Elders as Watchmen
God has always appointed
leaders--priests, prophets, kings, apostles, and elders of the church--to watch
for dangers confronting his people. You
probably are familiar with God’s charge to Ezekiel. “Son of man, I have made you a watchman unto
the house of
Although the word “watchman” does
not appear in the New Testament, is it not plain that elders of the Lord’s
church are watchmen? Paul warned the
elders at
While all Christians have a sacred obligation to watch--both
for their own welfare and for that of other Christians--elders have a special
responsibility because of their exalted position. That ought to be obvious from the passages I
have read to you. Are all elders among
churches of Christ prepared intellectually and spiritually to watch? Do they have the courage to abide by the word
of God as they direct the affairs of the local congregation? Have some of them fallen in with the fleeting
fashions of this world (
A young preacher friend of mine
wrote an article for the Internet exposing a false teacher among churches of
Christ. That false teacher would
fellowship anybody, except those who will not fellowship anybody. In other words, he draws the line only
against those people who are dedicated to preaching the faith once for all
delivered to the saints. When the
article on the Internet appeared, an elder of a church in the state of
I do not plan to respond to the
elder’s following statement, but I think it is worth reading in passing. The elder told the young preacher: “The basic
premise you operate from, ‘Churches must have direct command, approved example,
or necessary inference for what you do’ just does not make sense to me. There is only one command that I can find
concerning the assembly of the church.
That command is ‘Forsake not the assembly.’” How many commands does God have to give to a
Christian? I have always thought that
one would be sufficient. If Christians
are obligated to teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs, does that not mean they would have to assemble? When Paul commanded the church to withdraw
from the incestuous brother, did he not speak of the Corinthians’ being
gathered together (1 Cor. 5:3)? Did the
same church not have to meet to partake of the Lord’s supper (1 Cor.
The following statements from an elder of the church are absolutely unbelievable. “God could have commanded that we follow the pattern of the early church, but that would eliminate buildings, treasuries, and a host of other things that we use everyday. What examples should we follow? Since God did not specify in his Holy Bible, you and I have no right to do it for him.” Why did God give us examples of the early church’s actions if they were not designed for the church through the ages? The elder further says: “The early church adopted the practice of partaking of it (the Lord’s supper) in conjunction with a common meal when they assembled. When Paul found (that) the Corinthians had corrupted the established tradition he changed it to reduce the temptation to cause members to sin and to enhance their worship to God.”
Several questions on these two
brief paragraphs are in order. Is anyone
so naïve or so misinformed that he thinks buildings and treasuries are parts of
the pattern of the early church?
Buildings, treasuries, baptisteries, songbooks, air conditioners, and
lights are expedients--not essential elements in the work and worship of the
church. People who know little or
nothing about the scriptures might be excused for making such logical blunders,
but not elders of the church. Did this
I urge you to listen carefully to
the next rather lengthy paragraph from the
If, as this elder imagines, each church established its own way of worshiping, possibly in conjunction with other congregations, why did Paul so strongly condemn the actions of the Corinthians in their observance of the Lord’s supper? After all, eating a common meal is not immoral, so what could be wrong with taking the Lord’s supper along with a common meal? If God has given no pattern and we are free to decide what we should do in worship, I cannot imagine why Paul was so upset with the Corinthians. If that were their tradition, possibly arranged in conjunction with other congregations, it seems unfair of Paul to even mention it. But you know why Paul condemned their behavior: They were violating the pattern the Holy Spirit had given for partaking of the Lord’s supper. The elder virtually admits that in his letter, but seems not to realize what he has done.
The most outlandish,
unreasonable, unscriptural, and unbelievable observation is this: “Since God
does not command Christians how to worship, they are free to worship as they
wish and God is free to accept or to reject their worship.” If I did not have the elder’s letter before
me, I would have real difficulty believing that any Christian could be so
ignorant of God’s truth as revealed in the Bible. Did not Christ say to the Samaritan woman:
“God is Spirit: and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”
(John
If men and women are free to
worship God as they wish, why did Paul tell the Corinthians: “Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let
him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to
himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1
Cor.
The simple truth is: We are free to worship God as he wishes.
Has that elder of the church in
But deciding on our own what God
will accept should not be of any great concern, should it? Do you remember what happened to Nadab and
Abihu? “And there went out fire from the
Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord” (Lev. 10:2). If men are free to worship God as they wish,
why did God preserve this Old Testament incident? The answer is too simple for any honest
student of the word to overlook. “For
whatsoever things were written before were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Paul mentioned a number of tragic incidents
in the life of the Israelite people and then concluded: “Now all these things
happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor.
If the Colorado elder were right about our freedom to worship as we wish, would he approve of dancing as an act of worship under the new covenant? Two dance troupes in the city of Nashville have traveled around to various churches and performed during their worship hour. One of America’s largest churches had some of its employees stage a wrestling match at a Sunday evening service. The so-called Power Team has made numerous appearances at worship services of several denominations. Since we are free to worship as we wish, according to the Colorado elder, who can have any objections to these ridiculous practices? Did you know that one church had a striptease act in its worship services? And why not have ham and eggs and Jack Daniel Whiskey on the Lord’s table, if there is no pattern for the worship of the church?
The elder claims he has no right to condemn others for the way they worship. Paul had a right. In fact, he had an obligation to condemn unscriptural worship practices, as the Colorado elder has admitted. When the church met to worship, there were some so involved in tongues-speaking that they caused considerable confusion. Paul let the Corinthians know that God is not the author of confusion. He demanded: “Let everything be done decently and orderly” (1 Cor. 14:33, 40). The Corinthians were not free to do whatever they wished; they were free to do what God had revealed to them.
The Colorado elder referred to these words from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). Why did Paul use that kind of language? Did he participate in the pagan practices of his day? You know he did not. In fact, he said that people who ate meat offered to idols as an act of worship were sacrificing to demons, and not to God. “And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:20-21).
There were times when Paul made concessions to the Jews and to others, but he never compromised the message God gave him to preach. He allowed Timothy to be circumcised because he was going among the Jews to preach the gospel. Besides, Timothy’s mother was a Jewess. Paul adamantly refused to allow Titus to be circumcised because Titus was a Greek. To those who were pressuring Paul to have Titus circumcised, Paul responded: “To whom we gave place, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Gal. 2:3-5). Paul never wanted anyone to believe that we have to become Jews in order to be Christians.
The elder whose letter I am reviewing has been a member of the church of Christ for fifty-four years, a graduate of one of our Christian colleges, a missionary to both Zambia and to the Ukraine. He has been an elder of the church for four years. I mention these facts about his life because they raise a number of very disturbing questions. What has he learned in fifty-four years as a member of the church of Christ? And what did he learn at the Christian college he attended? When he was in Zambia, did he criticize the worship practices of the Zambians? If we are free to worship as we wish, on what basis could he oppose anyone’s worship activities?
In no passage in the Bible are we given a complete list of worship activities, but Acts 2:42 comes as close as any biblical passage. After three thousand Jews and proselytes repented of their sins and were baptized into Christ for the remission of sins, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Is there anyone who denies that preaching is an act of worship that has God’s approval? Luke gives us insight into what occurred in the city of Troas. “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight” (Acts 20:7).
The five acts of worship found in the New Testament have been almost universally accepted and endorsed by all groups calling themselves “Christian.” There have been many variations in how these acts of worship have been performed, but they are generally accepted as coming from God’s inspired word. How can anyone deny that singing is a vital part of our worship unto God almighty? Both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 tell us to sing praises to God. Tragically, some religious groups apparently are not satisfied with just singing; they have added instrumental music to their worship. But there is not a man on earth--not one--who can find scriptural justification for instrumental music. Anyone who thinks he can is hereby challenged to do so.
The scriptures also authorize praying as an act of worship. Some churches may use unauthorized means of praying, but all religious groups that claim to belong to the Lord believe in and engage in public prayer. Of course, there are religious agnostics who never pray. For example, Dr. Paul Tillich, a prominent German theologian, was asked, “Do you pray?” He did not believe in a personal God. So he answered, “No, I do not pray. I meditate.” We know also that partaking of the Lord’s supper was a very important act of devotion to God. One cannot read Matthew, Mark, Luke and 1 Corinthians and arrive at any other conclusion. Giving of our means is another act of worship, as Paul makes plain in Philippians 4:15-18.
My prayer for every church of Christ in the world is that it may be faithful in every aspect of the Lord’s work--in worship, in evangelizing the world for Christ, in doing good unto all men, especially those people of the household of the faith, and in observing the moral values that God himself has given in his word.
Winford Claiborne
The International Gospel Hour
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