Taking A Second Look
The Sunday magazine of The Nashville Tennessean, of September 10, 1967, shows how far out some in our generation have gone under the guise of religion. The article under consideration for this column, is entitled "The Search For a Mod God." It states: "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord — with a congo drum at the altar. Serve the Lord with gladness — by means of a creative dance in the church sanctuary. Come before His presence with singing — to the accompaniment of an electric guitar in the pulpit. Today, tonight, and every Sunday, things such as these are happening in the churches of Nashville. Shocking? This is contemporary religion — a religion of innovation and experimentation — a religion rapidly changing to the delight of some and to the dismay of others. It has been said that churches today are engaged in a frantic search for an up-to-date Deity — a Mod God for a mod society. It has been charged that, in the place of trying to make man more like God, we are instead attempting to make God more like man. Even as the debate rages, new twists appear almost weekly on the religious scene." This is just a portion of the lengthy article; but I feel sure that its author is prone to over-exaggeration about the condition of the churches in Nashville, Tenn. However, the fact that such incidents do happen at all, and that such articles are written at all, should cause the sober-minded Christian to stop and think. Are we ourselves worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth? (John 4:23-24). Do we truly serve and worship the one eternal Father in heaven? Do we have other gods before Him? Are we ourselves seeking to bring God down and create Him in the image of man? God said to Israel many years ago: "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself." (Psa. 50:21.) And the apostle Paul tells of the Gentiles who "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man." (Rom. 1:23). This new Mod God idea is not actually as new as some think it is.
1900 Jenny Lind, Fort Smith, Ark.