Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?
by CH Spurgeon
[Reproduced with permission from a Fundamental Bible Church pamphlet]
AN EVIL IS IN THE PROFESSED CAMP of the Lord,
so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it.
During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for the evil. It has
worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer
thing than hinting to the Church that part of her mission is to provide entertainment for
the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church
has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the
day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of
reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement
for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it
is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye..." into all the
world and speak the Gospel to every creature. That is clear enough. So it would have been
if He had added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the Gospel."
No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Then again,
"He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers ... for the work of the ministry." Where do entertainers come in? The
Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused
the people or because they refused? The concert has no honor roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct
antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude
of the Church to the world? "Ye are the salt," not the sugar candy something the
world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance: "Let the dead
bury the dead." He was in awful earnestness!
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and
pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when He and His
disciples went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear Him
say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a new kind of service
tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant
evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter; we must
get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never
sought to amuse them. In vain will the epistles be searched to find any trace of the
gospel of amusement. Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean
out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous of its absence. They had boundless
confidence in the Gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up
for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, "Lord, grant
unto Thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show
these people how happy we are." If they had ceased not for preaching Christ, they had
not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere
preaching the Gospel.
They "turned the world upside down."
That is the only difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil
has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to
effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and
scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the
heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom
the dramatic entertainment had been God's link in the chain of his conversation, stand up!
There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the
hour for today's ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the
one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is Biblical doctrine, so
understood and felt that it sets men on fire.
-C. H. Spurgeon
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