In January, 1902 or 1903, I was preaching for the Pearl and Bryan Streets Church
in Dallas. Brother McGarvey, an old man at the time, was invited to speak at the
Central Christian Church in Dallas. We had three men in the Pearl and Bryan
Streets church who had graduated from the College of the Bible in Lexington,
under Brother McGarvey, and they were great admirers of him. They suggested that
we invite Brother McGarvey to preach at Pearl and Bryan that night. We did
so.
I was just a boy 24 or 25 then. I was sitting by the side of
this great old man on the front seat, waiting for the service to begin. As we
sat there talking, Brother McGarvey said to me: “Brother Sewell, I want to say
something to you, if you’ll accept it in the spirit in which I mean it.” I told
him Id appreciate anything he had to say to me. He said about these words: “You
are on the right road, and whatever you do, don’t ever let anybody persuade you
that you can successfully combat error by fellowshipping it and going along with
it. I have tried. I believed at the start that was the only way to do it. I’ve
never held membership in a congregation that uses instrumental music. I have,
however, accepted invitations to preach without distinction between churches
that used it and churches that didn’t. I’ve gone along with their papers and
magazine and things of that sort. During all these years I have taught the truth
as the New Testament teaches it to every young preacher who has passed through
the College of the Bible. Yet, I do not know of more than six of those men who
are preaching the truth today.” He said, “It won’t work.”
Sow the Seed Faithfully,
Caleb
3 comments:
Whenever I read this anecdote, I feel bad for McGarvey. Here was a rather intelligent biblical scholar, and it took quite a while to figure out the futility of his work at least on the instrument question.
But, perhaps its the naivety that men have in other people; especially religious people. You expect people who follow the Scriptures, to believe biblical precepts and impressions.
Here's a thought I have considered since reading that confession of failure. Very few - if any - today could "pull off" the kind of preaching itinerary he had without loosing all kinds of credibility in his scholarly writings (Authorship of Deuteronomy, Biblical Criticism, Christian Evidences, Fourfold Gospel, Commentary on Matthew-Mark, Commentary on Acts, and the New Commentary on Acts [2 vols]).
I think a certain temperament has developed that encourages distance between those we disagree with, instead of the openness that was seems to have been available in the early days of the American church of Christ.
"In all things charity" was more than a tag-line, and its evident in situations likes this. Circumstances are very different these days. Not trying to advocate its return... it is just an observation.
Lot's of good points here, but I will concentrate on just one: "I think a certain temperament has developed that encourages distance between those we disagree with, instead of the openness that was seems to have been available in the early days of the American church of Christ."
I wrote a long response and just deleted it. It was a dissection of the entire “restoration movement” and its strengths and weaknesses. Let me try and summarize the situation amongst us right now, and don’t run too far with what I’m saying (this is not a full exegetical theology on fellowship). There was a time of much open fellowship like McGarvey had with those in the Christian church. This degree of “openness,” McGarvey determined was a failure. Now we are suffering the effects of the old pendulum that has swung fully the other way. Now there is a “temperament” amongst a good many that has closed off all links to everyone and anyone who a set group deems a “false teacher.” SOOOO much more could be said on this, but that’s for another day.
You comment has hit a soft spot, and an area of inconsistency, amongst many. Is it possible we have closed off too many lines of communication? Is it possible we have written some people off too quickly? I fear the answer is yes, and all of this in the name of not making the opposite mistake. WOW – so much to think about and so much more to say! Brick by brick my fellow citizens
Sow the Seed,
Caleb
I have been following your blog for a little while now. I, too, was raised in the Churches of Christ and am very familiar with all of your reasoning in scripture. But, if I could, in love as God tells us to, just tell you about my journey with instruments. I know that the use of instruments is a big deal in the Churches of Christ. And, I also know exactly what scriptures you would give me if I disagree with you. I am a third generation, maybe more, on both sides of my family, a Church of Christ member, or should I say, was.
I am not here to debate you, because I feel that debating is wrong because it is never done in love. But, here I go...
A tiny event happened in my life to cause me to re-study the subject of instruments. I know that you are very familiar with Hebrew and Greek. But, i was not. So, i took my Greek/Hebrew dictionary and looked up every word in the two verses that we use to support the view of "instrumental sin." Every word except hymn has the word instrument in it. At first, that scared me because that is what i was taught all of my life: fear. So, i prayed like crazy and asked that God would open up my heart and not allow me to cling to prejudices that I was taught, but what He wanted me to see.
This thought kept coming up in my mind. If instruments are a sin in worship, then they are a sin ALL of the time. Our lives should be a worship to God, not just on Sunday mornings, nights and Wednesday nights. If I believe that God doesnt like instruments in worship then He wouldn't like them at all; at any time in our lives. Is it okay, then, that we worship with no instruments in the building, but then immediately after service is over, to jump in our cars and turn on the radio and listen to our country music, rap, R&B or even christian music?
If God doesnt want it in our corporate worship, why would He want it at all? He is the same God out of the building that He is in the building.
If instruments are a sin, then why are "harpists playing their harps" in Heaven in Revelation 14:2? And, why is Jesus going to come with the "sound of a trumpet"? 1 Cor. 15:52.
I dont think that you HAVE to use instruments, but I would be careful to condemn people who do. Because it is with the heart that we worship Him, even if our voices couldn't work.
I would urge you to just study it again. Even though I dont attend a Church of Christ anymore, I still have many family and friends who go and I love them very much.
All for Him.
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