CAN THE CHURCH PROVIDE RECREATION AND ENTERTAINMENT?
By David J. Riggs
Intro.
A. Many churches are zealously providing recreation and/or
entertainment today; e.g., they have their kitchens,
fellowship halls, and athletic buildings.
1. They seem to think that the end justifies the means;
however, we can not do evil that good may come. Rom. 3:8
B. In this lesson, we want to look at why the church (from its
treasury) cannot furnish recreation or entertainment. (See
chart below).
I. IT IS NOT THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH.
A. Jesus did not come to entertain. Luke 19:10 Jesus himself said,
["for the Son of
Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."] THIS IS THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH.. To seek and save that which is lost.. We will be studying some of the specified, and, authorized WORKS to carry out this MISSION..
1. The gospel is God's power to save.
Rom. 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who
believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
2. A specified work of the church is to uphold, defend, and
proclaim the truth which saves men's souls.
1 Tim. 3:15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may
know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of
God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the Truth .
a. The church is to edify. Eph. 4:16 from whom the whole
body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working by
which every part does its share, causes growth of the
body for the edifying of itself in love.
b. It is to aid its own members. 1 Tim. 5:16 If any believing
man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do
not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those
who are really widows.
II. THERE IS NO AUTHORITY FOR IT.
A. We must respect the silence of the Scriptures. 1 Pet. 4:11;
If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If
anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God
supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through
Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
2 John 9-11 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the
doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the
doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.10 ¶ If
anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not
receive him into your house nor greet him;11 for he who
greets him shares in his evil deeds.
1. We are not to think of men above that which is written. 1Cor. 4:6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively
transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you
may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that
none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the
other.
2. Rev. 22:18 - For I testify to everyone who hears the words
of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these
things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in
this book;
Not only is "rewriting" the Scriptures wrong, but to teach
something as though it came from the Scriptures is also
adding to the word.
3. Heb. 11:30 - By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after
they were encircled for seven days. The Israelites trusted
that if they did it God's way, it would accomplish the
divinely intended results.
B. Some say, "It is not expressly forbidden."
1. They are looking for: "The church CANNOT provide
recreation and entertainment."
a. The Lord only stated what he wanted, not all the things
He does not want.
b. The assumption that we can do whatever is not expressly
forbidden opens the doors for anything under the sun.
c. Lets use an example of a mother sending a child to the
store to get milk and bread.. she gives the child a 20
dollar bill to pay for the bread and milk. Well the child
figures that cookies go good with milk so he got some..
Lunch meats go good with bread so he got some.. He
wound up spending all the 20 dollars..
Did He do his mothers will ? NO- he did his own will.. He
ADDED to what his mother had told him.. Brethren, God has
given us a pattern, A blue print, Specifications on what He built His church for and what it is to do to carry out that mission..
To deviate from it is death, separation from God.
2Jn 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the
doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in
the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and
the Son.
An example of two who did that which God did not command..
Lev 10;1-2 ¶ Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
III. IT IS NOT "CHURCH BUSINESS."
A. The church does have a "business."
Jesus told his parents in Lk 2;49 And He said to them, "Why
did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My
Father's business?"
Acts 6:3 "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you
seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and
wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
1. Paul made a difference between the social and the
spiritual.
1 Cor. 11:22,34 WHAT! Do you not have houses to eat
and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and
shame those who have nothing? What shall I say
to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. 23 ¶
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to
you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He
was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given
thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body
which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper,
saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do,
as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as
often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. 27 Therefore
whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in
an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord.28 But let a man examine himself, and so let
him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who
eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks
judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.30 For
this reason many are weak and sick among you, and
many sleep.31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would
not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are
chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned
with the world.33 Therefore, my brethren, when you come
together to eat, wait for one another. 34 But if anyone is
hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for
judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.
2. Foot washing belongs to the social things of the home.
1Tim. 5:10 well reported for good works: if she has brought
up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed
the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has
diligently followed every good work.
a. Likewise, this is where recreation and entertainment
belong.
IV. IT IS TO PUT NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HOLY
AND THE COMMON.
Ezek. 22;26 "Her priests have violated My law and profaned
My holy things; they have not distinguished between the
holy and unholy, nor have they made know the difference
between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden
their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned
among them.
A. The church providing recreation and entertainment is not
in the New Testament which was sealed by the blood of
Christ.
Matt. 26:28;
"For this is My blood of the new covenant,which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Heb. 9:16-18 Therefore not even the first covenant was
dedicated without blood.19 For when Moses had spoken
every precept to all the people according to the law, he
took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet
wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and
all the people,
1. All things used in God's service must be sealed with the
blood.
B. The church providing recreation and entertainment is
"common" and cannot be part
of the work and worship of the church.
V. IT LEADS AWAY FROM SPIRITUALITY.
A. It substitutes:
1. Food for the stomach for food for the soul.
2. Play and laughter for worship and spiritual songs.
3. Fun and frolic for meditation and prayer.
B. Phil. 3:19;
whose end is destruction, whose god is theirbelly, and whose glory is in their shame-- who set their
mind on earthly things.
2 Tim. 3:4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,
1. "If you win them on a hotdog, you've got to keep them on
a hotdog."
VI. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM.
Rom 14;17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and
drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit.
John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.
If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so
that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My
kingdom is not from here."
A. One lady said that she would not let her children ride on the
"church" bus anymore because, "It's too hard on my
children's teeth."
1.The "liberals" were offering candy to entice children to ride
on their bus to services.
B. Jesus did not approve of the people who were seeking Him
to obtain food.
John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs,
but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.27 "Do not
labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which
endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give
you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."
1."Churches today are more interested in healing the sores on
Lazarus, than changing the heart of the rich man."
2. "Jesus didn't come to get the people out of the slums, but
the slums out of the people."
VII. THE BIBLE TERM "FELLOWSHIP" IS NEVER USED IN
REFERENCE TO RECREATION OR ENTERTAINMENT.
A. It is a spiritual fellowship based on gospel teaching.
1 John 1:3-4 that which we have seen and heard we declare
to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly
our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus
Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may
be full.
1. Jesus died on the cross to bring spiritual fellowship, not to
bring people together to drink coffee, and to eat donuts.
2. A man of the "liberal" persuasion complained, "The smell
of food distracted me from my worship."
a. The problem was that some were preparing the food
during the services for their "fellowship" meal which was
to follow immediately after the services.
3. Remember Paul's words.
1 Cor. 11:34. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home,
lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will
set in order when I come.
a. The Lord's church is not a social club, but a soul-saving
institution. SEEKING AND SAVING THAT WHICH IS LOST..
VIII. CHURCH-FURNISHED ENTERTAINMENT AND
RECREATION HAS NOT ADDED TO THE GROWTH OF
THE CHURCHES GIVEN TO SUCH.
A. Bemoaning the fact of slow growth, someone said, "Maybe
it would not be out of order to stop cooking in our church
kitchens; stop playing in our athletic buildings; and call for
an old-fashioned prayer meeting, get back to God, back
to the Bible, on fire with real love in our hearts for lost
souls."
B. The entertainment projects go over big for a time, but in
the final analysis, they introduce worldly things into the
church.
1. It encourages worldliness in the hearts of people.
1 John 3:17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees
his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how
does the love of God abide in him?
IX. IT IS A NEW THING.
A. Several years ago church-furnished entertainment was
opposed by gospel preachers in terms nobody
misunderstood.
1. B.C. Goodpasture, in an editorial in the Gospel Advocate,
May 20, 1948 said, "It is not the mission of the church to
furnish amusement for the world, or even for its own
members...The church would come off a poor second, if it
undertook to compete with institutions established for the
express purpose of entertaining people. Only as the
church becomes worldly, as it pillows its head on the lap
of Delilah, will it want to turn from its wanted course, to
relatively unimportant matters."
2. Old time gospel preachers would ridicule the
denominations by saying, "You have started a new
office. "When they asked, "What new office?" they replied,
"A church cook!"
Concl.
A
. Our forefathers wrote the constitution of our country in sucha way that there would always be separation of church and
state.
1. Today, modern man has the problem of wanting to join
church and home.
2. The results are more devastating than joining church and
state.
a. Church-provided recreation and entertainment has
caused a loss of spirituality among the churches. It has
brought a flood of worldliness into the churches.
b. The end result is that souls are ruined, lost, and damned
eternally.
B. Let us seek the old paths which have been set forth by our
Creator, and not the ways of our own devising.
Prov. 16:25; ¶ There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Jer. 6:16; Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And
walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they
said, 'We will not walk in it.'
Jer 10;23 O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
John 4;24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth."
"Chart:"
Why The Church Cannot Provide Recreation & Entertainment
Not the Mission of the Church
Silence of the Scripture Forbids It
It is not "Church Business"
Putting no Difference between Holy & Common
Kingdom of God is Spiritual
Leads Away From Spirituality
Term "Fellowship" is Never so Used
Has Not Added to the Growth of Churches
It is a New Thing
Let us do what the Lord has said and not add to or take away from, Because Jesus said in Matt 7;21 ¶ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
He also said in Jn 12;48
"He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.