Eutychus and His Kin: August 7, 1981

So, What’S Cooking?

Behold, a cook went forth to cook. And as he cooked, his household was nourished and satisfied, so much so that they went out into the highways and hedges and brought in the hungry and thirsty, and the house was filled.

But it came to pass one day that the cook discovered a cookbook. In this cookbook were recipes and menus, and also analytical charts explaining the nutrition in various foods. There were also beautiful pictures of succulent dishes.

“I will now step aside and examine this great book,” said the cook. “It must have great value, for it was published by a cooking school that trained the three greatest cooks in the land.”

So, he read in the book day by day, while feeding his household leftovers. He became so excited about the menus, charts, and pictures, that he wanted to share them with his household.

“My household is too large for all of them to see this book,” he said to himself. “What shall I do? I know what I shall do! I shall purchase an overhead projector and thus enable everyone to benefit from the wealth of material in this cookbook.”

So, he purchased a projector and began at each meal to explain where food came from, what it contains, and how it can be prepared. His household became engrossed in the charts and pictures. Before long, they began to bring notebooks and pencils to the table instead of knives and forks. But by then, all the leftovers were gone and the cook had not prepared any new meals. The household spent their time doing nothing but discussing some new menu or analytical chart.

And it came to pass that the household started to become weak and grow thin. Yea, the cook himself began to lose weight so that he could no longer carry his overhead projector to the dining room. “I will make myself a dish such as I used to make,” he said to himself. And he did. As the aroma of the meal wafted through the house, the family gathered at the table as before, but this time they came with their knives and forks. Soon it was like old times again, as they ate and were nourished. The cook had great joy as he saw the family gain weight and grow in strength.

And he said to himself, “Yea, this may be a fine book, but it is no substitute for a good meal. My household cannot thrive on menus, recipes, pictures, and the chemical analyses of the food. I will arise and go to my kitchen and spend my time preparing dishes that will feed my family.”

And he did; and the cookbook gathered dust on the shelf, while in the book stores, it was selling like hotcakes.

EUTYCHUS X

“Tiger By The Tail”

Bravo to Richard Dinwiddie for his article “Moneychangers in the Church: Making the Sounds of Music” [June 26]. It is several years overdue. When the concert fee is in five figures, it is time someone pulled the plug on our insistence that this is ministry. This isn’t ministry; this is money! And no one knows it better than those involved. But they have a tiger by the tail. If they let go, they will be devoured. Someone needs to call a halt to this escalating practice. Perhaps some of the top performers in Christian music would have revealing comments. I believe that many of them would agree with Dinwiddie’s basic premise. It would be interesting to know!

MARVIN MCKISSICK

Azusa, Calif.

The gospel can be proclaimed in music by the singer as well as in word by the preacher. But the clergyman is accepted with little favor when he leaves the impression he seeks personal gain through his ministry, as do some song artists.

Those who are engaged in full-time music evangelism have often experienced a financial strain that has required much sacrifice and commitment to continue. Churches should give serious consideration to the legitimate needs of one who is traveling and ministering in this way. A laborer is worthy of his hire. However, I have reservations as to the benefits to God’s kingdom by those who make hefty financial demands and give a high priority to their popularity and economic prosperity.

REV. WILLARD W. FROST

Knox Knolls Free Methodist Church

Springfield, Ill.

We wonder why we have raised a generation of weak, ineffective Christians when we have offered them a diet of music that is as nourishing to their spirits as cotton candy is to their bodies. Furthermore, it is being served up by musicians more interested in padding their pockets than feeding hungry spirits. Thank you for exposing the lack of ministry in much of what we call “gospel” music.

HARRIS S. JAMISON

Topeka, Kans.

In spite of Edmund Fuller’s advice not to look to the artist for orthodoxy (see review [same issue] of Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking on Water, p. 50], Dinwiddie seems to do just that. He blasts Christian songs which have a “diluted or deleted” message, praises Wyrtzen’s pursuit of orthodox lyrics, and exhorts Christian musicians to be “ministers first.” In contrast, Christian artist C. S. Lewis once commented that in making his message-laden fiction he “never started from a message or a moral.… The story itself should force its moral upon you.” Likewise, Dorothy L. Sayers never made art bow to orthodoxy: “The way in which the work is done is governed by no sanction except the good of the work itself.…”

Why charge the Christian songwriter with the additional task of ministry if he doesn’t want it?

STEPHEN P. WISSLER

Glendale, Calif.

The comment is made that while “we may enjoy the ministry of music, the primary purpose must not be entertainment.” The writer must clearly define the setting where the music is presented before making such a statement. While some programs are not appropriate for Sunday worship, a legitimate way to spend a Saturday evening would be at a concert featuring Christian musicians. We are in desperate need of alternatives to the secular garbage offered by our society, and when we finally find some, they are criticized because of sharp dress, professional sound, and efficient organization. Of course, we all hope to be ministered to through the music, but in the end that depends upon our own heart condition, not the music or musician.

SCOTT ROEN

Freeport, Ill.

Who’S Biased?

Franky Schaeffer V [“Penetrating a Biased Press,” June 26] rightly exposes the bias of the American press. His evidence corroborates the contention of his father that the Christian consensus is gone. With departure from this consensus, the flood gates are opened and the deplorable dishonesty of much of the press is plain to see, and is only one manifestation of similar distortions in society. The shortsighted, irresponsible attitudes toward the eminent Dr. Koop cited by Schaeffer are a disgrace and a mockery to honest journalism.

BARBARA J. BELL

Portland, Oreg.

Schaeffer’s clearly biased article simply points out the need for individuals of any ideological persuasion to analyze carefully anything they read for faulty reasoning and emotional bias. It seems that what bothers Schaeffer most is the labeling of his film, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, as propaganda. The Oxford English Dictionary defines propaganda as “any association, systematic scheme, or concerted movement for the propagation of a particular doctrine or practice.” Certainly the work of the Schaeffers and Koop and use of this film are a concerted movement to propagate the doctrine of the sanctity of human life, born and unborn. It is forceful and intelligent, but still propaganda. And there is nothing wrong with that.

ANNE R. FISHER

St. Louis, Mo.

Instant Power

The early church was not powerful because of study, fellowship, worship, and evangelism as Stott stated in “Setting the Spirit Free” [June 12]. These were the results of power, not the means. The power that resulted from the Pentecost experience was instantaneous, not gradual.

REV. JULIO C. ROMANO

Ontario Christian Center

Ontario, Calif.

Back To The Basics

In “Opening the Church to the Charismatic Dimension [June 12],” Pinnock says. “We do not lack new doctrine,” but many Christians today desperately need “new doctrine”—the old doctrines once familiar to most active Chiristians. Most church members today rarely open their Bibles, know little of the word proclaimed there, and probably know J. R. Ewing far more intimately than that surging, thrusting evangelist, Saul of Tarsus.

I enthusiastically agree that we need to open our hearts to the Spirit of God, to grow in things of the Spirit, to let him bear fruit in our lives. I’m sure that seeking “a spiritual high” is not the right way to accomplish the goal. We need stimulation both of the heart and of the mind. God speaks to us through the Spirit as we let the Bible’s words permeate our mind.

I do not want to disparage the fact that many thousands of converts have been won in recent years by Pentecostals. Unless they have been won to enthusiastic study of God’s Word, it seems that the long-range effect of the presently popular movement will probably be detrimental to the cause of Christ.

RAY DOWNEN

Joplin, Mo.

Authorized Schools

As a member of the California Private Post-secondary Education Commission review committee governing and regulating the conduct of all private schools in California, may I register a strong objection to Minnery’s statement [Short-cut Graduate Degrees Shortchange Everybody, May 29]: “To say in California that a school is ‘authorized’ is to say practically nothing academically.” It is simply not true.

How are new schools to begin in California if they are not “authorized”? Your article will have a chilling effect on the starting of new schools in the future unless the charges are fairly answered. What about schools that choose to remain “authorized” in order to exercise freedom from state control? What about schools that choose to remain “authorized” in order to experiment with new methods of communication?

ROBERT S. MCBIRNEY

Grace Graduate School and Bible Institute

Long Beach, Calif.

Letters are welcome. Only a selection can be published. Since all are subject to condensation, those of 100 to 150 words are preferred. Address letters to Eutychus and His Kin,CHRISTIANITY TODAY, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, Illinois 60187.

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