Bulletin

Was It a
Deconstructive/Reconstruction
Service?
JACKIE STEARSMAN

Deconstruction is a catch all term that has to do with dismantling a given institution (church) and reconstructing it after contemporary subjective views. If you are not familiar with the term, go to the internet and look up discussions on Post Modernism and the Emerging Church for influences in the religious world in general.

Unless I am greatly deceived, I sat through about twenty minutes of a service among our brethren that was designed to dismantle the "traditional" practice of evening services and replace them with a contemporary non "dogmatic worship" service that could not in any way be patterned after the teachings of New Testament.

Impressions

The first thing noticed was that the few who gathered were apologetic for having a traditional service, but felt it was still needed so those traveling might be unable to worship on Sunday evening having traveled all day. The second thing that caught the attention was how shabbily the few gathers were dressed for what I considered to be worship. The activity began with no singing, no Bible reading, and with the supposed teacher being absent. We were informed that the congregation met in small groups at different locations on Sunday evening. When the teacher did not arrive, a young man said that was no problem for he had the lesson plan for the evening events.

"Lesson"

The outlined lesson was as follows: (1) What is your favorite season of the year, and why? (2) Who was your hero when you were young, and tell how you tried to imitate them? (3) What was your first job? No Bible characters or themes ever surfaced in the testimonials.

At this point, someone suggested that they might offer the Lord's Supper, and the immediate response was that no one had prepared it, but then it was acknowledged that it had been prepared and was behind the teacher who was seated with seats arranged around him in the center. The teacher then asked his "straight man" to lead a prayer. The words of the prayer were to express a number of times the "Awesomeness" of God, and then many requests that the Holy Spirit would speak through the teacher, and perhaps all assembled. At this point we excused ourselves and left disappointed that we did not get to worship with brethren of like precious faith.

Reflective Questions

(1) If I am convinced that God is AWESOME, would I not like to hear what He had to say in His one and only Volume, the Bible? (2) If I am convinced that the Awesome God gave his Son to die for my sins, and set up a memorial to be commemorated, would not I take an interest in being sure that it was approached with the reverence demanded (1 Cor. 11:17-34)? (3) If I am convinced that God is an Awesome God, should my dress and conduct reflect that when I come to worship, assuming worship was my intention when gathered with others for the same purpose? (4) Since that experience, I have wondered if Saul of Tarsus, or the Jewish Sanhedrin would have felt threatened by such an assembling, and would they feel a need to mobilize to have it stopped? (5) In the parables spoken by our Lord, He showed by the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price (Matt. 13:44-45) the uniqueness of the kingdom of heaven, and that in order to obtain the kingdom no price was too high, and no sacrifice was to great. Should such a person hungering and thirsting for the kingdom of heaven happen to visit the service described above, would they be motivated to change? (6) Finally, while other religious groups are concerned with indoctrinating their members with their particular tenants of faith, it seems that some among us are determined to remove any absolutes in teaching and/or practice.

Perhaps the saddest part of it all was that this was not just a group of young people who were filled with zeal and lacking in knowledge and wisdom, there were a number of elderly adults that seemed perfectly content with the whole situation. One couple we visited with before service wanted to know where we attended. They attend a local congregation in Polk county, but it is not one that has fellowship with us. We must teach our people, and we must be courageous enough to oppose the deconstructive techniques of the Emerging Church movement among us.