I just want you to understand, my mindset and my view is not about starting a revolution, making everyone see my point of view, or to get all the churches to change their format and so on. I just want others to be aware of the fact that we are no different from the other vain religions who have a great many things wrong at their core.
It’s just being honest. Wake up! We are not some special class of Christian that God has called in these last days to stand in the gap and show everyone else their faults and traditions. In fact, we have many similarities to the religious that we preach against.
If we can be honest with what we are, what we do, and why we do it, we will see who and what we really are. And perhaps that alone will convince some to seek a personal change. It’s not about membership to anyone but Christ. Your loyalty lies with Him. If your church is doing things wrong or following traditions, you have every biblical right in the world to seek other means of worship and fellowship. The Bible, the Word of God, gives you this right and admonition in Paul’s letters.
We paint the good pictures, that is what is so prevalent about human nature. We will always make it out to be better than it actually is. “God is doing so much!” “God has given us this church!” “God has blessed us in allowing us to meet like this!” In many cases, it’s all lip service. I’m telling you. It’s all done to perpetuate the traditions.
Now, do these pastors and Christian workers in our church really have a heart for God? Yes! Do they want to do something for Him? Yes! Do they have a good heart about their desires? Possibly! But what if many of our ways are just plain wrong and far removed from what the body of Christ was meant to be? Does it not warrant a discussion? What if we haven’t found it? What if this isn’t it?
So lets breakdown an average, standard mode of service for any week of a typical, Independent Fundamental Baptist. Maybe throw in a few special services for good measure, and examine it.
The first day of the week, time to get up, get the kids dressed in their monkey suits (Sunday Best), make sure your wife is dressed modestly and with shame facedness. We must get to the “house of God” on time. We have to be punctual, and a good steward of God’s time.
Sunday School starts at 10am in most churches, usually proceeded by a few announcements, then the departing of the varied Sunday School classes. The segregating of the kids by their ages, removing them from their mom and dad for Joe Somebody’s take on the gospel and salvation.
Oh, and your kids will have to wade through more filth than they get on primetime TV by being involved in the Hyles-esque bus ministries with kids who have no real interest in being there aside from getting away from their neglectful or abusive parents and getting candy bars from the teachers. As sad as the state of affairs are in this world, we are not to reform or restore society's ills. These sorts of endeavors are not supposed to be our focus.
Sunday School in fact first started with a man named Robert Raikes in the late 1700's. He began it as a educational day for poor kids. The textbook was indeed a Bible, which later led to the catechism of Anglican theology. D.L. Moody later popularized its use and it is now widely accepted everywhere and quite literally in every denomination. So why do we do it? Because of some biblical principal, or because of man?
After Sunday School, is a very brief time of fellowship, then meeting for the main service. Here, we sit and stare at the back of peoples heads, stand when prompted for prayer or hymns. Then there are the ushers, collection plates and the offerings for your “tithes”, a long practiced church ritual that began in some cases as early as the 1600’s. However, tithing as a regular practice and standard way of doing the “offerings” were non-existent until the Presbyterians in the late 1800’s (Hogshead, Pratt) began practicing it regularly. Soon after, it began showing up and accepted in almost all Protestant denominations. So why do we do it?
After the offerings, we have a few more songs and maybe some special music to soften the heart before the preaching. A practice that began with Methodist preachers from the 17th century. Men like Charles Wesley used this tactic.
I will pause here to say that I am not rabidly against such men and tactics. But we are ALL following others who were in no way like we are in theology or common belief of salvation. And then we chime on about how biblical we are but we can’t find our practices in the scriptures with a flash light. We are doing these things because of men, not because of the Bible. And we surely did not pick up our practices from Baptists that succeeded from Paul as Landmarkism teaches.
So, to continue, after our hearts are made ready, our wallets picked, and our kids indoctrinated, it is now time for the preaching. The pastor gets behind the pulpit and preaches. The sermon is the focal point of the message, the man and his personality are given the preeminent position for 45 minutes to and hour. Again, another character trait we gobbled up from Reformers and Protestants coming out of the 17th century. So when did we start doing it this way?
After the sermon comes the altar call, usually accompanied by music, where mourning sinners are directed to come to the “mourners bench”, the “anxious bench”, or the altar for various reasons. D.L. Moody began using hymns at the close of sermons with an altar call like this in the late 1800‘s. People are directed to come for salvation, help, direction, counsel, etc. None of this was practiced until men like Charles Finney and D.L. Moody in the 1830’s. So why do we do these things? Some biblical command in the NT, or man?
Once “people have dealt with God”, the sermon comes to a close, handshakes and “see you tonight"'s are said. Then people go home for a little bit of rest on Sunday, only to get back to it later at the Sunday Night service around 6pm, 5pm, for most official staff and choir folk. We have another Methodist, John Wesley, to thank for this addition of the Sunday night service in the 1700’s which correlates with the use of gas for light. Might as well right?
Most Sunday night services or mid-week services today consist of pastors pet peeves, missionary presentations, evangelistic openings, Bible studies, or an off-shoot of ministerial activities. So why do we meet on Sunday nights? Some passage of scripture, or something in Paul’s letters?
Later in the month, you may have some special services, revivals or faith promise mission conferences, youth rallies, etc. Men such as Charles Finney, D.L. Moody, and their era gave us all that as well! So, not saying it is all bad, or that these men were evil, just pointing out that it is not originally Baptist or even a biblical precept to follow.
At these special services, you may be introduced to a great many things. Faith Promise giving, which is devoid of any Bible, is one of the newest traditions that is being practiced in many churches. It hails from the early 1960’s and 70’s and is right out of the evangelical fundamentalist playbook, received from the Southern Baptists from their Charismatics forefathers, (J. Oswald Smith, A.B. Simpson).
These practices have their origins somewhere, and they are not found in the Bible. We are following other men in many ways, because there seems to be logic in it. How is this not pragmatism?
In these “meetings”, you may be introduced to modern missions, with much talk of an unfulfilled Great Commission. Without getting into it, much of this is just 1920’s fundamentalism that borders on the edge of corrupting the gospel of the grace of God. These special meetings might have a unusually strong revivalistic, evangelistic tone. This was something that has become common with revivals thanks to men like George Whitfield in the 1700’s, another Methodist.
At a special meeting, you may be advised to seek God’s will concerning Bible school, or seminary in training for full time Christian service. Talk of “full time” Christian service, the ministry, is a fairly new term that came from Spurgeon and Moody between 1880-1886. I’m just pointing out that we have our traditional observations like everyone else.
At a special meeting, you may be strongly urged to get more involved in outreach, i.e. door-to-door visitation, street preaching, tract blitzing, and constantly pushing people for decision. Much of this sentiment and philosophy of preaching and practices came from men like D.L. Moody between 1837-1899.
The things we believe now were unheard of before these men began them. As great as some of these men were, some were dangerously close to perverting the gospel of our Lord.
Modern Missions or men associated with it, like Carey, Edwards, Taylor, Groves, etc., were from the time primarily between 1750 to now. There was no modern missions before. There was not even a similar thought vein among Christianity. No one was going anywhere! Not even in Acts!
In short, and with respect, William Carey wrote something in the 1500’s about going to the heathen, men in the 1700's and 1800's perfected this form of missions based on Careys concept and some misapplied scriptures in the gospels, and since then missions has been read into every NT passage where it can be to defend it.
My point in all this is that us Independent Bible Believing, Fundamental, missions-minded churches are all following patterns that we received from other men, some with very pragmatic views. They were seeing fruit, so they continued, plain and simple. No biblical grounding or substantiated NT doctrine was compelling them. Just “Well, it seems to be bearing fruit, so let’s continue on.”
We do nothing today in our churches because it is biblical or doctrinal. If we did, the churches would be altogether different, and closer to a more biblical pattern, and a less secular, religious pattern. But c’mon, we all know that will never happen. We resemble OT Judaism more efficiently with our works and traditions then we do NT Christianity. In fact, from what I read in the Word of God about the body of Christ, and how it is to function, I don’t think I have ever experienced it the way Christ and Paul meant for us to. I don’t think any of us have. We are too blasted religious. Many of us are just to American, spoiled, rich, and blinded.
The independent fundamentalist has nothing more than a hodge podge of a pick-and-choose belief structure which is loosely based on bible passages and other men from previous ages, just like all the rest of the religions out there.
Statements of faith resound enough with ordinances and offices to sound legitimate. But really examined, it’s just more catechisms, and what I like to call a New Priesthood.
Some of these statements include commissions, pastoral authority, commands on tithing, mandates on street preaching, false gospels, and mumbo jumbo on Acts and missions. Completely perverting the Bible and starving the body of Christ of true growth in their Lord.
“Bible believing”, and “Independent”? Well, they seem to just be catch phrases now.
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