Mark 1:9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (NKJV)
Within six short verses - Jesus is baptized, identified as the Son by His Father, led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan and John is imprisoned. The seventh verse may hold the key to this very short account of important information. The details are important, but the details support the message - Jesus, the Messiah has come, as was promised, and we must repent and believe the gospel!
Would we lose the importance of that message if we had ten pages on how deep the water was in the baptism, what cell John was in and exactly what the devil looked like when Jesus was tempted? I think it is clear from scripture and experience that we would often rather chase the details than follow the Lord even as believers and of course we will never really follow unless enlightened/changed by the Holy Spirit.
This raises an interesting question - If the church is called to teach and apply the scriptures, walk in love and unity as we go out and make disciples of all nations, should we be careful of distractions?
We have Jesus' baptism mentioned here and commanded for believers elsewhere, The Lord's Supper is commanded for believers in scripture also, and of course corporate prayer and worship is often encouraged, but beyond that are the other "good" things we do at church more likely to distract or help accomplish the main things?
An example: Say a church had a regular and lengthy time for announcements/church business, recognizing accomplishments of church members, recognition of national holidays, and lots of events/activities during the week that are good clean fun! When the time comes for the teaching of the word or the taking of the Lord's Supper are they going to be seen as just a couple of the many functions of the church or the incredibly more important and necessary functions of Christ's church?
I could imagine someone thinking - the Bible teaching stuff is OK, but I like the fun stuff or I prefer the holiday services over The Lord's Supper!
Can we do the other good/optional things and still keep the things commanded and most necessary/important the main things? Maybe, but would we be wise to make what we call church as uncluttered by the optional things as possible, so we can emphasize the necessary and important things?
(Check The Logical Atheist? blog on list of sights to the right for a shocking, but atheistically consistent take on 9-11!)
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Would we lose the importance of that message if we had ten pages on how deep the water was in the baptism, what cell John was in and exactly what the devil looked like when Jesus was tempted? I think it is clear from scripture and experience that we would often rather chase the details than follow the Lord even as believers and of course we will never really follow unless enlightened/changed by the Holy Spirit.
This raises an interesting question - If the church is called to teach and apply the scriptures, walk in love and unity as we go out and make disciples of all nations, should we be careful of distractions?
We have Jesus' baptism mentioned here and commanded for believers elsewhere, The Lord's Supper is commanded for believers in scripture also, and of course corporate prayer and worship is often encouraged, but beyond that are the other "good" things we do at church more likely to distract or help accomplish the main things?
An example: Say a church had a regular and lengthy time for announcements/church business, recognizing accomplishments of church members, recognition of national holidays, and lots of events/activities during the week that are good clean fun! When the time comes for the teaching of the word or the taking of the Lord's Supper are they going to be seen as just a couple of the many functions of the church or the incredibly more important and necessary functions of Christ's church?
I could imagine someone thinking - the Bible teaching stuff is OK, but I like the fun stuff or I prefer the holiday services over The Lord's Supper!
Can we do the other good/optional things and still keep the things commanded and most necessary/important the main things? Maybe, but would we be wise to make what we call church as uncluttered by the optional things as possible, so we can emphasize the necessary and important things?
(Check The Logical Atheist? blog on list of sights to the right for a shocking, but atheistically consistent take on 9-11!)
Couldn't be more right on about this, Keith. I believe man will almost invariably choose style over substance when given the choice, even when it comes to the important business of worship. We want our music a certain way, pews a certain way, big screen/no big screen, and to what end? Do we go to church to be entertained in a social club setting, or are we rather there to worship Jesus and hear what He would tell us from His Word? I believe that many of the things we do are as you say- simply unnessesary. Potentially dangerous as well. Let's think about something as harmless as "church announcements" before a sermon or starting worship. Say something is announced that really starles, upsets, or even pleases the congregation. How focused will they be when time comes to turn our full attention to our God and Savior, Who deserves nothing less? We are already gathered together for so precious little time, why waste it on things that in the end are not primary?
ReplyDeleteI offer up a verse, and while the writer probably did not have this subject in mind, I believe it can be applied. HEBREWS 12:1 states "Therefore WE also,since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, LET US LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT, AND THE SIN WHICH SO EASILY ENSNARES US, AND LET US RUN WITH ENDURANCE THE RACE THAT IS SET BEFORE US" (nkjv) The "weight" spoken of is not sin, for he speaks of sin in addition. I believe the weight is just extra stuff,distractions. If you are a runner and are five pounds overweight, you are not obese. But to achieve maximum speed, that extra five pounds must go. And so with the church. This extra stuff doesn't make us pagan, but it's simply dead weight, 5 extra pounds hindering us. Let's pray our Father in Heaven to keep His Word and His Son the main thing, the only thing! tj