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 The
pool hall was a hang-out for the local riffraff. The joint wasn’t
classy enough, so a billiard table was added, carpet was laid
over the cracked, wooden floor and the sign out front was
changed to read “Billiard Parlor.” The same people
frequented the place. As always, they gambled and boozed a
little on the side and the townspeople knew that “Billiard
Parlor” was a highfalutin way of saying pool hall — its
practice hadn’t changed at all.
Someone
persuaded the community, shade-tree mechanic, who knew motors
inside and out, that he should present a better image for the
sake of community. He went to a mechanics’ school and paid
good money to learn what he already knew. After graduating, the
sign on the fence which used to read “Joe’s Garage” said
“Doctor of Mechanics — Joseph C. Jones.” A certificate
hung on the wall to prove that Joe was a qualified mechanic.
Of
course, Joe still tuned an engine by sound and smell while the
electronic gadgets stood in the corner gathering dust. And if
you stood just right when you looked through the knothole in the
new sign, you could still glimpse a worn, chain hoist which hung
from the shady, old oak out back of the place.
On
some buildings hangs a sign cracked and weather beaten by time
— “Church of Christ.” This sign is supposed to signify
that Christ’s people meet there to worship God and do His
work. They are supposed to respect His authority, preach just
what “The Book” says and give “book, chapter and verse”
for everything believed and practiced.
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However,
in addition to sounds of worship and Bible teaching. one hears
kindergarten nursery rhymes, the pitter-patter of tennis shoes
in the basement gymnasium, the click of billiard balls in the
upstairs recreation room and the banging of pots and pans in the
newly acquired kitchen and fellowship hall. These are strange
and divisive noises coming from meeting places where once echoed
a unifying plea — “We speak where the Bible speaks and are
silent where the Bible is silent.”
In
attempting to defend feeding, recreation, and entertainment
programs being conducted by the church, a preacher told me that
the N.T. does not say how the “church building” is to be
used. I agree, hut this is only a quibble — the real issue is
determining the scriptural work of a congregation. If a person
understands what the work of a congregation is, he has no
difficulty understanding how its facilities are to be used.
Neither
is the issue what individual Christians may or may not do, hut
rather what a congregation may practice by God’s authority. I
do not find scriptural authority for church
kindergartens. gymnasiums, baseball teams, fellowship halls,
etc.
Methinks
that not only does the practice not fit the sign (church of
Christ) but also that the practice is a sign of change. In this
instance there should be a change of signs to fit the practice.
—— Jim R. Everett
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