The Principle of Limited Liberty

Introduction

This will be my last sermon on the topic of music in this series. It is also the last sermon in my series this year on who we are. I have tried to show from the scriptures why we are independent (not part of a denomination), why we are historically fundamental (holding to and standing for the cardinal doctrines of scripture) and why we are a baptist church (holding to the baptist distinctives). I chose to deal with Music as another descriptor of our church because it is one of the things that makes our church different than many other churches. Our stand on music is progressively making us distinct from even other IFB churches. Most of the large name Fundamental Baptist colleges out there are to some extent using CCM now. Crown College, West Coast Baptist College, Pensecola Christian University, Bob Jones University, Veritas, Heartland Baptist Bible College: all have to one degree or another embraced its influence in their schools and I don’t think things are going to get better as time goes on. Especially with the stand that I took, last week, we are and will be a minority.

So the question is how much liberty will we allow in our associations with other churches? Where do we draw the line and say no further? Being an independent, separatist church; you would think we would just cut everyone off that we disagree with. We could, but it would be a very lonely Christianity. Last week, we briefly looked at a passage in Romans where Paul introduces the issue of Liberty. Christian liberty is a broad topic that includes freedom from condemnation, freedom from the OT law, freedom from the bondage of sin. However, when we normally use the term we are referring to freedom of conscience in non-essential matters.

Do we fellowship and work tightly with a church that has a rock band on the stage leading worship?

Do we fellowship with and work tightly with a church that uses cleaned up CCM?

What about churches that are so tight they limit their music to only old fashioned hymns?

What about churches that use conservative southern gospel?

What about churches that use music they produced in a conservative style but it just isn’t what we use?

I want to remind you of our principles of separation and theological triage. There are different levels of cooperation based on different levels of agreement. Paul modeled for us making a distinction to what extent we will separate over certain issues. So the church must decide where do we draw the line on allowing liberty and where do we separate.

What is Liberty?

Romans 14:1–3 “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.”

Freedom of conscience- Liberty really just means freedom. In this case it is a freedom to disagree on certain issue. Paul introduces this chapter by showing us two believers who have differing beliefs. You could say different doctrines on certain issues. They hold to the beliefs they have because their conscience tells them to. Romans 14:5 “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” And for him to go against his conscience it would be a sin Romans 14:23 “And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

So how do these brothers get along in a church? Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” So should they split and form the church of the vegetables and the church of the meats. No Paul’s conclusion is that they are to coexist in the church. Romans 14:1 “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.” We have three responsibilities when it comes to these issues:

Receive- There is room in Christianity for disagreement and we are under obligation to receive or accept each other. This right here is at the root of church hoppers. They can never find a church because they can never agree with anyone. When they don’t agree, they leave. This is a sin according to scripture. As we have pointed out there is a time to leave and to separate, but most are too eager to disassociate with one another. On some issues we must be willing to agree to disagree.

Not to doubtful disputations- We are not called to receive them merely so we can try to convert them to our way of thinking. We shouldn’t be having these debates over questionable things at the risk of pushing our brother away.

Not to judge- Romans 14:3 “Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.” In these issues, we must be patient and let the Lord deal with the disagreement. We cannot write them off and look down on them.

Non-essential matters- Now there are some clear things in scripture that we must stand and defend. A phrase that came out of the reformation was “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials liberty, in all things, charity. Christianity has traditionally made a distinction between essentials and non-essentials. Some bristle at that because they think that it makes some things unimportant. I don’t agree. All doctrine is important, but in our fallen world we must prioritize some doctrines over others.

Jesus Himself made this distinction Matthew 23:23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Paul in this passage and in 1 Cor makes a distinction. Romans 14:6 “He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”

food laws

holy days

circumcision

Mosaic ceremonies

Cultural practices like head covering

A large part of the context here is the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. The conclusion of this council was that Jewish Christians could still practice their Judiacal practices like circumcision as long as they didn’t depend on it for salvation while the Gentiles were not bound to do so. Thus a church with both Jews and Gentiles would have two groups of people practicing and believing different things but still united.

What are the Limits on Liberty?

Before we think about the limits outlined in the text, I think it is important to point out that this liberty does not extend to the clear teaching of scripture or sinful practices. There is a line where things are clearly wrong that we must not cross. Paul advocated for church discipline and separation in such situations. But for the rest:

Do not put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in your brother’s way Romans 14:13 “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” If I know something will potentially tempt my brother to violate his conscience, I must limit my liberty for his sake. Again this ties into the principle of influence. I must be aware of how my influence will affect others in their walk with the Lord.

Do not grieve my brother with my liberty- Romans 14:15 “But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.” The word grieved here means to cause uneasiness or distress. If this action is going to cause bad feelings between you and that brother, you should avoid it. The motivation for doing so is love. Paul says if we don’t do this, we are not loving our brother.

do not destroy the work of God- Romans 14:20 “For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.” Sometimes we can demand our rights, our liberty and forget how it might affect the church. Are we willing to see the church die in order to pursue our liberty? Are we willing to thwart God’s work in the life of that believer through us because of our disagreement?

Here is the conclusion of this matter: Paul says in Romans 14:22 “Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.” Do you believe you have liberty to do something, then practice it in private. Don’t let it become something that hurts your brothers and sisters in Christ or hurts the church. You have liberty, but in the end the church has to take a higher position for the benefit of everyone involved.

What is the practical application of this doctrine to music?

So how does this apply to the issue of music? There is a broad spectrum of music. Even in the artists I mentioned last week, there is a broad spectrum. There are certain lines that must be drawn because they are sin. I believe using music that in and of itself was and is intended to communicate unrestrained sex, rebellion, violent anger is wrong and so a line must be drawn. But once that line is drawn there is a variety of music still available to the believer. Those who take a stand on conservative Christian music differ on what they believe.

1. I have friends in Kansas who avoid most if not all Ron Hamilton Majesty music because of the chord progression issue. I respect their view but disagree.

2. ABC isn’t quite as strict as that but they do tend to be only old fashioned gospel hour type music.

3. BCM won’t use music from majesty or the wilds either.

4. Some churches use conservative old southern gospel music. I personally detest the stuff because its shallow, but I can’t say its wrong.

5. Some use a more bluegrass styling in their music.

6. Pensecola, Crown, West Coast and colleges like that produces a lot of conservative music that was more experiential based. A little more jazzy then maybe we would use.

Conclusion

But the point in all of this was to say that there is some acceptable variety within good Christian music. We must in our stand against crossing the line not forget to extend the grace and liberty on these lesser issues. If we don’t we will again find ourselves alone. There are bigger fish to fry then to fight over the smaller differences that exist. So for me, I would draw the line with those who have gone all out in their use of modern Rock worship in the church, but I would still fellowship to varying degrees with those who use cleaned up Getty songs or with those who on the other side of me are more strict than I am, I offer liberty and receive them not to doubtful disputations. We choose in our good conscience what we will practice as a church, but I am to offer liberty to others who may disagree with me on these issues.