Preferences or Truth

I received the following e-mail from my brother:

Morning Russ,

I was reading a passage in 2 Samuel 6 that read…

NIV
5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

The New King James
5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cistrums, and on cymbals.

…and I thought of you. I’ve heard you talk of the grief people give the church staff on the type of music played or the instruments used. I think you mentioned the above verse to me before.

I think we church goers have a tendency to lose focus of our own duties/service and find things wrong with the way others perform their service. It kind of reminds me of little children in school that are always worried about some other child not doing what the teacher says. And what does the teacher say? You take care of yourself and everything will be OK.

I would think that if our relationship with God is where it should be; he would have us so busy doing his work we wouldn’t have time to find things wrong with others. Nick-picking about music or an earring, I would think requires too much ‘trying to find something wrong’. There is enough ‘real’ trouble in people’s lives (because satan’s attack on the church) without the need to nick-pick.

Any way keep up the good work and stay the course that obviously has been given you by God.

Love you brother,
Pete

I appreciated his words of encouragement. I believe he is revealing a lot of insight and truth regarding the strife in many churches. It’s not that styles of music are right or wrong. However, we make our traditions truth when in reality they are preferences. Ironically, Jesus spent more time confronting the religious leaders of his day than he did in judgment for the lost. They were locked in their traditions. In Luke 11:46, Jesus said:

“Yes, what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden."

We spend way too much time in our churches complaining and arguing about the way things are done and not enough time being creative in thinking of ways to reach a world that is desperately in need of Christ.