:: Worldly Amusement and Chrisitanity ::
By Catherine Booth
WE are constantly meeting with people who are troubled about how far they may participate in worldly amusements without compromising their Christian profession. Many confess having been for years in controversy on the subject of attending or assisting at concerts, penny readings, and gatherings of a similar though more private and social character, and quite a lot of people have admitted having suffered spiritual loss and decline through being mixed up with such entertainments. On this question there seems to be among the Lord's professing people a sad indefiniteness of view. Indeed, many appear to have no settled convictions on the subject. Hence, we fear, arises much of the abounding worldliness that prevails in the Church, and hence the loss of the demarcation line between so many thousands of the professing Christians of our day and the ungodly crowds around them.
We propose briefly in this paper to consider, First, is it lawful and secondly, is it expedient (advisable, beneficial, useful, profitable) for CHRISTIANS either to provide or attend such entertainments as penny readings, concerts, private theatricals, and the like?
I -- Is it lawful?
To the law and to the testimony - what do the Scriptures say?
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.(Deut. 7. 6.)
You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. (Lev. 20. 26.)
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12. 2.)
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15. 19.)
For everything in the world -- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does -- comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2. 16.)
Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor. 6. 17-18)
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4. 4.)
We presume that all Christians attach SOME meaning to such passages as these, but one person will say that they do not apply to this worldly custom, and another person will say they do not apply to that, until, as in the case of the Mahometan pig, the whole lot is swallowed, and every worldly-minded professing Christian manages to get the piece of the world he likes best, or which appears most to his interest. Thus the law of Christ is frittered away, and the whole body of his professing Church given over to the god of this world.
What then is the conformity to, and friendship with the world, which these and a host of similar passages in the Bible prohibit? In other words, what is worldliness?
We reply:
1st. We take to be worldly that which calls itself worldly. Neither men nor things are, as a rule, better than what they claim to be.
2nd. We take that to be worldly which, in sentiment and spirit, the people of the world love, esteem, and enjoy.
3rd. We count whatever has no reference to God, righteousness or eternity, which do not have in mind the things of God, (Matt 16. 23) as worldly.
4th. Everything that is adverse in spirit to the dignity, seriousness, and usefulness of the Christian character we regard as worldly.
It seems to us that these propositions are so self-evident, that no thoughtful Christian can deny them. Some professing Christians seem to regard nothing as worldly which is not absolutely devilish, such as profanity, blasphemy, or obscenity. But the Scriptures carefully and clearly distinguish between the two. They prohibit Christians conforming to the world in all the habits and usages of daily life.
Speech:
Christians are not to talk like the world, in the way of coarse joking (Eph. 5. 4), boastful words, (2 Pete 2. 18.), insincere speech, and so on. But, on the contrary, their conversation is to be always full of grace, seasoned with salt. (Col 4. 6.) It is to be pure, proceeding from a good (not a doubtful) conscience. (1 Tim 1. 5.) It is to be in heaven, from whence we look for the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Clothes:
The Scriptures prohibit Christians dressing like the world.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. (1 Peter 3. 3.)
I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (1 Tim. 2. 9, 10.)
The LORD says, ‘The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald.’ (Isa. 3. 16, 17.)
We commend this whole third chapter of Isaiah to the consideration of everyone, and we would suggest that as the Lord Jehovah regarded the dress of those Israelite women as a sign of their backslidden condition, and thought it sufficiently important to be recorded by His holy prophet, it may be well for us to consider how far the same signs are evident among us in our day.
Music:
The Scriptures prohibit Christians singing the songs of the world, for they expressly command that when they are merry or glad they are to sing psalms and make melody in their heart UNTO THE LORD.
Friends and Companions:
The Scriptures prohibit Christians from joining in the amusements of the world, forbidding any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, commanding us to abstain from the very appearance of evil, and TO COME OUT FROM AMONGST THE UNGODLY AND BE SEPARATE. And our Lord declared that his real disciples were not of the world, even as he was not of the world.
Now in light of these Scriptures, and of the propositions we have laid down, let us examine the character of some of the entertainments so popular with many professing Christians.
We find that it is a fairly common thing for entertainments to be held in private drawing-rooms and in rooms connected with churches and chapels, with ministers and leading men in churches in charge of them, at which Shakespearian readings are given, with extracts from the works of the most popular and worldly novelists, and the same songs sung as are echoed and applauded in the public bar and the dancing-room.
Now, viewed in the light of the Scriptures we have quoted and tried by the propositions we have drawn from them, how do these practices strike you, Christian reader?
1st. Are they not professedly worldly? Do they not taste of the world, all of the world, and of the world only? Were not the authors of the things said and sung at such entertainments thoroughly Christless men, and some of them professed atheists, agnostics, non-Christian unbelievers?
2nd. Aren’t they the songs and sentiments which the people of the world have always claimed as their own? Are they not sung in their ball-rooms, [night clubs, radio stations], theatres, [cinemas, MTV], and casinoes? And is not this proof enough that they are pleasing to their tastes, and in keeping with their spirit?
3rd. Such songs, recitations, and performances have no reference whatever to God, righteousness, or eternity. God is not only not in all their thoughts, (Psalm 10. 4.), but he is not in any of them, therefore they must be thoroughly worldly.
4th. The spirit of such amusements is obviously adverse to the dignity, seriousness, and usefulness of the Christian character. What are its effects? Frivolity, foolish joking, a false estimate of human pleasures, leading away from spiritual things, and frequently uproarious merriment and godless mirth.
We put it to any Christian who has ever allowed himself to take part in such amusements whether these are not their inevitable and bitter outcome, and whether he has not found their spirit to be utterly antagonistic to the spirit of Christ? We have heard many backsliders in heart attribute their spiritual decline to mingling in such scenes of folly and frivolity, and we never met with one whom we had reason to believe had been renewed in the spirit of his mind who could say he could enter into them without condemnation.
Doubtless there are thousands of professing Christians who live in perpetual strife with their consciences and with the Holy Spirit on this subject, and no doubt they have their reward. Trying to hold Christ in one hand and the world in the other, they lose both. They have no joy in their godless amusements, nor do they have any joy in the Lord. All is darkness, condemnation, and death. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4. 4.)
The testimony of the Word is too explicit, and the voice of the Spirit too clear, for any child of God to be led astray because of lack of spiritual light if he will but listen to his Divine counsellor, the Holy Spirit. But, alas! Too many seek to silence His voice by useless and worldly reasoning, lowering the standard that He has given them because somebody else does so. They do not hear him saying, What is that to you? You must follow me. (John 21. 22) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
Not only is the testimony of the Word and of the Spirit against these amusements, but the testimony and example of the most devoted and intelligent Christians of all ages has been against them. The following are a few extracts bearing on the subject:
There is no earthly pleasure which does not have the unavoidable consequence of grief -- following it as closely as Jacob came after Esau. Indeed, worldly delight is but a shadow, and when we catch it, all that we grasp is substantial sorrow in its place. Honey is not so very sweet when the bee-sting is so nearby. Alleine.
If there is any sorceress upon the earth it is Pleasure, which so enchants the minds of men, and disturbs our peace with such secret delight, that foolish men mistake this lack of tranquillity for happiness. Pleasure turns men into swine with such sweet charms, that they feel no compulsion to change their brutish nature for their former sanity. Bishop Hall.
Consider, this is not a time to be occupied with pleasures! The apostle James lays it as a great condemnation upon many people in his time, that they lived in pleasure on the earth. This is the time to do the great business for which we were born. Ambrose.
How often shall it be protested to the Christian world, by men of the greatest seriousness and devotion, that it is useless to dream of entering the kingdom of heaven in the next life, unless the kingdom of heaven enters into their souls in this life? How long shall the Son of God --who came into the world to be the most glorious example of purity, self-denial, and mortification-- how long shall He lie by in His Word as an outdated pattern, only put into practice in the age of the apostles, and only suited to some few gloomy and melancholy men? How can we even pretend to say that we experience true religion, or say that we have a genuine acquaintance with God and the things of his kingdom, while the continual bleatings and lowings of our souls after human pleasures show the truth about us so plainly, and proclaim before all the world, that the beast, the brutish life, is still so powerful within us? Shaw.
I hope that you would use this world rather than abuse it, that you should be crucified to the world, and the world to you, (Gal. 6. 14), that you should declare plainly that you seek a better country - a heavenly one. (Heb 11. 16.) Ah! My dear brethren, I beseech you regard yourselves as pilgrims and strangers, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against your soul; FOR WHAT HAVE WE TO DO with the customs and fashions of this world, we who are strangers in it? Be contented with travellers' lots; don’t you know that you are in a strange land? Joseph Alleine's Letters.
I would dissuade you from the unnecessary company of ungodly men, and unprofitable companions, even though they be not so obviously ungodly. It is not only the openly profane, the swearer, and the drunkard that will prove hurtful to us, but the dead-hearted formalists, or persons merely civil and moral, or whose conversation is empty, unsavoury, and barren, may much divert our thoughts from heaven. As mere idleness and forgetting God will keep a soul as certainly from heaven as a profane licentious life, so also will useless company as surely keep our hearts from heaven--Baxter.
In speaking of the laws and limits of recreation, observe generally, that whatever is offensive to God, whatever is injurious to others, whatever is hurtful, whether at a distance or near-by to our own soul or body, is evil; to be avoided in ourselves and to be condemned in others. The principles involved in the foregoing remarks will answer the queries so frequently put: Is it right to frequent a theatre? [watch movies, videos] -- to attend the ball-room? [dances, night clubs] -- to sit at the card table? [play poker machines] --to mingle indiscriminately in fashionable society? The study of the Bible quotations so largely made will furnish a reply. Read and you will know.--Samuel Martin.
I said farewell for ever,' she says, 'to assemblies which I had visited, to plays and diversions, dancing, unprofitable walks, and parties of pleasure. The amusements and pleasures, so much prized and esteemed by the world, now appeared to me dull and insipid -- so much so, that I wondered how I ever could have enjoyed them.--Madame Guyon.
If space permitted we could give hundreds of quotations of similar bearing by such writers as Augustine, Thomas a'Kempis, Luther, Knox, Howe, Leighton, Newton, Cecil, Henry, Locke, Bunyan, Whitfield, Wesley, Clarke, Barnes, Steir, Doddridge, Young, and others. But our space prevents the calling of these witnesses. Christian reader, let those we have quoted above be enough to convince you.
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy. (1 Peter 1. 14 – 16.)
II. We come now to the question of expediency (usefulness, suitability).
The principal arguments brought forward by Christians in favour of providing and attending worldly amusements are --
1st. Seeing that our young people will have amusement, it is better to provide them with that which is moral and comparatively innocent, than to drive them to that which is positively vicious.
2nd. Seeing that we cannot get hold of the unconverted by the Gospel, it is better to meet them half way, and try, as it were, to catch them in a cunning way.
These arguments look very plausible: let us honestly consider them in the light of Scripture and actual experience.
1st. On whose behalf are they urged? Are the young people referred to the children of Christian parents, or the children of those who love this world? If the latter, we reply that Christians are nowhere taught, either directly or indirectly, that it is any part of their duty to provide amusement for the children of this world. On the contrary, the direct teaching and the whole tenor of Scripture go to prove that it is their duty to seek to alarm and convict them. There is not a line in the whole Bible on which an argument can be built for amusing and entertaining people who are still in their sins. The Scriptures ever represent the unconverted as under condemnation, in imminent danger, ready to be destroyed, a state rendering them far more as objects deserving out pity, concern, and earnest Christian effort than for being entertained. To keep them amused and self-satisfied is just what Satan desires, and all the better for his purpose if he can get it done by people who profess to be Christians.
Well, but, say some of our expediency friends, if by getting unconverted young people to attend our penny readings, moral concerts, and private parties where dancing, charades, and such like pastimes are practised, we can show them that religion is not such an unhappy thing as they have imagined, and that to become Christians need not exclude them from such recreations, may we not hope so to induce them to attend our churches, and thus get them converted by our more direct Christian means? We answer, IF you could thus promote good by doing evil, the end would fail to justify the means, for God says, to obey is better than sacrifice; but there is the “if” still to be dealt with. We ask, does this worldly policy succeed? Do your evening parties, your miniature pantomimes, dancing, and song singing, lead to the conversion of "Our young people?" Do the hodge-podge mixtures of Christ and Shakespeare, Paul and Dickens, [the Gospel and secular movies and secular music] of our times, serve to fill our churches, and bring the people to Jesus? On the contrary, indeed, the crowds who will go fast enough to hear their favourite songs and flippant lyrics played on the instruments of the church on the week night, remorselessly leave those who have stooped to pander to their taste to chant the songs of the church to empty pews on the Sunday.
But supposing that in some instances worldlings are won by these means, what about all the mischief that is done? These amusements are pleaded for on the ground that they will save our young people from those of a vicious and immoral character, but we contend that they are quite as likely, in many instances, to pave the way to the vicious, as in others to save from it. They will do this:
1st. By appearing to sanctify that which is purely sensuous and godless and therefore sinful, by virtue of the association with Christ and religion.
2nd. By lowering the standard of the purity and sanctity of the Christian character.
3rd. By destroying the respect and awe with which many of the unconverted have regarded Christianity and Christian Ministers.
4th. By fostering a sense of security in their sinful lives, leading them to say, We cannot be so very far wrong, or these Christians would not associate with us, and find pleasure in our amusements. There is not so much difference between us after all.
We fear that by these and similar means, the half-awakened conscience of many a young man and woman has been silenced, and their hearts hardened; and instead of being won from vice, they have been driven faster into it. Alas, who can tell the convictions that are stifled, the serious impressions that are lost, the good resolutions that are scattered, and the heavenly aspirations that are blasted in these religious pantomimes, these Christian-Belial festivities! Many sad stories come out, but eternity alone will reveal their full and awful consequences.
But the argument of expediency is not only urged on behalf of our unconverted young people, but (O tell it not in Gath! 2 Sam 1. 20) also on behalf of the children of professing Christians! "What are we to do?" say some professedly Christian parents. Our children must have recreation and amusement, and unless we allow them to mingle to some extent in fashionable society, and attend such parties as you refer to, [go to dances and night clubs and movies], we must needs keep them out of society altogether, and make recluses of them, for all our Christian friends go to such entertainments, and consider them innocent and lawful. If this be true, we reply, that it reveals more clearly than anything we could say, the backslidden and awful state of the professing Church, and calls loudly for some attempt to stem the tide of worldly conformity, while there remains a spark of spiritual life in her midst.
Alas, and has it come to pass that there are no strictly Christian social meetings and enjoyment? Have the topics of our glorious Christianity become so stale and uninteresting? Have the themes of Gospel enterprise and individual effort lost all their inspiration? Have the songs of the church lost their enchanting and inspiriting influence? Has the voice of the prayer meeting become quite silent? Has every spark of real enthusiasm in religion gone out, that when Christians want to find INTEREST and ENJOYMENT, they must seek it in themes and things peculiarly belonging to the god of this world, and his servants? Has it come to pass that Christians have so little confidence in the God of the Bible, and the religion of Jesus, that they must seek an alliance between Christ and the world in order to interest their children and save them from open reckless living and vice? If so, how does this reflect on themselves? What sort of training does it imply? Have they trained their sons and daughters so truly in the spirit of the world, under the appearance of a religious profession, that nothing but the most sensuous amusements of worldlings (who make any pretence to morality) will satisfy them? Has it come to pass that the children of CHRISTIANS must dress like prostitutes, -- dance, sing songs, read novels, [watch movies, watch TV shows], attend concerts, [listen to secular CDs, listen to secular radio stations] where worldly and even comic songs are sung, evoking uproarious laughter and coarse joking? And all this for their amusement, their parents, and even ministers, looking on, and striving by the most blind and wicked perversion of the word of God, to justify their worldliness and ease their consciences? ALAS, IT HAS COME TO THIS! Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. (Jer 9. 1.)
Well, I think I hear some Christian say, What is to be done? Done?! Let every one who has any convictions on this subject ACT ON THEM. Half the mischief has resulted from Christians turning away from the simple teachings of the Word in order to pander to one another, measuring themselves by themselves, (2 Cor 10. 12), instead of measuring themselves by the standard of the Word. We have heard them say, Well, I never felt quite satisfied that such things were right or consistent with being a Christian, but then, many far higher in Christian attainments than I am allow them. And it seems like condemning others, and making one's self to be holier than they. Thus the voice of individual conscience has been stifled, and the standard gradually lowered, until Christ and Shakespeare are openly coupled together, and Paul and Dickens bracketed together as equal benefactors of their race.
But what am I to do? is the still recurring cry of some timid Christian mother or father. Must I keep my children out of society altogether? Yes, indeed, if you cannot find any truly Christian group for them. Humble yourself deeply before God for having trained your children with worldly tastes and associations, and set yourself, as far as possible, to remedy the evil. Get more spirituality, more real life, and you will find your religion astonishingly more interesting both to yourself and to your children. Well, but my children must have companions. Oh no, there is no must in the case. Better to live without companions than to have companions that might lead them away from God, and into friendship with the world. If you have not yet learnt this, I fear you have never realised your responsibility to God for your children's souls. Do you regard your children as your own or the Lord's? If you think of them as your own, then you will train them on worldly principles. But if you understand that they are the Lord's, you will surely train them for Him, that they may serve their generation according to HIS WILL. You are not to be concerned about consequences - it is your duty just to obey. God will take care of His own. Act on your convictions of duty. If it happens that you then stand alone in your family, your circle of friends, your church, never mind. ACT for yourself, since you must give account to God for yourself. Perhaps, if you set an example, somebody else will follow. Somebody must begin - somebody must make a stand, why not you? You say, I am so uninfluential, so weak, and the cross will be so heavy. All the more blessing in carrying it. And He who chooses the weak things will bless your testimony, and use it for His glory. Only honour God, and He will honour you.
Now I must hasten to consider the second argument urged in support of this expediency Christianity. Seeing that the Gospel fails to attract our young people, it is better to meet them half-way, and try, as it were, to catch them by stealth.
We reply, 1st, Is the success of the Gospel dependent on worldly expediency or on spiritual power? If on the former, we can see the force of this argument; but if on the latter, it is utterly irrelevant. There are but two kinds of influence or power in operation in the Church: the material and the spiritual. Jesus Christ utterly and continually denounced the material as being of any value in His kingdom. He systematically ignored, both by example and precept, all the influence of mere learning, traditional religion, wealth, position, worldly power and policy, and steadily maintained that, His kingdom was not of this world. He solemnly denounced all other kinds of influence or power except for that of the DIVINE, and He laboured incessantly to imbue His disciples with the conviction that nothing short of this endowment could empower them for their work. (Acts 1. 4,5; Luke 24. 48, 49; John 15.)
We all know how completely Paul and his fellow apostles learnt this lesson, and how they continually gloried in the testimony that it was not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord, (Zech 4. 6.) that they did all their wonderful works. While the early Christians were true to the example and teaching of their Master, we never find them bemoaning their lack of ability to attract or to convert the people. So mighty was their influence, though comparatively few in number, and insignificant in social position, that wherever they went they were said to have turned the world upside down, and large and flourishing churches sprang up in all directions. THEY did not feel the necessity for any half-way meeting place between themselves and the world; they did not lower the tone of their Christian standards and morality in order to meet the corrupt and heathenish notions of those around them; neither did they renounce their spirituality lest it should disgust them. On the contrary, the apostles and early Christians seem to have had the conviction that the more complete their devotion to their Master, the more separate from the world, the more truly spiritual and divine they were, the greater would be their influence for God, and the greater their success in winning men to Christ. It never seems to have entered into their minds to descend from the high vantage ground on which their Lord had placed them, to fight the enemy with his own weapons, and to try to cast him out by a partial conformity to his darling lusts (1 John 2. 16). The source of their power was DIVINE, therefore they needed no additions of human policy, or of worldly expedience. They were mighty THROUGH GOD, and could well dispense with the heathen poets and fashionable novelists of their times. Their preaching was with the demonstration of the SPIRIT and of POWER; consequently, multitudes listened, believed, and turned to the Lord.
It was not until the primitive Christians began to admit worldly principles of action, and to substitute the material for the spiritual, that their influence began to decrease, and their testimony to lose its power. It was the gradual substitution of the human for the divine, the material for the spiritual, that spread over Christendom for ages with papal darkness and death. During that long night of error and suffering, however, God raised up many witnesses to the sufficiency of the Holy Ghost to attract and convert men, many making long pilgrimages, and suffering great hardships, in order to visit and converse with those endued with this Divine Gift. And when at length the light of the Reformation broke over the nations, this one great lesson was again engraved on the hearts of God's chosen instruments: It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. (Zech 4. 6.) Thus, after the lapse of ages, we find the Gospel, when preached with the old power, the same mighty instrumentality, both for attracting the multitudes and converting the soul.
From the Reformation down to the present time, we find that wherever the same Gospel has been preached with the same accompanying power, the same results have followed, even when the preacher has been held captive to a false creed, or beset with hosts of opposing influences from earth and hell. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there spiritual miracles are wrought, and wherever miracles are wrought, the people will congregate - be it by the river-side, in the temple, in kirk, church, chapel, theatre, meeting-house, attic, or cellar. There is no quicker detective of the presence of the Spirit of Jesus than the spirit that works in the hearts of the children of disobedience. But He has always been more than a match for would-be exorcists. Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? (Acts 19. 15.)
You will perceive, Christian reader, that we regard this plea, that the Gospel fails to attract, as a very suspicious one. We ask those who urge it, in the light of the foregoing summary of facts, to tell us, WHY IT FAILS? We have no hesitation in saying ONLY for want of the HOLY GHOST. The great need in connection with all our organisations, societies, churches, agencies, and instrumentalities, is LIFE! LIFE!! LIFE!!! The people want a LIVING GOSPEL, preached by LIVING SPIRIT-BAPTIZED SOULS. Dare we, in the light of the past, instead of this Divine bread, give them the stone of materialism? If so we must prepare for the consequences.
WE are constantly meeting with people who are troubled about how far they may participate in worldly amusements without compromising their Christian profession. Many confess having been for years in controversy on the subject of attending or assisting at concerts, penny readings, and gatherings of a similar though more private and social character, and quite a lot of people have admitted having suffered spiritual loss and decline through being mixed up with such entertainments. On this question there seems to be among the Lord's professing people a sad indefiniteness of view. Indeed, many appear to have no settled convictions on the subject. Hence, we fear, arises much of the abounding worldliness that prevails in the Church, and hence the loss of the demarcation line between so many thousands of the professing Christians of our day and the ungodly crowds around them.
We propose briefly in this paper to consider, First, is it lawful and secondly, is it expedient (advisable, beneficial, useful, profitable) for CHRISTIANS either to provide or attend such entertainments as penny readings, concerts, private theatricals, and the like?
I -- Is it lawful?
To the law and to the testimony - what do the Scriptures say?
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.(Deut. 7. 6.)
You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. (Lev. 20. 26.)
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12. 2.)
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15. 19.)
For everything in the world -- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does -- comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2. 16.)
Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor. 6. 17-18)
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4. 4.)
We presume that all Christians attach SOME meaning to such passages as these, but one person will say that they do not apply to this worldly custom, and another person will say they do not apply to that, until, as in the case of the Mahometan pig, the whole lot is swallowed, and every worldly-minded professing Christian manages to get the piece of the world he likes best, or which appears most to his interest. Thus the law of Christ is frittered away, and the whole body of his professing Church given over to the god of this world.
What then is the conformity to, and friendship with the world, which these and a host of similar passages in the Bible prohibit? In other words, what is worldliness?
We reply:
1st. We take to be worldly that which calls itself worldly. Neither men nor things are, as a rule, better than what they claim to be.
2nd. We take that to be worldly which, in sentiment and spirit, the people of the world love, esteem, and enjoy.
3rd. We count whatever has no reference to God, righteousness or eternity, which do not have in mind the things of God, (Matt 16. 23) as worldly.
4th. Everything that is adverse in spirit to the dignity, seriousness, and usefulness of the Christian character we regard as worldly.
It seems to us that these propositions are so self-evident, that no thoughtful Christian can deny them. Some professing Christians seem to regard nothing as worldly which is not absolutely devilish, such as profanity, blasphemy, or obscenity. But the Scriptures carefully and clearly distinguish between the two. They prohibit Christians conforming to the world in all the habits and usages of daily life.
Speech:
Christians are not to talk like the world, in the way of coarse joking (Eph. 5. 4), boastful words, (2 Pete 2. 18.), insincere speech, and so on. But, on the contrary, their conversation is to be always full of grace, seasoned with salt. (Col 4. 6.) It is to be pure, proceeding from a good (not a doubtful) conscience. (1 Tim 1. 5.) It is to be in heaven, from whence we look for the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Clothes:
The Scriptures prohibit Christians dressing like the world.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. (1 Peter 3. 3.)
I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (1 Tim. 2. 9, 10.)
The LORD says, ‘The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald.’ (Isa. 3. 16, 17.)
We commend this whole third chapter of Isaiah to the consideration of everyone, and we would suggest that as the Lord Jehovah regarded the dress of those Israelite women as a sign of their backslidden condition, and thought it sufficiently important to be recorded by His holy prophet, it may be well for us to consider how far the same signs are evident among us in our day.
Music:
The Scriptures prohibit Christians singing the songs of the world, for they expressly command that when they are merry or glad they are to sing psalms and make melody in their heart UNTO THE LORD.
Friends and Companions:
The Scriptures prohibit Christians from joining in the amusements of the world, forbidding any fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, commanding us to abstain from the very appearance of evil, and TO COME OUT FROM AMONGST THE UNGODLY AND BE SEPARATE. And our Lord declared that his real disciples were not of the world, even as he was not of the world.
Now in light of these Scriptures, and of the propositions we have laid down, let us examine the character of some of the entertainments so popular with many professing Christians.
We find that it is a fairly common thing for entertainments to be held in private drawing-rooms and in rooms connected with churches and chapels, with ministers and leading men in churches in charge of them, at which Shakespearian readings are given, with extracts from the works of the most popular and worldly novelists, and the same songs sung as are echoed and applauded in the public bar and the dancing-room.
Now, viewed in the light of the Scriptures we have quoted and tried by the propositions we have drawn from them, how do these practices strike you, Christian reader?
1st. Are they not professedly worldly? Do they not taste of the world, all of the world, and of the world only? Were not the authors of the things said and sung at such entertainments thoroughly Christless men, and some of them professed atheists, agnostics, non-Christian unbelievers?
2nd. Aren’t they the songs and sentiments which the people of the world have always claimed as their own? Are they not sung in their ball-rooms, [night clubs, radio stations], theatres, [cinemas, MTV], and casinoes? And is not this proof enough that they are pleasing to their tastes, and in keeping with their spirit?
3rd. Such songs, recitations, and performances have no reference whatever to God, righteousness, or eternity. God is not only not in all their thoughts, (Psalm 10. 4.), but he is not in any of them, therefore they must be thoroughly worldly.
4th. The spirit of such amusements is obviously adverse to the dignity, seriousness, and usefulness of the Christian character. What are its effects? Frivolity, foolish joking, a false estimate of human pleasures, leading away from spiritual things, and frequently uproarious merriment and godless mirth.
We put it to any Christian who has ever allowed himself to take part in such amusements whether these are not their inevitable and bitter outcome, and whether he has not found their spirit to be utterly antagonistic to the spirit of Christ? We have heard many backsliders in heart attribute their spiritual decline to mingling in such scenes of folly and frivolity, and we never met with one whom we had reason to believe had been renewed in the spirit of his mind who could say he could enter into them without condemnation.
Doubtless there are thousands of professing Christians who live in perpetual strife with their consciences and with the Holy Spirit on this subject, and no doubt they have their reward. Trying to hold Christ in one hand and the world in the other, they lose both. They have no joy in their godless amusements, nor do they have any joy in the Lord. All is darkness, condemnation, and death. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4. 4.)
The testimony of the Word is too explicit, and the voice of the Spirit too clear, for any child of God to be led astray because of lack of spiritual light if he will but listen to his Divine counsellor, the Holy Spirit. But, alas! Too many seek to silence His voice by useless and worldly reasoning, lowering the standard that He has given them because somebody else does so. They do not hear him saying, What is that to you? You must follow me. (John 21. 22) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)
Not only is the testimony of the Word and of the Spirit against these amusements, but the testimony and example of the most devoted and intelligent Christians of all ages has been against them. The following are a few extracts bearing on the subject:
There is no earthly pleasure which does not have the unavoidable consequence of grief -- following it as closely as Jacob came after Esau. Indeed, worldly delight is but a shadow, and when we catch it, all that we grasp is substantial sorrow in its place. Honey is not so very sweet when the bee-sting is so nearby. Alleine.
If there is any sorceress upon the earth it is Pleasure, which so enchants the minds of men, and disturbs our peace with such secret delight, that foolish men mistake this lack of tranquillity for happiness. Pleasure turns men into swine with such sweet charms, that they feel no compulsion to change their brutish nature for their former sanity. Bishop Hall.
Consider, this is not a time to be occupied with pleasures! The apostle James lays it as a great condemnation upon many people in his time, that they lived in pleasure on the earth. This is the time to do the great business for which we were born. Ambrose.
How often shall it be protested to the Christian world, by men of the greatest seriousness and devotion, that it is useless to dream of entering the kingdom of heaven in the next life, unless the kingdom of heaven enters into their souls in this life? How long shall the Son of God --who came into the world to be the most glorious example of purity, self-denial, and mortification-- how long shall He lie by in His Word as an outdated pattern, only put into practice in the age of the apostles, and only suited to some few gloomy and melancholy men? How can we even pretend to say that we experience true religion, or say that we have a genuine acquaintance with God and the things of his kingdom, while the continual bleatings and lowings of our souls after human pleasures show the truth about us so plainly, and proclaim before all the world, that the beast, the brutish life, is still so powerful within us? Shaw.
I hope that you would use this world rather than abuse it, that you should be crucified to the world, and the world to you, (Gal. 6. 14), that you should declare plainly that you seek a better country - a heavenly one. (Heb 11. 16.) Ah! My dear brethren, I beseech you regard yourselves as pilgrims and strangers, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against your soul; FOR WHAT HAVE WE TO DO with the customs and fashions of this world, we who are strangers in it? Be contented with travellers' lots; don’t you know that you are in a strange land? Joseph Alleine's Letters.
I would dissuade you from the unnecessary company of ungodly men, and unprofitable companions, even though they be not so obviously ungodly. It is not only the openly profane, the swearer, and the drunkard that will prove hurtful to us, but the dead-hearted formalists, or persons merely civil and moral, or whose conversation is empty, unsavoury, and barren, may much divert our thoughts from heaven. As mere idleness and forgetting God will keep a soul as certainly from heaven as a profane licentious life, so also will useless company as surely keep our hearts from heaven--Baxter.
In speaking of the laws and limits of recreation, observe generally, that whatever is offensive to God, whatever is injurious to others, whatever is hurtful, whether at a distance or near-by to our own soul or body, is evil; to be avoided in ourselves and to be condemned in others. The principles involved in the foregoing remarks will answer the queries so frequently put: Is it right to frequent a theatre? [watch movies, videos] -- to attend the ball-room? [dances, night clubs] -- to sit at the card table? [play poker machines] --to mingle indiscriminately in fashionable society? The study of the Bible quotations so largely made will furnish a reply. Read and you will know.--Samuel Martin.
I said farewell for ever,' she says, 'to assemblies which I had visited, to plays and diversions, dancing, unprofitable walks, and parties of pleasure. The amusements and pleasures, so much prized and esteemed by the world, now appeared to me dull and insipid -- so much so, that I wondered how I ever could have enjoyed them.--Madame Guyon.
If space permitted we could give hundreds of quotations of similar bearing by such writers as Augustine, Thomas a'Kempis, Luther, Knox, Howe, Leighton, Newton, Cecil, Henry, Locke, Bunyan, Whitfield, Wesley, Clarke, Barnes, Steir, Doddridge, Young, and others. But our space prevents the calling of these witnesses. Christian reader, let those we have quoted above be enough to convince you.
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy. (1 Peter 1. 14 – 16.)
II. We come now to the question of expediency (usefulness, suitability).
The principal arguments brought forward by Christians in favour of providing and attending worldly amusements are --
1st. Seeing that our young people will have amusement, it is better to provide them with that which is moral and comparatively innocent, than to drive them to that which is positively vicious.
2nd. Seeing that we cannot get hold of the unconverted by the Gospel, it is better to meet them half way, and try, as it were, to catch them in a cunning way.
These arguments look very plausible: let us honestly consider them in the light of Scripture and actual experience.
1st. On whose behalf are they urged? Are the young people referred to the children of Christian parents, or the children of those who love this world? If the latter, we reply that Christians are nowhere taught, either directly or indirectly, that it is any part of their duty to provide amusement for the children of this world. On the contrary, the direct teaching and the whole tenor of Scripture go to prove that it is their duty to seek to alarm and convict them. There is not a line in the whole Bible on which an argument can be built for amusing and entertaining people who are still in their sins. The Scriptures ever represent the unconverted as under condemnation, in imminent danger, ready to be destroyed, a state rendering them far more as objects deserving out pity, concern, and earnest Christian effort than for being entertained. To keep them amused and self-satisfied is just what Satan desires, and all the better for his purpose if he can get it done by people who profess to be Christians.
Well, but, say some of our expediency friends, if by getting unconverted young people to attend our penny readings, moral concerts, and private parties where dancing, charades, and such like pastimes are practised, we can show them that religion is not such an unhappy thing as they have imagined, and that to become Christians need not exclude them from such recreations, may we not hope so to induce them to attend our churches, and thus get them converted by our more direct Christian means? We answer, IF you could thus promote good by doing evil, the end would fail to justify the means, for God says, to obey is better than sacrifice; but there is the “if” still to be dealt with. We ask, does this worldly policy succeed? Do your evening parties, your miniature pantomimes, dancing, and song singing, lead to the conversion of "Our young people?" Do the hodge-podge mixtures of Christ and Shakespeare, Paul and Dickens, [the Gospel and secular movies and secular music] of our times, serve to fill our churches, and bring the people to Jesus? On the contrary, indeed, the crowds who will go fast enough to hear their favourite songs and flippant lyrics played on the instruments of the church on the week night, remorselessly leave those who have stooped to pander to their taste to chant the songs of the church to empty pews on the Sunday.
But supposing that in some instances worldlings are won by these means, what about all the mischief that is done? These amusements are pleaded for on the ground that they will save our young people from those of a vicious and immoral character, but we contend that they are quite as likely, in many instances, to pave the way to the vicious, as in others to save from it. They will do this:
1st. By appearing to sanctify that which is purely sensuous and godless and therefore sinful, by virtue of the association with Christ and religion.
2nd. By lowering the standard of the purity and sanctity of the Christian character.
3rd. By destroying the respect and awe with which many of the unconverted have regarded Christianity and Christian Ministers.
4th. By fostering a sense of security in their sinful lives, leading them to say, We cannot be so very far wrong, or these Christians would not associate with us, and find pleasure in our amusements. There is not so much difference between us after all.
We fear that by these and similar means, the half-awakened conscience of many a young man and woman has been silenced, and their hearts hardened; and instead of being won from vice, they have been driven faster into it. Alas, who can tell the convictions that are stifled, the serious impressions that are lost, the good resolutions that are scattered, and the heavenly aspirations that are blasted in these religious pantomimes, these Christian-Belial festivities! Many sad stories come out, but eternity alone will reveal their full and awful consequences.
But the argument of expediency is not only urged on behalf of our unconverted young people, but (O tell it not in Gath! 2 Sam 1. 20) also on behalf of the children of professing Christians! "What are we to do?" say some professedly Christian parents. Our children must have recreation and amusement, and unless we allow them to mingle to some extent in fashionable society, and attend such parties as you refer to, [go to dances and night clubs and movies], we must needs keep them out of society altogether, and make recluses of them, for all our Christian friends go to such entertainments, and consider them innocent and lawful. If this be true, we reply, that it reveals more clearly than anything we could say, the backslidden and awful state of the professing Church, and calls loudly for some attempt to stem the tide of worldly conformity, while there remains a spark of spiritual life in her midst.
Alas, and has it come to pass that there are no strictly Christian social meetings and enjoyment? Have the topics of our glorious Christianity become so stale and uninteresting? Have the themes of Gospel enterprise and individual effort lost all their inspiration? Have the songs of the church lost their enchanting and inspiriting influence? Has the voice of the prayer meeting become quite silent? Has every spark of real enthusiasm in religion gone out, that when Christians want to find INTEREST and ENJOYMENT, they must seek it in themes and things peculiarly belonging to the god of this world, and his servants? Has it come to pass that Christians have so little confidence in the God of the Bible, and the religion of Jesus, that they must seek an alliance between Christ and the world in order to interest their children and save them from open reckless living and vice? If so, how does this reflect on themselves? What sort of training does it imply? Have they trained their sons and daughters so truly in the spirit of the world, under the appearance of a religious profession, that nothing but the most sensuous amusements of worldlings (who make any pretence to morality) will satisfy them? Has it come to pass that the children of CHRISTIANS must dress like prostitutes, -- dance, sing songs, read novels, [watch movies, watch TV shows], attend concerts, [listen to secular CDs, listen to secular radio stations] where worldly and even comic songs are sung, evoking uproarious laughter and coarse joking? And all this for their amusement, their parents, and even ministers, looking on, and striving by the most blind and wicked perversion of the word of God, to justify their worldliness and ease their consciences? ALAS, IT HAS COME TO THIS! Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. (Jer 9. 1.)
Well, I think I hear some Christian say, What is to be done? Done?! Let every one who has any convictions on this subject ACT ON THEM. Half the mischief has resulted from Christians turning away from the simple teachings of the Word in order to pander to one another, measuring themselves by themselves, (2 Cor 10. 12), instead of measuring themselves by the standard of the Word. We have heard them say, Well, I never felt quite satisfied that such things were right or consistent with being a Christian, but then, many far higher in Christian attainments than I am allow them. And it seems like condemning others, and making one's self to be holier than they. Thus the voice of individual conscience has been stifled, and the standard gradually lowered, until Christ and Shakespeare are openly coupled together, and Paul and Dickens bracketed together as equal benefactors of their race.
But what am I to do? is the still recurring cry of some timid Christian mother or father. Must I keep my children out of society altogether? Yes, indeed, if you cannot find any truly Christian group for them. Humble yourself deeply before God for having trained your children with worldly tastes and associations, and set yourself, as far as possible, to remedy the evil. Get more spirituality, more real life, and you will find your religion astonishingly more interesting both to yourself and to your children. Well, but my children must have companions. Oh no, there is no must in the case. Better to live without companions than to have companions that might lead them away from God, and into friendship with the world. If you have not yet learnt this, I fear you have never realised your responsibility to God for your children's souls. Do you regard your children as your own or the Lord's? If you think of them as your own, then you will train them on worldly principles. But if you understand that they are the Lord's, you will surely train them for Him, that they may serve their generation according to HIS WILL. You are not to be concerned about consequences - it is your duty just to obey. God will take care of His own. Act on your convictions of duty. If it happens that you then stand alone in your family, your circle of friends, your church, never mind. ACT for yourself, since you must give account to God for yourself. Perhaps, if you set an example, somebody else will follow. Somebody must begin - somebody must make a stand, why not you? You say, I am so uninfluential, so weak, and the cross will be so heavy. All the more blessing in carrying it. And He who chooses the weak things will bless your testimony, and use it for His glory. Only honour God, and He will honour you.
Now I must hasten to consider the second argument urged in support of this expediency Christianity. Seeing that the Gospel fails to attract our young people, it is better to meet them half-way, and try, as it were, to catch them by stealth.
We reply, 1st, Is the success of the Gospel dependent on worldly expediency or on spiritual power? If on the former, we can see the force of this argument; but if on the latter, it is utterly irrelevant. There are but two kinds of influence or power in operation in the Church: the material and the spiritual. Jesus Christ utterly and continually denounced the material as being of any value in His kingdom. He systematically ignored, both by example and precept, all the influence of mere learning, traditional religion, wealth, position, worldly power and policy, and steadily maintained that, His kingdom was not of this world. He solemnly denounced all other kinds of influence or power except for that of the DIVINE, and He laboured incessantly to imbue His disciples with the conviction that nothing short of this endowment could empower them for their work. (Acts 1. 4,5; Luke 24. 48, 49; John 15.)
We all know how completely Paul and his fellow apostles learnt this lesson, and how they continually gloried in the testimony that it was not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord, (Zech 4. 6.) that they did all their wonderful works. While the early Christians were true to the example and teaching of their Master, we never find them bemoaning their lack of ability to attract or to convert the people. So mighty was their influence, though comparatively few in number, and insignificant in social position, that wherever they went they were said to have turned the world upside down, and large and flourishing churches sprang up in all directions. THEY did not feel the necessity for any half-way meeting place between themselves and the world; they did not lower the tone of their Christian standards and morality in order to meet the corrupt and heathenish notions of those around them; neither did they renounce their spirituality lest it should disgust them. On the contrary, the apostles and early Christians seem to have had the conviction that the more complete their devotion to their Master, the more separate from the world, the more truly spiritual and divine they were, the greater would be their influence for God, and the greater their success in winning men to Christ. It never seems to have entered into their minds to descend from the high vantage ground on which their Lord had placed them, to fight the enemy with his own weapons, and to try to cast him out by a partial conformity to his darling lusts (1 John 2. 16). The source of their power was DIVINE, therefore they needed no additions of human policy, or of worldly expedience. They were mighty THROUGH GOD, and could well dispense with the heathen poets and fashionable novelists of their times. Their preaching was with the demonstration of the SPIRIT and of POWER; consequently, multitudes listened, believed, and turned to the Lord.
It was not until the primitive Christians began to admit worldly principles of action, and to substitute the material for the spiritual, that their influence began to decrease, and their testimony to lose its power. It was the gradual substitution of the human for the divine, the material for the spiritual, that spread over Christendom for ages with papal darkness and death. During that long night of error and suffering, however, God raised up many witnesses to the sufficiency of the Holy Ghost to attract and convert men, many making long pilgrimages, and suffering great hardships, in order to visit and converse with those endued with this Divine Gift. And when at length the light of the Reformation broke over the nations, this one great lesson was again engraved on the hearts of God's chosen instruments: It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. (Zech 4. 6.) Thus, after the lapse of ages, we find the Gospel, when preached with the old power, the same mighty instrumentality, both for attracting the multitudes and converting the soul.
From the Reformation down to the present time, we find that wherever the same Gospel has been preached with the same accompanying power, the same results have followed, even when the preacher has been held captive to a false creed, or beset with hosts of opposing influences from earth and hell. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there spiritual miracles are wrought, and wherever miracles are wrought, the people will congregate - be it by the river-side, in the temple, in kirk, church, chapel, theatre, meeting-house, attic, or cellar. There is no quicker detective of the presence of the Spirit of Jesus than the spirit that works in the hearts of the children of disobedience. But He has always been more than a match for would-be exorcists. Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? (Acts 19. 15.)
You will perceive, Christian reader, that we regard this plea, that the Gospel fails to attract, as a very suspicious one. We ask those who urge it, in the light of the foregoing summary of facts, to tell us, WHY IT FAILS? We have no hesitation in saying ONLY for want of the HOLY GHOST. The great need in connection with all our organisations, societies, churches, agencies, and instrumentalities, is LIFE! LIFE!! LIFE!!! The people want a LIVING GOSPEL, preached by LIVING SPIRIT-BAPTIZED SOULS. Dare we, in the light of the past, instead of this Divine bread, give them the stone of materialism? If so we must prepare for the consequences.
Lord, if it pleases you, it pleases me. @
10:14 AM
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