Too Much Grease
The way some churches are super-organized, pre-molded, minutely arranged in every incidental detail of their work, worship and organization, the observer gets the impression that such a church is organized to death, too well greased to handle, too cut and dried for the individual to do anything from his own heart. Keep in mind that this is no criticism nor minimization of the importance of any detail of work, worship and organization which the Scriptures reveal; but is concerned with the incidental features which are subject to variation with circumstances and variations of the individuals' personalities.
The old story which I heard as a farm lad seems appropriate to illustrate. The newly arrived immigrant Irishman was sent by the farmer for whom he worked with a full can of axle grease to grease the wagon. He returned after a while stating that he had finished the job but barely had sufficient grease. The farmer was filled with consternation at such a statement and with curiosity as to what had been done with so much grease. The response was that he had greased the entire wagon except the place where the wheels turn and that they appeared to be greased there already. That is just about the nature of the case with some of these churches; they have everything greased except where the Lord intended.
A church had its class program of teaching so completely pre-planned, organized and literature selected, that deviation from the planned course was considered seriously out of order. No student or teacher was expected to consider or talk about a topic or question which was not presented in the literature or course of study, no matter how pertinent to the class or how imminently scriptural. That has the wagon too well greased, and prevents its function in needed points. Such a cut and dried program will kill the individual initiative of the teachers and students to think and study for themselves. It will leave the class incapable of studying new questions, problems and false teachings as they arise, thus, unprepared for defense, they are easily led astray.
A church had its gospel meeting so completely planned in advance that even all the songs were selected before the meeting to fit with the lesson subjects which were chosen for the preacher. Maybe the church knew better than the preacher what sermons were most needed and what he could most effectively deliver, but it shows little confidence in the preacher and leaves him in the unenviable position of serving the church instead of serving Christ. The pre-selection of the songs left little to the judgment of the song leader as to what he could best lead and what the worshippers could sing with greater ease and fervor. The people did not know some of the songs, were not able to pick them up immediately and made the singing somewhat less than excellent.
A church had its program for personal work so well systematized, organized, classified, departmentalized, that every member was told just what he was expected to do, when, how and where. A new member would not even be made to feel welcome if he did not immediately fit into the predesigned mold. Now what if he wanted to spend some other night visiting than the one designed for him? Or what if he wanted to visit whom he chose on another side of town from that to which he had been designated? Or what if he had rather spend the time studying the Bible or calling on some friend rather than attend the special group class to which he had been assigned? Does it make him any less a Christian for having a mind of his own and his own personal traits as a member of the body? Or must the eye (I) tell the hand what to do, the feet where to go, the tongue what to say? The Lord, the head, has that prerogative, that authority, and none other has it. Such over-organization may make the church grow numerically and, for a while, apparently spiritually. But it has left the individual member with no inclination and initiative to act on his own convictions; he has become truly a dependent of the church rather than of the Lord. Churches have a tendency, now as In the past, to fade away, or depart from the faith, or sometimes divide; the Lord never fails.
-1816 Yale Drive, Louisville, Ky. 40205