Author: Bryan Gibson

Weekly Bulletin
October 29, 2023

Games Churches Play
by Paul Earnhart (Christianity Magazine, January 1985)
We read recently of two large Texas Baptist churches involved in a friendly rivalry over the size of their respective bowling alleys. They were also admirably equipped with gymnasiums, jogging tracks, saunas, etc. There is nothing startlingly new about this. Increasingly American churches have begun to take on the atmosphere of health spas, their facilities heavily accented with the smell of sweat and the sound of running feet. Their calendars are filled with social events and entertainment. They no longer aspire merely to be a spiritual refuge for the sinner but the agent of his social life as well. To say that this trend has trivialized churches and brought into their fellowship people attracted by the wrong thing is to speak the obvious. It is also gratuitous to add that many of these churches are made up of those who claim to be undenominational New Testament Christians.
Somehow I have real difficulty envisioning first century churches, in a life and death struggle to save a generation from hell, blithely engaging in building gymnasiums. And the New Testament has certainly not helped my problem, what with the writers’ failure to either mention or imply such activity by the churches. Some will no doubt feel that my problem is one of anachronism; the same kind of difficulty one has in imagining the apostle Peter tooling around in a Chevrolet (or to make it really tough, a Mercedes Benz). But that really is not true. Citizens of the Roman Empire were not strangers to recreation, entertainment, and physical culture. They loved it. Their children played no less than five different games of ball and the Roman emperors were masters at building public baths and putting on athletic spectacles to keep the minds of the populace off politics and their own miserable lot in life. Augustus even threw in free haircuts.
It certainly was not lack of opportunity or appeal that kept New Testament churches out of athletics and entertainment. The marvel is, given the times, that they did not set up gymnasiums, public baths and banquet houses in every community. It certainly would have improved the public image of a people who were being called “haters of all mankind” (Tacitus). A program like that would have impressed even the most carnal minds. The disciples must have had a compelling reason for their restraint. We believe it had to do with the will of God.
Though not much of an athlete myself, I do not question the relative usefulness of physical exercise and recreation (1 Tim. 4:8). I am even more persuaded of the value of close social ties between Christians (Acts 2:46; Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:1-2). I am in regular association with brethren who will be found encouraging the Lord’s people to get to know and appreciate one another through the sharing of life’s day-to-day experiences. It is evident that close family ties cannot be cultivated among Christians who only see each other briefly during worship assemblies.
But this does not make me happy about the social and recreational programs of local churches. The burdening of the churches with such activity has served to drain away vital energy and resources needed to accomplish the work God ordained them for (1 Timothy 5:16). The Lord did not commission or equip local assemblies to become social clubs, or centers of recreation and entertainment. He did command them to join together in the study of the Scriptures and in worship (Acts 2:42, 20:7; Heb. 10:24-25) in order to produce spiritual maturity in all disciples and train them for service (Eph. 4:11-15). This was to be the task of elders appointed in every church (Acts 20:28), men whose qualities lay in godliness of life, knowledge of God’s word, and the ability to teach (1 Tim. 3:1-7), not in physical culture and entertainment. While it is true that New Testament churches were also found supplying the needs of gospel preachers (Phil. 4:15-16) and their own poor (Acts 4:34-35), the primary function of the churches was to nurture the saints to maturity.
My point is simple. Local churches in their uncomplicated structure were never intended by the Lord to direct the whole range of a disciple’s duties. This “teamwork” is but one expression of our discipleship which began as a personal response to the gospel and continues in the main to be a life lived out as an individual. We are fully persuaded that the great majority of our work in Christ is to be fulfilled, not collectively, but individually—in the home, school, working place. While it is true that no local church has done its work unless it exhorts the disciples to absolute commitment in all areas of life, there are many things which the church must encourage in its members but cannot engage in as a body. The local church must exhort saints to take up honorable occupations for the provision of their own needs and those of the poor (Eph. 4:28), yet the church is not thereby authorized to finance its own work as a body by business enterprise (1 Cor. 16:2). In the same way, the church must exhort individual disciples to hospitality and wholesome social activity, but it is not equipped or directed by the Lord to finance or oversee such activities.
The collectivization of our thinking and the institutionalizing of the churches has impressed a carnal generation, but at the cost of stripping individual disciples of personal initiative and ardor for the Lord. We have built institutions, but we have destroyed Christians.

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	P.O. Box 680872 / Prattville, AL 36067
	(334) 868-0801
	prattmont@gmail.com / prattmontchurchofchrist.org

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The Prattmont Church of Christ is just what the name suggests, a church that belongs to Christ. We are not a denomination; we are simply a group of Christians trying very hard to practice the teachings of our Head, Jesus Christ. The New Testament offers a complete pattern for what each local church should be like—its organization, its worship, its work, etc. We are committed to following that pattern. We cordially invite you to attend our services. We would also welcome any comments or questions about this bulletin.

TIMES OF SERVICES:
Sunday
Bible Classes………...9 A.M.
Worship 10:00 A.M.
Worship/Bible Study..5 P.M.
Wednesday:
Bible Study 7:00 P.M.