulpit to some form of insincerity or hypocrisy.  Yes, facial expression is an important tool in the toolbox of both the actor and the liar, but that does not mean that facial expression cannot be an important tool in the toolbox of the pastor.  A preacher is not lying or merely acting when he adorns his message with intentional facial expression!

The fact is, people in our culture devour entertainment as often as they can get it – not aware of what it is about the conduct of the actors that holds their interest.  They take the facial expression - which is stock and trade of the acting profession - for granted, and find themselves unable to explain why they find their pastor’s sermon delivery boring, but can’t wait to binge through the next installment of their favourite media.   Here the Gospel is the most important message in the world, and yet, it is often proclaimed without the benefit of the kind of effort put into selling breakfast cereal!

The fact is that generations of pastors were not taught the importance of intentional facial expression for gathering and keeping their congregation’s attention.  Again, apart from small children, it is assumed that grownups don’t appreciate a preacher enhancing his facial expressions and gestures when he preaches.  However, this is far from the case.

In fact, subconsciously, what makes all the difference between a great sermon delivery and a mediocre one is facial expression.  Think of the ‘great preachers’ you have known, and then consider the part that facial expression played in making them so watchable.

Let all the video footage that has come to characterize the lockdowns be a lesson to all preachers.  Facial expression matters.  It always has.  They may not have taught this in homiletics class, but it is essential to preachers today.  Make a face.  Act as though you are engaging your audience.  Project on to your face the importance of what you are saying.  Is there a difference between the spoken word and the sung word?  There is often a world of difference between a deadpan delivery and one that takes a leaf out of the actor’s handbook. 

The worldview I share

Eight Answers to Basic Questions that convey my worldview

1. What is prime reality – the really real?  God, and what He chooses to allow to exist.
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? Around us we have the created material universe that we inhabit and explore and, also around us we have an immaterial creation, founded prior to us, populated by evil spirits who hate us, and seek our destruction, and good spirits who are fascinated by the salvation that our Creator has provided for us, and love us with a love that reflects God’s mercy, rejoicing at His love for every repentant sinner (Luke 15.10).
3. What is a human being?  A creature made to demonstrate to ‘all things visible and invisible’ God’s love and mercy toward sinners..
4. What happens at death?  Humans were created capable of two kinds of death, physical and spiritual.  At physical death, the person’s spirit goes to face their eternal destiny (everlasting life or everlasting torment), as their body decomposes to await the resurrection of the body on the last Day.  All human beings have been redeemed from spiritual death by the atonement made by God’s Son, but spiritual death still awaits those who do not have a living connection to God’s Son, through trust in Him.
5. How is it possible to know anything at all?  God has given us minds to process reality, and He has made knowledge possible through both natural revelation, and special revelation.
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?  Natural revelation gives some guidance, but ultimate morality is revealed to human beings by God, through His word in special revelation (Holy Scripture).
7. What is the meaning of human history?  The Redemption of humanity, by the death and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the central event of all human history.  From the foundation of the world, God has created human reproduction (‘marrying and giving in marriage’  Matthew 22.30), and permits generation after generation of sinners to be born, as long as the worship of His Son for being our Redeemer continues to grow among every ‘nation, all tribes and peoples and languages’ (Revelation 7.9).
8. What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview?  Only a commitment to ‘hear the word of God, and keep it’ (Luke 11.28) is consistent with the worldview described in the first seven questions.  And the most crucial word of God to keep is the ‘Word…made flesh’ Jesus Christ, for only in communion with Him – including His Church – is there salvation.  (Extra ecclesiam nulla salus est)  At the same time, those who keep God’s word for themselves will also want to share the Gospel with others, so that the worship of God’s Son may grow all over the world.

True Freedom - Part Two - Free to Fight

'whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and  this is the victory that has overcome the world—our  faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?' (John 5:4–5).

Many examples exist, on both sides of the European conflict in WWII, of downed airmen, who - having escaped from prison camps - went on to re-join the fight in the air. In this I see a picture of the way the Gospel works in the life of a Christian.

Sin and guilt have a way of ending our 'flight' as Christians. We find ourselves, not only grounded, but out of 'the fight' as well. Do you feel that your failures and past sins have down-graded you to the position of being useless as a Christian witness? If so, this is a known tactic of the devil to cripple people who would otherwise serve to advance the kingdom of Christ.

Christians so held in the bondage of guilt are like 'prisoners of war', grounded and unable to challenge the evil that threatens the progress of the Kingdom of Heaven. Forgiveness of sins is not only intended to restore us once more to be aloft with the angels, so to speak, but forgiveness of sins, through trust in Christ, our Redeemer, sets us free from the power of guilt to hinder our Christian life.

This means we can be more than forgiven. We can be 'conquerors' and 'overcome' the forces that would keep us down and out as Christians.  Look at all that God's word has to say about 'overcoming', and how often Christ encourages us to remain steadfast through trials (Revelation 2:26; 3:21; 21:7). This is because the Christian lives in a world that is not a playground, but a battleground. Look at the theology of 'spiritual warfare' in 'the Church Militant'.

We speak of 'the Theology of the Cross', because the cross is not just something Christ carried to atone for the our sin, it is also a burden we take up, as His forgiven people. As one of our hymns puts it, 'Then let us follow Christ our Lord, and take the cross appointed; And, firmly clinging to His word, in suff'ring be undaunted. For those who bear the battle strain, that crown of heavenly life obtain'  ('Come, Follow Me', by Johann Scheffler, 1624-77).

God is challenging you and me, to get back into the game! He has forgiven our sins. We should consider ourselves re-furbished, re-habilitated, and ready for action. He expects us to suit up with the body-armor He provides, escape from the clutches of diabolical doubts, and fight on! Ephesians 6:11–17 describes 'the armour' available to all believers, to put on 'with prayer and supplication to God'. 

Because He offers such heavenly support, God is able to issue the order to 'stand firm'. Sometimes all it takes to overcome temptation is to 'stand your ground'.  We have God’s promise, 'Resist the devil and he will flee from you' (James 4.7)

And, when we are weary from the fight, and have taken a few hits along the way, He offers healing and wholeness again, by His Gospel word and sacraments.  At every Divine Service we are re-armed as well as renewed.  Then, in the days to come  '… when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,  Steals on the ear the distant triumph song.  And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.  Alleluia! Alleluia!

True Freedom - Part One - Enchained by Liberation

'for freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery' (Galatians 5.1)

Remember the old question, 'Do you live to eat, or do you eat to live'? As a metaphor for other aspects of life, beyond food, this is a very profound question. Food is but one of a range of basic, primal needs humans beings have, none of which should be regarded as ends in themselves. Everyone agrees that a person who lives to eat would have a warped sense of what it means to live. Those who eat to live are free to focus on other things, beyond food.

Yet, today, as our society becomes more decadent, focusing on the most primal, lower brain appetites, more and more people cut themselves of from the enriched experience of life and service that they could have, were they to follow the higher impulses previous generations pursued. A symptom of this loss of awareness is the trend to define people by their sexual preference, or even sexuality preference.

Ironically, what is celebrated as 'liberation' brings a greater bondage with it, than before the 'sexual revolution', dragging many a Christian back into a 'yoke of slavery', often ending in a loss, not only of their faith, but even of their spiritual awareness, or ability to process anything requiring higher brain thinking. Consider the question, 'Do you “live to love” or ”love to live”?' This are not a false antithesis. People who 'live to love' may claim the romantic high ground, but they are thinking more like the most base animals, than human beings. Lovers who love, in order to live, have the correct perspective on both love and life.

Like those who 'live (in order to) eat', those who 'live (in order to) love' have lost both 'love' and 'life'. The need for intimacy is a basic primal need, but is should never be an end in itself. Intimacy between people should serve to fuel them for a higher purpose – living for Christ. 'For me to live is Christ', St. Paul famously wrote (Philippians 1.21).

'for freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore', writes St. Paul. (Galatians 5.1) According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2009), '...thousands of fatal drownings each year are deaths associated with natural hazards known as rip currents'. Rip currents carry people out to sea because they are unable to resist the pull of the surf. Decadence is like a riptide. This is why the Christian must find his/her feet on the solid foundation of faith in Christ and proactively maintain their spirituality, lest they be carried away by the currents of our decadent culture. Only with God, helping us to get our lives 'under control', can we say that we are truly free.

Jesus said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed' (John 8.34-36). Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, set us free from eternal condemnation when He bore the burden of our sin, guilt, and death in His own body, out of love for us; 'canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross' (Col 2.14). Trusting in Christ means being free, not only from the consequences of sin, but from 'belonging to sin and death'. Sin is the dead spouse – drowned in Baptism - from whom we are set free to 'marry' another – the source of eternal life, our Lord Jesus Christ.