April 3, 2012

1. Today I am having a study day at the Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary library in Jacksonville, Texas. This morning, I attended their chapel service to hear Albert Mohler, the well-known president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary lecture on “The Fall of Man & the Christian Message.”

            I am of the acapella tradition when it comes to public worship. Consequently, in the chapel service, I could not but be reminded again that the chief battle in Christian worship is not over acapella vs. instrumental. The combat is over reserved worship vs. expressive worship and old hymns vs. new hymns.

            The seminary chapel service was instrumental, with a piano providing the accompaniment. The hymns sung were the old classics, most of which I grew up singing. The only “expression” displayed by the participants was smiles. I thought of the number of Baptists I know who would have howled had they attended that chapel service.

            There are people in my church tradition who think that brining an instrument in would bring peace. I can assure you, it would not.            

            I have often wondered why this is so. My guess is that public worship is so intimate and so personal, when one attends an assembly that does not match up with his worship style, it is the equivalent of going out on a Sadie Hawkins date with a girl he does not like. He wants to be nice, decent, and civil to his date, but the date is more of an event to be endured than a relationship to be celebrated.

            There are good people on both sides of the issue. I wish everyone the best.

2. Incidentally, Albert Mohler’s lecture on the “Fall of Man” was very good. He is one of the better public lecturers I have heard. With his intellect, his commitment to scripture, and his ability to communicate, I can see why he is a darling to the evangelical Christian world as well as a “go-to guy” when GOOD MORNING AMERICA and other media sources desire a quote or response from the evangelical community.

3. AMC’s TV series MAD MEN returned last week. Several magazines have run cover stories on the event, including NEWSEEK. You may be asking, “Why all the fuss?” My guess is the characters fascinate people because they (the characters) are so flawed. Thus the popular culture finds them authentic.

            Perhaps the best quote I ran across concerning the series came courtesy the keyboard of Rob Sheffield of ROLLING STONE. Addressing MAD MEN’S man character, Don Draper, Sheffield wrote, "Every American wants a clean slate, but nobody wants to lose what they've got."

            I have found this observation to be spot on. Sheffield, in one sentence, has summarized the challenge facing Christianity in American culture.

            A religion, who’s founder states that for one to be saved he must die to self, will always face obstacles in a culture where no one wants to lose what he has got.

4. Surrounding the death of former MONKEES’ singer Davy Jones, I came across an interesting little factoid: by the late 1960s, Davy Jones had become so famous, a struggling singer/songwriter named David Jones decided he had to change his name. He did; he changed it to David Bowie.

5. The past few days have reminded me why I never fill out a NCAA tournament bracket. I missed every pick I had made for the Men’s Final Four. (In “Five” last week, I had selected Louisville over Kentucky, Ohio State over Kansas, and Louisville over Ohio State in the championship game.)

            I am sticking with the Baylor girls though. They’ll beat Notre Dame tonight and go 40-0.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for the title.