The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
September 7, 2003
In
This Issue:
Religious
Rigor Mortis
by
Sam Dilbeck
Strong
Opinions OR Scriptural Convictions?
by
Steve Klein
Religious Rigor Mortis
When Christians do not pray, study and grow (outside the worship or class setting), they are openly declaring their religious rigor mortis.
Rigor mortis is a post mortem condition in which the muscle tissue chemically changes and stiffens. It is a gruesome symbol of death and has earned the deceased the nickname Stiff. God's church sometimes witnesses rigor mortis in local churches and individual Christians. When churches fail to grow and be active, they show signs of religious rigor mortis. The mission of the church is three fold: evangelism, benevolence, and edification. However, many congregations tend to dwell on edifying its members to the neglect of evangelism and benevolence to their communities. Worse still is the fact that many of these churches do not edify well, failing to provoke Christians to love good works (Heb. 10:24-26).
In cases like these, religious rigor mortis has set in as the church becomes content with the status quo. Churches like this are stagnant, being content with a few services a week and their yearly gospel meeting, never pushing its members to fulfill their individual duties.
Religious rigor mortis is not just the bane of congregations, but many Christians succumb to its stiff fetters. Christians are obliged to work, serve, and grow. Failing to do these things shows rigor mortis. Some saints warm the pews at the appropriate time, but not much more. Others do not even do this, often attending less than a third of the church's assemblies. Some stagnate, thinking the good done by the church will be applied to them, regardless of the fact they do not help in the church's growth. It is certainly possible for members of a living and growing congregation to be individually dormant and thus spiritually dead.
When Christians do not pray, study, and grow (outside the worship or class setting), they are openly declaring their religious rigor mortis. These spiritual stiffs neglect their obligation to teach their neighbors, encourage their brethren, or to feed the hungry. In speaking of the judgment day, Jesus said that those saints who do not fulfill their duty to others will be told, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not" (Mat. 25:41-43).
Rigor mortis is a grim sign of death. Religious rigor mortis is a gruesome and grim sign of spiritual death. Are you a spiritual stiff plagued by religious rigor mortis? Maybe you are only starting to have stiffening of the joints (sort of a spiritual arthritis) like the church in Sardis that was dying and stiffening. Jesus encouraged them to "strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die" (Rev. 3:2). Do not let rigor mortis set in your spiritual body. Get busy working for the Lord and strengthening His church.
by Sam Dilbeck
Via The Beacon, Bellview church of Christ, Pensacola, FL
A young author went in to his editor and asked, "What do you think of my story? Give me your honest opinion." "It isn't worth anything," said the editor. "I know," said the author, "but give it to me anyway."
Everyone has opinions. When it comes to most things, opinions are fine to have, even if they aren't worth much to anyone but ourselves.
Opinions in religious matters are another matter. They can form huge obstacles to understanding the truth, preventing us from entering heaven itself. While there are areas in which God allows individuals to develop and live by their own opinions (see Romans 14), there are other areas in which there is no room for opinion. Opinions are permitted in areas where God has indicated that something is allowed but not required. For instance, eating meat is allowed by God -- he created meats to be consumed by men (1Timothy 4:3-4). But God does not now require men to eat meat. So, we may each hold our own opinions on the matter (Romans 14:3-4, 14). The issue of eating meat IS NOT the same as an issue where God has specifically legislated His will. For instance, Jesus said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved..." (Mark 16:16). There is no room for opinion here. The person who "will be saved" is the person who "believes and is baptized," not the person who only believes.
The Sadducees of Jesus' day were highly opinionated about religious matters. It was their opinion that there was no resurrection from the dead. They had formed this opinion, and had developed many rational arguments to back it up. They could probably even cite a number of Scriptures that seemed to support their position. Their opinion was strong, logical and (in their opinion) Biblically based. But they were dead wrong -- or should I say they were wrong about the dead? In Matthew 22:29, "Jesus answered and said to them, 'You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.'" The Sadducees had a strong opinion masquerading as a Scriptural conviction! Their belief had not come from a knowledge of the Scriptures.
Now the Old Testament Scriptures that the Sadducees used do not contain an abundance of plain passages on the resurrection. Jesus, in convicting the Sadducees of their error, cited Exodus 3:6 where God told Moses, "I am the God of your father; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." God said this to Moses hundreds of years after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had died. Jesus observed that "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." For God to continue to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob after these men had died, there must be an after life! One would have had to study this Old Testament passage carefully, observe the necessary inference it contains, and reflect deeply upon it in order to develop the right conviction about the resurrection. Had you been a Jew, what would you have done? Would you have gone along with the opinion of the High Priest and the sect of the Sadducees? Or would you have studied the Scriptures carefully and with an open mind in order to find the truth?
Robert Quillen observed that, "Prejudice is a device that enables you to form opinions without getting the facts." It is a sad fact of our day that many religious people are simply prejudiced -- they have strong opinions masquerading as Scriptural convictions. It is frightening to hear some folks spout off their "thinks so's" regarding what they believe to be the work and worship of the church, or the qualifications of elders, or the work of the preacher, or church discipline -- to name a few. To give some specific examples, some people are of the opinion that applause is appropriate in worship. Some think that women should take leading roles in public worship. Some believe that churches should support recreational or secular social activities. Contrary to these opinions, God specifies in Scripture what He wants in worship and it doesn't include applause. God has determined that the role of women in the worship of the church is to be silent (1 Corinthian 14:34). God has given the church a spiritual mission, not a social one -- "the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking" (Romans 14:17, cf. 1 Corinthians 11:34). They are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures. When these facts are pointed out to the opinionated Sadducees of today, some of them have the gall to respond by saying, "That's just your opinion!"
Yes, the spirit of the Sadducees lives in the opinions of men who will not seek God's truth in His word. Don't let it live in you. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV).
by Steve Klein