The Word-less “Church”

Feb 27, 2015 | W. Robert Godfrey

[Gamecock]

Many American churches are in a mess. Theologically they are indifferent, confused, or dangerously wrong. Liturgically they are the captives of superficial fads. Morally they live lives indistinguishable from the world. They often have a lot of people, money, and activities. But are they really churches, or have they degenerated into peculiar clubs?

What has gone wrong? At the heart of the mess is a simple phenomenon: the churches seem to have lost a love for and confidence in the Word of God. They still carry Bibles and declare the authority of the Scriptures. They still have sermons based on Bible verses and still have Bible study classes. But not much of the Bible is actually read in their services. Their sermons and studies usually do not examine the Bible to see what it thinks is important for the people of God. Increasingly they treat the Bible as tidbits of poetic inspiration, of pop psychology, and of self-help advice. Congregations where the Bible is ignored or abused are in the gravest peril. Churches that depart from the Word will soon find that God has departed from them.

What solution does the Bible teach for this sad situation? The short but profound answer is given by Paul in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” We need the Word to dwell in us richly so that we will know the truths that God thinks are most important and so that we will know His purposes and priorities. We need to be concerned less about “felt-needs” and more about the real needs of lost sinners as taught in the Bible.

Paul not only calls us here to have the Word dwell in us richly, but shows us what that rich experience of the Word looks like. He shows us that in three points. (Paul was a preacher, after all.)

First, he calls us to be educated by the Word, which will lead us on to ever-richer wisdom by “teaching and admonishing one another.” Paul is reminding us that the Word must be taught and applied to us as a part of it dwelling richly in us. The church must encourage and facilitate such teaching whether in preaching, Bible studies, reading, or conversations. We must be growing in the Word.

It is not just information, however, that we are to be gathering from the Word. We must be growing in a knowledge of the will of God for us: “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9). Knowing the will of God will make us wise and in that wisdom we will be renewed in the image of our Creator, an image so damaged by sin: “Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (3:10).

This wisdom will also reorder our priorities and purposes, from that which is worldly to that which is heavenly: “The hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel” (1:5). When that Word dwells in us richly we can be confident that we know the full will of God: “I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known” (1:25). From the Bible we know all that we need for salvation and godliness.

Second, Paul calls us to expressing the Word from ever-renewed hearts in our “singing.” Interestingly, Paul connects the Word dwelling in us richly with singing. He reminds us that singing is an invaluable means of placing the truth of God deep in our minds and hearts. I have known of elderly Christians far gone with Alzheimer’s disease who can still sing songs of praise to God. Singing also helps connect truth to our emotions. It helps us experience the encouragement and assurance of our faith: “That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (2:2–3).

The importance of singing, of course, makes the content of our songs vital. If we sing shallow, repetitive songs, we will not be hiding much of the Word in our hearts. But if we sing the Word itself in its fullness and richness, we will be making ourselves rich indeed. We need to remember that God has given us a book of songs, the Psalter, to help us in our singing.

Third, Paul calls us to remember the effect of the Word to make us a people with ever-ready “thanksgiving.” Three times in Colossians 3:15–17 Paul calls us to thankfulness. When the “word of Christ” dwells in us richly, we will be led on to lives of gratitude. As we learn and contemplate all that God has done for us in creation, providence, and redemption, we will be filled with thanksgiving. As we recall His promises of forgiveness, renewal, preservation, and glory, we will live as a truly thankful people.

We need the word of Christ to dwell in us richly today more than ever. Then churches may escape being a mess and become the radiant body of Christ as God intended.

[dragonblustar]

Homeschooling is best.

Have you home school your children? How did you get started?

[PieterCasparzen]

You’re in the state of Washington ?

I’d google:

homeschool “washington state”

http://www.chnow.org/index.html

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/WA/default.asp

http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/

I only have had step children so far and was divorced before I even found out about homeschooling, unfortunately.

[dragonblustar]

Thank you!! I will have to get started on this!

[steve86]

I understand but the Tri-Cities (where I live) is booming in scientific and engineering and medical positions.

[steve86]

Average salary for the above here is $110,000.

[NELSON111]

For later

[steve86]

Also, just as an aside, the school district here supports home schoolers and provide a building dedicated to the cause. A la carte teaching is available in subjects the parent does not feel adequate to teach.

[PieterCasparzen]

I wish you well.

Remember, it’s about self-education:

https://homeschoolcoach.wordpress.com/a-students-view-of-self-education/

Excerpt:

“My name is Lauren Lindsay Calderwood. I am 17 years old, a senior in high school, the second oldest of eight siblings, and an aspiring author, avid reader, and entrepreneur. My mom, Joanne Calderwood, is a popular speaker at homeschool conferences across the country, where she addresses the topic of self-teaching.
...
Q. First off, what exactly is self-teaching?

Well, strangely enough, it means I teach myself! My mom gives me the books- for example, my current textbook on psychology. I take the book, read it, follow the instructions and do all the coursework necessary to learn the material. I proceed at my own pace until I have finished the book. That’s pretty much it!

My parents know I am perfectly capable of doing this without their constant supervision; I can learn things on my own, without mom needing to look over my shoulder or, say, read my chemistry text aloud to me to make sure I understand it.”

(apologies to humblegunner for excerpting a blog - it’s just too long I don’t want to drown this FReeper with too much info too quickly, just trying to let a 17-year-old make the point !)

[PieterCasparzen]

Of course, that is not to say that you can safely ignore your childrens’ education.

Quite to the contrary -

YOU are the LEADER of YOUR homeschool.

You must supervise the education of your children and supervise it well, or you probably will not get good results, as children will need supervision and leadership in their educational activities.

Laziness is the worst enemy. Another is getting “too busy” with “other things”. You know, like TV, play, shopping, etc.

Here’s a link from the same blog with some tiny nightmare stories in the user comments...

https://homeschoolcoach.wordpress.com/mastery/

[dragonblustar]

I’ll have to look into this. My husband had been looking for a job for two years and couldn’t get anything before his company let him go. He was blessed to find a job so quickly after he was let go but we are stuck in Washington State. My son has special needs ( doctors think it might be autism ) so I need to make sure I can be able to teach him. But I’m interested in this for sure.

[dragonblustar]

Thank you! Thank you for those links!! I will read through them. My only concern is being able to teach my son. The doctors think he may have autism. I’m waiting until we get our new health insurance then I’ll do a follow up with another doctor.