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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
"What? You Don't Do Candles?"
It appears that today’s concept of religion is “long robes, stained glass, organ music, pomp and ritual.” And, I guess, candles. For some people, the church building just must have stained glass windows. The preacher must wear a long robe. And the religious service just has to include candles.
Several years ago, in a local community meeting, one of the participants was working on a special event for the sub-division in which we lived. Everyone there knew I was a preacher, and when the discussion turned to the nuts and bolts of the planned event, they found they would need candles to complete the plans. “Who better to get the candles than a preacher. He probably has a desk full of them.” In the thoughts of one person, candles are as much a part of “worship” as Bibles, song books, pews and sermons – maybe even more. You can’t worship without someone lighting candles, can you?
You should have seen the puzzled look on his face when he heard that we don’t use candles. If they had asked some other questions they would have been even more surprised. We don’t have stained glass windows, long robes or a pipe organ either. The discussion was fruitful and pleasant, but some still left wondering how any “religion” can prosper without candles.
Why is it so often the case that the very elements that supposedly typify religion are so conspicuously absent in the Bible? The trappings of modern “Christianity” are so different than what we read about the church Jesus planned, purchased and built. New Testament preachers were not separated from “laymen” by a special garment. The mechanical instruments of music so commonly seen and heard today did not appear at all in the early church. Why? For one very simple reason: Christ never authorized them – neither then nor now!
The need to have Bible authority for what we teach and practice is acknowledged by very few today. The question we might hear today is not “What has Christ authorized?” but “Does it work?”, or “Has anyone else ever tried it?” Being practical is certainly worthy of our respect, and the history of an action may prove interesting. However, there is a principle that needs to be applied to this whole subject.
“For a practice to be expedient it must first be lawful.”
For example, in law enforcement, the easiest way to stop a criminal who is running away from the police may be to shoot him in the back. In the minds of some, that would be an expedient way to do police work, but we know that, while it may be easier, it is rarely lawful. Therefore, it is not an expedient way to capture a criminal. Does it “work”? Perhaps it does, but if it is not lawful it cannot be considered “expedient.”
Candles in a worship service may very well be pretty and appealing, but where are they authorized? Where did Christ authorize them? Being pretty and appealing are not the same as having Christ’s authority.
Some may consider the sound of the pipe organ to be pretty. But “pretty” is not the issue. Did Christ authorize the use of mechanical instruments in New Testament worship? If so, where can I find that in the Bible? Long robes and backward collars may serve to set the preacher apart from the rest of the people, but it has no biblical foundation, and it cannot be an expedient matter even if it appears to “work” and seems to be acceptable to most people.
This principle may well lead to our being the object of ridicule. The look on that fellow’s face years ago when I said “We don’t do candles” was, “What kind of preacher can you be if you don’t ‘do candles’?”
Our response to the world’s attitude must be to continue to lovingly, kindly, yet steadfastly, follow biblical authority. To cave in to human opinion just to avoid scorn or rejection would not only violate our convictions so clearly obtained from scripture, but would result in one less voice speaking out for what God says about the subject!
We are no more authorized to light candles as a means of worship than to offer animal sacrifices, use angel food cake and chocolate milk in the Lord’s Supper or offer prayers to John the Baptist. How can I make such a statement? Because of what the Holy Spirit has mandated in the inspired pages of scripture:
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him,” Colossians 3:17.
That’s the Bible way. That’s the way we honor God and give thanks to Him for His wonderful love, mercy and grace.
Carl B. Garner
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“He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things,”
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I Am The New Year
I am the new year; three hundred and sixty five days of unspotted, unspoiled, and unused time. I am a clean slate of opportunity, a reflection of what might be rather than what has been. My diary contains unlimited resolutions, once made in earnest and then broken in haste. I am the fresh breeze of opportunity that blows across the fields of yesterday’s broken and forgotten promises.
My features are a mystery, for no one can tell what is in store for tomorrow. Each day brings new insight to what I will be after I have completed my journey. I am the opportunity to achieve those things which for some reason or another were left undone in the previous year.
To the financier, I am interest accumulated at a fixed percentage rate. To a student, I am that one step closer toward receiving an education. To the small child, I am another summer camp, Thanksgiving holiday, or Christmas wish. To a parent, I contain the joy of watching a child grow and mature. To the young, I am dreams and hopes dressed in daily determination. The youngster wonders why I do not come around more often; the aged wonder why I come so often. For some, this year will bring unparalleled opportunities. For others it will bring disaster and ruin. To all, it will bring us twelve months closer to eternity.
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