We’re excited at the Columbia Church of Christ to be planning a special gospel meeting this week, and I would like to extend a special invitation to all of the readers of this column to attend.
The Gloster Street Church of Christ in Tupelo — where my wife, Ashley, grew up — is helping. They travel to a different community throughout the United States each year as a campaign to help local churches reach out to their communities. Usually they go out of state, and this is their first trip within Mississippi. Chad Ramsey, the preacher there, will be speaking. Chad knows the Bible as well as anyone I’ve heard, and he’s able to teach it in a relevant and easy-to-understand way. We really appreciate the help from him and about 40 other members of that congregation.
They will be out on Friday and Saturday knocking on doors and inviting people to attend the gospel meeting, which is similar to what many churches call a revival. Some see door knocking as old-fashioned or a nuisance, but here’s my take on it: I appreciate someone’s devotion to their religion that they are willing to put themselves out there and invite people to learn more about it. When someone knocks on my door with religious information —usually it’s either Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses — I always take the time to invite them in and have a discussion. I see that as a way of following the Golden Rule: If I was knocking doors, I would want people to do the same for me.
So if you see us come by your house, be sure and say hey and get to know us better. It hearkens back to a better time when we saw our neighbors as friends rather than having to hole up in our homes for fear of outside threats.
Also, I’d like to take a moment to address the No. 1 question I get about the church of Christ. It’s always some variation of this: “Y’all are the ones who don’t use instruments in worship, right?”
There are many ways to address that, and I’d be happy to discuss all of them with anyone who is curious. But here are two that I think explain it in a simple way:
1. Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.” That verse describes both “singing” and “making melody” as actions taken by Christians during worship. We know what singing is, but what exactly is “making melody”? In this case, the word in New Testament Greek is “psallo,” which originally meant something along the lines of “to pluck,” as in plucking the strings of an instrument.
So what is the instrument under consideration to be plucked in Ephesians 5:19? The Scripture states it as being the heart. So when we sing as a church, the instruments used in worshipping God are our own hearts. Bro. N.B. Hardeman, a well-known preacher of times past, made that argument in a debate nearly a century ago, and it remains just as relevant now, I believe.
2. In today’s world we are overwhelmed with sounds blaring at us from every direction, from TV commercials to ringtones. Isn’t it a nice break from that hubbub to have a group of Christians simply sing praises to God together with their own voices?
If you’d like to see for yourself, we invite everyone to attend the gospel meeting this week. Meeting times are 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and beginning at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, all at the church building at 1120 Broad St. We hope you will come and be our honored guest.
Reach Columbian-Progress Editor and Publisher Charlie Smith at csmith@columbianprogress.com or at (601) 441-1093.
