ARTIFICIAL WORSHIP

By: G.K. Wallace

Artificial respiration is well known to the average household in America. If a heart failure is apparent, artificial means may save a life. How may our hearts be stimulated? Should we leave the word of God for man-made procedures? Years ago, I sat in an audience of several hundred brethren and listened to the preacher talk about the Lord’s supper. He laughed and joked about “three songs and a prayer.” He ranted about formality, routine, and form. He suggested that worship could be made meaningful by simply changing procedure. He thought weak hearts could be revived by artificial means.

We know that the routine does not stimulate the Bible heart. For over 65 years, I have been taking the Lord’s supper, and it never occurred to me that I might be engaging in a ritual. My mind, at the Lord’s table, goes back over two thousand years to the death of Christ. It never dawned on me that the order of the worship had anything to do with the solemnity of the Lord’s supper.

For over 30 years I have visited the graves of my mother and father. I need no artificial means to stir memories at the graveside. It makes no difference at which gate I enter the cemetery or the direction I approach the graves. The denominations use candles, shout and burn incense, use quartets, solos, testify, and play the organ. Paul said, “Let a man examine himself and so let him eat.” May God have mercy on us if we have to have some form to stir our memories.

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