Good day, my brother,<\/p>\n
With reference to “God wanted instrumental music before, so why not now?<\/a>” and the response you posted from a concerned member, I humbly suggest that this was not the best way to go about responding. Some of the things you said were rude and condescending and did not embody gentleness (II Timothy 2:25). The person asking the question stated his position without seeking to insult anyone, and you did not reciprocate this. It is our custom in the churches of Christ to hold our beliefs strongly, which is good, but sometimes, it has caused us to be more combative when faced with opposing views.<\/p>\n In the event that you are wondering what I thought was rude:<\/p>\n These are unnecessary for a minister of the gospel, even if you disagree with the person posting the question.<\/p>\n What would some unbeliever think about a church where a minister speaks like this to someone who has a question?<\/p>\n I write this lovingly because I know we are all fighting the same fight and want to make it in the end.<\/p>\n God bless you in your ministry.<\/p>\n\t The answers posted on this site serve several purposes. They answer raised questions and demonstrate to people how questions can be addressed in different situations.<\/p>\n There are several things that you missed about the original “question.”<\/p>\n Therefore, how do you deal with a false teacher? Because that is what this man is. When answering a person, you focus on what that person needs most, not what some uninvolved third party might think is best.<\/p>\n Have you ever read:<\/p>\n “He\u00a0<\/em>[John the Baptist]\u00a0said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones! Even now the axe also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.” The multitudes asked him, “What then must we do?” He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.” Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages<\/em>” (Luke 3:7-14).<\/p>\n “Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely demonized!” But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.” But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me.” But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour<\/em>” (Matthew 15:21-28).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Paul told Elymas, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?<\/em>” (Acts 13:8).<\/p>\n At times, John, Jesus, and Paul addressed people rudely and with strong words. Loving words have their place, but different situations require different techniques to reach people. When a person refuses to see the danger in front of him or has deceived himself into believing that the course he is pursuing is perfectly fine, a rude awakening is required to get him to see reality. Others may need to be tested, not for the Lord’s sake but for their own, to demonstrate the sincerity of their faith. Everyone is not treated in this fashion, but the point is that it has its place in teaching. For more on this see: The Offensive Christ<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jesus: Intolerant, Confrontational, and Exclusionary<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is why Paul told Timothy, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry<\/em>” (II Timothy 4:1-5). Preaching is not limited to exhortations. Reproof (“to expose, chasten, convict”) and rebuke (“to censure, to penalize, to punish”) also have their place.<\/p>\n My remarks about his claim of being a Christian for 20 years and demonstrating that he doesn’t know the differences between the Old and New Testaments point out that his claim for credibility doesn’t help his case.<\/p>\n My comment about his citation of Revelation 15:20 clarifies how I attempted to correct a typo on his part. We all make typos, and if I assumed the wrong verse, I wanted him to know how it came about.<\/p>\n The comment about my conclusion is to express clearly that I see his teachings as false and that his supporting arguments are unreasonable.<\/p>\n My final remark was to point out, once again, that his claim to credibility was undermined when he demonstrated an inability to establish authority properly.<\/p>\n Exposing a false teacher is necessary for a preacher. It is fine that you would have worded your reply differently had he written to you, but he wrote to me.<\/p>\n “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you<\/em>” (Titus 2:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\t I’m not against you taking the steps to deal with those you deem to be false. However, your response was different from his. With all due respect to you and your ministry, I’m highlighting the way you responded.<\/p>\n If you wish to take John’s route like what he did with the Pharisees that’s your choice to do that. My thoughts reading your reply was, “what if an unbeliever reads this?” Our goal is still to win people even if they teach things that are false or things we don’t agree with.<\/p>\n Yes, you’re right. He did write to you. Yet here I am, thousands of miles away, many years later, reading your reply.<\/p>\n Have a great one, I do hope you keep fighting the good fight.<\/p>\n\t Some seem unwilling to accept that there are different methods of leading people to Christ. If a method selected doesn’t match what they would do, it is declared “bad” even when they cannot find fault with the accuracy of what was stated.<\/p>\n Sadly, I am left with the impression that this person would be among the disciples who were more concerned about a false teacher’s reaction than about the truth.<\/p>\n “Then the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?’ But He answered and said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted’<\/em>” (Matthew 15:12-13).<\/p>\n “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, ‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’<\/em>” (John 6:60).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Good day, my brother, With reference to “God wanted instrumental music before, so why not now?” and the response you posted from a concerned member, I humbly suggest that this was not the best way to go about responding. Some of the things you said were rude and condescending and did not embody gentleness…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[127,292,1598],"class_list":["post-83194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-about-this-site","tag-instrumental-music","tag-rebukes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-okay-to-listen-to-instrumental-christian-music-outside-of-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":83194,"position":0},"title":"Is it okay to listen to instrumental “Christian” music outside of worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone asked me this question and I would like your opinion. I looked on your great web site but didn't see it addressed. A young lady asked me if it is okay to listen to \"Christian rock\" or instrumental (\"Christian\") songs outside of worship. I would appreciate your opinion.\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":50350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-record-your-own-music-with-instruments\/","url_meta":{"origin":83194,"position":1},"title":"Can you record your own music with instruments?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the Lord's church (Acts 2:41) and am fully aware and fine with the fact that instruments in worship toward God are unauthorized by Scripture (Acts 17:25), and thereby unacceptable (II John 9). However, I read your article Is playing an instrument for a person's\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":8723,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-it-is-wrong-to-use-instrumental-music-because-the-new-testament-doesnt-mention-it-then-it-would-be-wrong-to-use-electricity\/","url_meta":{"origin":83194,"position":2},"title":"If it is wrong to use instrumental music because the New Testament doesn’t mention it, then it would be wrong to use electricity.","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My brother was a member of the Church of Christ which is why I know something about their beliefs. They didn\u2019t use musical instruments when singing songs because, as he told me, musical instruments were not mentioned in the first-century church. Neither was electricity, but that sure didn\u2019t keep\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":15061,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-have-something-on-the-use-of-instrumental-music-under-the-old-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":83194,"position":3},"title":"Do you have something on the use of instrumental music under the Old Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you have any articles or sermons on the instrumental music used to worship under the Old Law? I understand that the Old Law has been done away with and we don't use instruments in today's worship, but I am just curious about the use of instrumental music 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":16846,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-go-to-a-show-and-sing-along-with-the-hymns-that-are-being-sung-with-instrumental-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":83194,"position":4},"title":"Can I go to a show and sing along with the hymns that are being sung with instrumental music?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can I go to a bluegrass show and sing along with hymns that are being sung with instrumental music? Can I play and sing hymns at home with instruments? Answer: When something is offered up to God, then it ought to be done in the manner in which God\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":15081,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-command-the-use-of-instrumental-music-under-the-old-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":83194,"position":5},"title":"Did God command the use of instrumental music under the Old Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think there was a time in the old law that God did command the use of instruments in worship to Him? Such as II Chronicles 29:25-28. Seems like there are split thoughts on this idea. Just wondering about your thoughts. There is no doubt that instruments were\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83194","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=83194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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