AP

Maintaining a spirit of worship and evaluating all things is well-nigh impossible, even for regenerate Christians. In a sermon on 2 Samuel 5:24, delivered on 31 May 1857, Charles Spurgeon told a story which was meant as a warning to all who profess the name of Christ:

I’ll tell you, many of you Christians do a deal of mischief, by what you say when going home. A man once said that when he was a lad he heard a certain sermon from a minister, and felt deeply impressed under it. Tears stole down his cheeks, and he thought within himself: “I will go home to pray.’ On the road home he fell into the company of two member of the church. One of them began saying: ‘Well, how did you enjoy the sermon?’ The other said: ‘I did not think he was quite sound on such a point. ‘Well,’ said the other, ‘I thought he was rather off his guard,’ or something of that sort; and one pulled one part of the minister’s sermon to pieces, and another the other, until, said the young man, before I had gone many yards with them, I had forgotten all about it; and all the good I thought I had received seemed swept away by those two men, who seemed afraid lest I should get any hope, for they were just pulling that sermon to pieces which would have brought me to my knees. How often have we done the same! People will say: ‘What did you think of that sermon?’ I gently tell them nothing at all, and if there is any fault in it – and very likely there is, it is better not to speak of it, for some may get good from it.

The one who is without sin in this regard can cast the first stone.

Spurgeon has raised a difficult issue. It is too easy for us to slide from coming to hear the gospel to coming to check that the gospel is preached. Yet we are to be discerning always, and our minds in gear. Overseers should be able to teach (1 Tim.3:2), and be devoted to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching (1 Tim.4:13) – and to be making discernible progress in these things (1 Tim.4:15). Christians are to evaluate rightly, and examine the Scriptures, even daily, to see if the message being taught is true (Acts 17:11).

To worship and to be critical, to bow in adoration and to exercise discernment – these are not easy things for us to embrace together. As an Anglican attached to a set liturgy, C. S. Lewis commented that ‘thinking about worship is a different thing from worshipping.’ This made him wary of requiring too much dependence on critical examination in a church service. In fact, ‘The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.’  

God demands perfection but He uses imperfection. His electing grace does not necessarily claim the cream of humanity, but those who are foolish, weak, and despised, that it would be obvious that the sinner’s boast is not in himself but in the Lord (1 Cor.1:26-31). We might have expected that at least the great apostle to the Gentiles might have been granted some Cicero-like skills in oratory, but, no, Paul denied that his speech and message had any power save in that granted by the Spirit (1 Cor.2:1-5). This would eliminate, one would hope, any view of biblical preachers being competitors for audiences (note 1 Cor.1:10-13). If God can preach through a donkey (belonging to Balaam) and an uncooperative prophet (Jonah), then He can use whom He wills and how He wills. That, as any seasoned pastor will tell you, is why some of his worst sermons seem to have been used to greater effect, and some of the ones in which he may have placed some confidence seem to have had no impact. Yet we are to do our best – to ‘study hard’, says the KJV – to handle the word of God accurately (2 Tim.2:15).

Some of the most attractive Christians can lack discernment, and some of the most discerning could use some spiritual and moral attractiveness. Spurgeon was warning us to be aware of the spiritual state of others, and beware of an overly-critical spirit. Test everything (1 Thess.5:20) but do not quench the Spirit (1 Thess.5:19). A lop-sided keeping of one command can adversely affect the keeping of the other – and it works both ways. The first and great commandment is that we love God with all our being – our heart and soul and mind and strength (Mark 12:30). To worship and to evaluate at the same time is part of Christian sanctification – we are not there yet, but we must press forward.

– Peter Barnes