by Greg Gwin<\/p>\n
Imagine this: you walk into a fast-food restaurant and order a hamburger, fries, and a coke – the all-American meal! But then, you notice that it seems to take an unusually long time to get your food. Finally, the gal at the counter brings up your order – piles of food on three separate trays! “What’s all of this?” you ask. “Well,” answers the waitress, “it’s one of every item on our menu. Your bill comes to $85.68.” You protest: “I didn’t tell you to bring me all of that food!” “But,” she replies, “you didn’t tell me not to.”<\/p>\n
Could this happen? Of course not! We all know that when you specify what you want, you automatically eliminate other options. We operate with this understanding every day. In fact, this logic is so standard, that we don’t even think about it. When you order something from a catalog, call in a pizza, or write a grocery list, you naturally assume that it is understood that you want only what is specified, and nothing else.<\/p>\n
What’s the point of all this? Simply that in religious matters we ought to employ the same logic. God has perfectly revealed through His word what He wants us to do in His service. We should naturally assume that since He has told us what He wants, other things ought to be left out!<\/p>\n
For instance: What about music in worship? The New Testament specifies singing – there is no mention of instrumental music in New Testament worship. Since God has told us to sing, and nothing else, we ought to do just that. Someone answers, “But it doesn’t say not to play instruments.” The Scriptures don’t have to say “not to” – that’s the whole point!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Greg Gwin Imagine this: you walk into a fast-food restaurant and order a hamburger, fries, and a coke – the all-American meal! But then, you notice that it seems to take an unusually long time to get your food. Finally, the gal at the counter brings up your order – piles of food on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,912],"class_list":["post-60035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-silence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87639,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-silence-of-the-scriptures-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":60035,"position":0},"title":"The Silence of the Scriptures","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Trent Sherwin If we were to take a trip to our favorite drive-through fast-food restaurant and order a #1 with cheese, fries, and a Coke, and then, when we pulled up to the pay window, discovered the total was $43.59, would we have a problem with that? The obvious\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30093,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-church-to-organize-meals\/","url_meta":{"origin":60035,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong for a church to organize meals?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading through a couple of articles on your website when I ran into \"Using a Kitchen in a Rented Hall\" and I became a bit concerned. See, the church I attend has a potluck dinner every first Sunday of the month following morning services. We meet in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24305,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-always-understand-a-passage-literally\/","url_meta":{"origin":60035,"position":2},"title":"Should we always understand a passage literally?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend who told me that, when we read Bible, if it is possible for us to do so, we should take it literally, but I do not think it is always the case. For example, in Matthew 6:17, Jesus said we should \"anoint your head\" when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-wouldnt-allow-his-creation-to-kill-each-other\/","url_meta":{"origin":60035,"position":3},"title":"God wouldn’t allow His creation to kill each other","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jesus might have eaten fish, but by no means did he or God say ''Let us kill everything that walks.'' If he said that we could eat meat, then why on earth would killing a human be murder? We are all equal. That's what the Lord says. Therefore, none\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67075,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-wasting-food-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":60035,"position":4},"title":"Is wasting food a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Brother in Christ! I recently got into a discussion about the usage of food in certain parlor games and advertisement tactics. In these situations, people would buy food and use it as paraphernalia to perform the game mechanics or as a way to advertise a product. The result\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96695,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-love-of-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":60035,"position":5},"title":"The Love of Money","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier The number one enemy competing with God for control of our hearts, minds, and lives is not Baal, Molech, Zeus, or Jupiter. It is, no doubt, money. Money seems to make life easier. It promises security and protection. It claims to give happiness. It certainly gains a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}