Question:
I often hear that we “are silent where the Bible is silent, and speak only where the Bible speaks”; and also “we do nothing that we don’t have Bible authority for”. We shouldn’t practice anything without a “thus saith the Lord”. Thoughts?
Answer:
My thoughts? Hogwash.
This SOUNDS great, and is a useful (but hypocritical) weapon against those who do something we disagree with.
For those who claim “Scriptural authority” for EVERYTHING they do (and do NOTHING without it) I have a request…
For the sake of consistency and spiritual integrity, could we publish the Scriptural reference list of “thus saith’s” and Biblical authority for large, expensive, technology-current facilities; paid ministry staffs; professional full-time, church financed ministers; social programs, youth events, youth ministers; Sunday schools; support groups and much of what we do as a “church”…
Or, do we not REALLY have to have a “thus saith”? Or is Scriptural authority only necessary when it’s something we (either personally or as a church group) don’t agree with?
In other words, YOU need Scriptural authority or I can say you are doing something God doesn’t approve of. But I can do something without “Scriptural authority” and call it a “means to an end” or an “implied directive” based on a direct command. How convenient.
“We don’t do anything without Scriptural authority” sounds very “Christian but I don’t find this to be the simple truth as we actually PRACTICE it.
It sounds good as a talking point for doctrinal traditional, but I find that many groups of Christians say this on one hand, then make an exception for just about anything THEY decide is okay to do… while invoking “no Scriptural authority” as a prohibition against any other group that does something they don’t agree with.
The Bible cannot, and does not, cover every aspect of our Christian life or worship. It is an impossible to honestly state “we do nothing without Scriptural authority”, nor is THAT even a Scriptural mandate. We have commands, principles, and the leading of the Holy Spirit that allows us the liberty to do things in good conscience that do not have “Scriptural authority”.
The Truth is, we must be dogmatic where Scriptural says “thus saith” (dogmatic), and must be gracious and sensitive to God’s leading in all else, rather than making broad stroke, religious sounding declarations that we don’t actually follow anyway (otherwise known as hypocrisy).