Scott Bushey
Puritanboard Commissioner
Skirting the Issues
by Laurence Windham
(Taken from Highlands Study Center periodical)
Here is my assignment for this column just as it was given me from my Editor: “Laurence, for ‘Ekklesia’, write about how the whole church has become one big skirted prophet, always trying to make nice with the world.”
Overall, that is the picture. The church has become this vacillating organization that moves with the ebb and flow of the culture. This is caused by the leadership rationalizing that they have a responsibility to compromise to keep up with the times, remain relevant to the next generation, and not become obsolete.
Personified, the church is a silly woman so infatuated by the World that she abandons her former training and character, and dresses and acts like a floozy in a pathetic attempt to please her pagan boyfriend. When you read a church sign that says, “Traditional worship service at 10:00, Contemporary Worship at 11:00” She is essentially saying, “Whatever you want.” (Who are these signs for anyway?)
Modem church growth literally came from the church hanging out at the mall with all the worldly boy-toys. She learned what they liked, how they dressed, their slang, their attitude, their interests, and decided to become like them rather than keep her chastity.
As a father, I watch my girls grow through different stages. One daughter will begin to be a bit tomboyish; another will start to become porcelain, way too delicate. As we view these things, our responsibility is to toughen where necessary and to soften when required. Our goal is to raise godly daughters who look and act like the righteous women in the Scriptures. We are preparing little brides-for Christ. (And therefore, for godly men.)
The church is the same way. She is the bride of Christ. Therefore, she must desire to please Him. Not the world. Prophets help tremendously to facilitate this process. (When they are listened to.) Here at the Highlands Study Center, we are often perceived as being mean because we essentially write within these pages for the church to stop acting like a whore. (Tough language? Check out what God calls Israel when she started living like the world.)
I just cannot help but believe that the reason behind the loss of manliness in the church is because the modern evangelical household sends their children to public school, the wife is employed and under authorities other than her husband, and the typical Christian male is a weenie. This combination results in the world training the children; the wife conditioned to assert herself over her husband (which exacerbates the original curse on the woman), and the typical Christianian male to be a weenie. Which naturally means that the church must change to accommodate the empowered women, the worldly children, and let the weenies think they are still in charge.
You see, the biblical alternative is to catechize your children, wives to obey their husbands, and men to find their testosterone in the Scriptures. And since this takes a transformation of weenies to men, well, you can see why we are at times sound pessimistic. That is also why we are working hard to ensure that our own prodigy are stronger and more righteous than ourselves. If you think the present-day writers of Every Thought Captive are opinionated as to the who, what, and how of the Christian life, start warning your kids now about Campbell, Ethan, Caleb, Christopher, Matthew, Hannah, Glenn, Darby, and the rest of the cavalry just over yon horizon.
Let’s ask the question again. Why did Time and Newsweek magazines do front page stories 20 years ago on people returning to church on their own terms? Why did the founders of the modern seeker services go out on the street and ask pagans what it would take for them to enjoy church? The answer again is that we have had several generations raising their posterity to love the world and not to love God. To say this is not to champion irrelevance, boredom, incompetence, legalism, exclusive psalmody, frigidity, unsalted eggs or weak beer. I would be the first to agree that God is not boring and His church shouldn’t be either. People make church boring and irreverent. Anything man-centered cannot help but be so. But we don’t change this correctly by compromising our distinctives.
Recently I stopped by our local cigar shop for a visit. After the normal conversational pleasantries, talk turned to an altercation one of the fellows had had at one of Cigar Aficionado’s Big Smoke festivals. Hosted and housed in a national hotel, with signs celebrating and announcing the event posted everywhere, our fellow exercised his temporary immunity and fired up a big ‘un. No sooner had he done this than a protest arose from gaggle right there in the lobby. After he had recounted his story I remarked that what should have happened was that the women present should have been so elated to see a real man he should have had to fend them off!
But few women want men who exude timeless masculinity. Just as few believers these days recognize and honor God centered education, lifestyle and worship. Reason one, why the Church, infected with worldly feminism, would rather eat apples every day than walk with God in the garden. “It is time for every good man to come to the aid of his church.” It is time, gentlemen, to get rough and rowdy. Break the apron strings; it is “tea time” no longer. Put on some Levis. Pull on some boots. Pour yourself some scotch. Forgo shaving. Start wearing flannel. Light up a stogie. Try a Tarzan yell. Do these things spiritually or literally or emotionally, or metaphorically, or mix it up and keep everyone guessing. Start asking your pastor and elders and teachers strong questions. Hand out back issues of ETC and Credenda/Agenda. Start quoting Luther, Calvin, Gerstner, Schlissel, Nehemiah, and John the Presbyterian.
Begin home schooling. Have your wife cover her head in church. (Whether you agree with the practice or not—it freaks people out.) Don’t send your kids to Sunday school. But prepare yourself. Those guys carrying purses aren’t gonna like it.
by Laurence Windham
(Taken from Highlands Study Center periodical)
Here is my assignment for this column just as it was given me from my Editor: “Laurence, for ‘Ekklesia’, write about how the whole church has become one big skirted prophet, always trying to make nice with the world.”
Overall, that is the picture. The church has become this vacillating organization that moves with the ebb and flow of the culture. This is caused by the leadership rationalizing that they have a responsibility to compromise to keep up with the times, remain relevant to the next generation, and not become obsolete.
Personified, the church is a silly woman so infatuated by the World that she abandons her former training and character, and dresses and acts like a floozy in a pathetic attempt to please her pagan boyfriend. When you read a church sign that says, “Traditional worship service at 10:00, Contemporary Worship at 11:00” She is essentially saying, “Whatever you want.” (Who are these signs for anyway?)
Modem church growth literally came from the church hanging out at the mall with all the worldly boy-toys. She learned what they liked, how they dressed, their slang, their attitude, their interests, and decided to become like them rather than keep her chastity.
As a father, I watch my girls grow through different stages. One daughter will begin to be a bit tomboyish; another will start to become porcelain, way too delicate. As we view these things, our responsibility is to toughen where necessary and to soften when required. Our goal is to raise godly daughters who look and act like the righteous women in the Scriptures. We are preparing little brides-for Christ. (And therefore, for godly men.)
The church is the same way. She is the bride of Christ. Therefore, she must desire to please Him. Not the world. Prophets help tremendously to facilitate this process. (When they are listened to.) Here at the Highlands Study Center, we are often perceived as being mean because we essentially write within these pages for the church to stop acting like a whore. (Tough language? Check out what God calls Israel when she started living like the world.)
I just cannot help but believe that the reason behind the loss of manliness in the church is because the modern evangelical household sends their children to public school, the wife is employed and under authorities other than her husband, and the typical Christian male is a weenie. This combination results in the world training the children; the wife conditioned to assert herself over her husband (which exacerbates the original curse on the woman), and the typical Christianian male to be a weenie. Which naturally means that the church must change to accommodate the empowered women, the worldly children, and let the weenies think they are still in charge.
You see, the biblical alternative is to catechize your children, wives to obey their husbands, and men to find their testosterone in the Scriptures. And since this takes a transformation of weenies to men, well, you can see why we are at times sound pessimistic. That is also why we are working hard to ensure that our own prodigy are stronger and more righteous than ourselves. If you think the present-day writers of Every Thought Captive are opinionated as to the who, what, and how of the Christian life, start warning your kids now about Campbell, Ethan, Caleb, Christopher, Matthew, Hannah, Glenn, Darby, and the rest of the cavalry just over yon horizon.
Let’s ask the question again. Why did Time and Newsweek magazines do front page stories 20 years ago on people returning to church on their own terms? Why did the founders of the modern seeker services go out on the street and ask pagans what it would take for them to enjoy church? The answer again is that we have had several generations raising their posterity to love the world and not to love God. To say this is not to champion irrelevance, boredom, incompetence, legalism, exclusive psalmody, frigidity, unsalted eggs or weak beer. I would be the first to agree that God is not boring and His church shouldn’t be either. People make church boring and irreverent. Anything man-centered cannot help but be so. But we don’t change this correctly by compromising our distinctives.
Recently I stopped by our local cigar shop for a visit. After the normal conversational pleasantries, talk turned to an altercation one of the fellows had had at one of Cigar Aficionado’s Big Smoke festivals. Hosted and housed in a national hotel, with signs celebrating and announcing the event posted everywhere, our fellow exercised his temporary immunity and fired up a big ‘un. No sooner had he done this than a protest arose from gaggle right there in the lobby. After he had recounted his story I remarked that what should have happened was that the women present should have been so elated to see a real man he should have had to fend them off!
But few women want men who exude timeless masculinity. Just as few believers these days recognize and honor God centered education, lifestyle and worship. Reason one, why the Church, infected with worldly feminism, would rather eat apples every day than walk with God in the garden. “It is time for every good man to come to the aid of his church.” It is time, gentlemen, to get rough and rowdy. Break the apron strings; it is “tea time” no longer. Put on some Levis. Pull on some boots. Pour yourself some scotch. Forgo shaving. Start wearing flannel. Light up a stogie. Try a Tarzan yell. Do these things spiritually or literally or emotionally, or metaphorically, or mix it up and keep everyone guessing. Start asking your pastor and elders and teachers strong questions. Hand out back issues of ETC and Credenda/Agenda. Start quoting Luther, Calvin, Gerstner, Schlissel, Nehemiah, and John the Presbyterian.
Begin home schooling. Have your wife cover her head in church. (Whether you agree with the practice or not—it freaks people out.) Don’t send your kids to Sunday school. But prepare yourself. Those guys carrying purses aren’t gonna like it.
