So there you are, meeting with God’s people, and the man at the front, God’s Anointed leader of the congregation, announces we are to sing a song you know you believe is untrue. What do you do?
Well, you may have thought that I made a big deal of church leadership to start with, but I did so with a good reason. Don’t you remember when David, son of Jesse, had two opportunities to attack Saul, God’s Anointed King of Israel. Why didn’t he attack him? Just because he was Yahweh’s Anointed. So, the same principle holds for us. What does that mean?
We don’t attack him. But what does that mean? I never expected you’d jump up with a gun and fire on him!
Well, some other principles: truth is really important. God values it very highly. To even become a follower of Jesus of Nazareth we must trust wholeheartedly that what he says is true. And he calls himself the truth. And secondly, God really values the unity of his people. Remember what Jesus prays for in John 17? The unity of his followers. He thought it was a biggy, so should we. But thirdly, not all truth is of the same importance. When Jesus was asked “Which is the greatest commandment?” he didn’t reply “they’re all of the same importance”. Some things are more important than others.
So, sadly, we have no easy answer. We have to weigh the principles and decide on the best course of action to uphold the authority of God’s Anointed, the truth of God’s word, and the unity of God’s people, weighing carefully the importance of the truth that was denied.
So, what might we do?
Occasionally the truth may be so important that we should even get up and leave, as it appears to us that God’s Anointed leader has rebelled against God’s word.
Sometimes we may consider it best to not sing the song, and to have a word with the leadership after the meeting.
Sometimes we may consider it best to sing along, and perhaps just stop singing at the part that is untrue; or modify the words yourself so that they are true. You can meet with the leadership later to discuss it. And this may well be considerably later, depending on how important the issue in the song is. It is likely that the issue you have found is a known issue, and perhaps your church is just happy to allow people who believe either way to be members. But then it should be made clear, “Some of us believe this, others believe that”.
But we should never just let it slide completely. We are part of God’s people; their sin affects us. And we must always, at the end of the day, pray to God and ask his forgiveness. Remember you are part of God’s people, you do not stand on your own! Admit your fault to God: “Lord, I am sorry we have sung lies in your name today, please forgive us. Please show me how best to help us turn aside from such behaviour in future.”
So far, as you can see, I’ve assumed that you are right, and the song writer was wrong. Of course, we must consider it might be that you are wrong and the song writer was right! And anyway, we must always present the truth humbly, seeking to be convincing, and being prepared to be convinced ourselves. Either you are right or wrong; it can’t be both! I do find this really hard: to rebuke or raise concerns of this sort in love and respect, but it must be done. God demands that we love his truth and love his people. Do it!
Andrew Rule, 22nd June 2015