Laughter in Church
A Church of Scotland minister, Rev. Gordon Strachan, Dalmarnock Church, Glasgow, in a recent talk in Edinburgh, said: “We need a reformation in the Church now.” But his ideas about reformation are very unlike what the Bible teaches. He suggested: “I would like to hear more laughter in Church, and provided the minister is genuine and serious, the more absurd he can be in the pulpit the better the response he will get.” What response does Mr Strachan wish from a serious and, at the same time, an absurd minister in the pulpit? Is it repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ? It seems not; but that people will be entertained after a vain and worldly manner and will return to such a church for more laughter. How dangerously absurd can men today be, who hold the office of the gospel ministry! Rev. G. Strachan also said that the Protestant Church (why he mentioned the Protestant Church we know not) was “too serious about the wrong things.” It was not reported what he thought the wrong things to be, unless it was his reference to “the institution and the minister having become more important than the prophetic message of the Gospels.” Well, if all the ministers in Scotland, including Mr Strachan, were to concentrate their pulpit activities on preaching the message of the Gospels, according to Christ’s doctrine and teaching, there would then be hope that many in Scotland would become serious about the right things. And those who rejoice in Christ, as their Redeemer and as believers in Him, do not need to be provoked to physical and audible laughter in the house of God. Furthermore, sin, the Cross of Christ, salvation through faith in Christ, heaven and hell are solemn matters. “Why should worship be different from other forms of enjoyment?” asks Mr Strachan. One answer is, that it is understood to have a special reference to God who is clothed with glory and majesty, and to be engaged in, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, by true Christians. But what has largely ruined the visible Church today as to the lack of spirituality in her midst is the influence of worldly professors of Christianity, by which the distinction between the vain world and the Church has been eliminated.
Sir Robert Menzies and Common Market
During a recent lecture at Oxford, Sir Robert Menzies, who was nearly 20 years Prime Minister of Australia, spoke strongly against Britain joining the Common Market. He said that membership of the Common Market, a market which might grow into a European federation, wherein Britain would lose her parliamentary sovereignty, might lead to Britain having to leave the Commonwealth. Mr Menzies was a great friend to Britain during the last war and highly respected as a statesman. Although the three main political parties in Britain, through their leaders, have declared themselves in favour of entry into the Common Market in Europe, yet at the Labour Party Conference last month there were some very strong speeches against our entry. It was rightly declared that many of the people in this country are against Britain having anything to do with the Common Market. It is known that the Roman Catholic Church is strongly behind this new “set up” in Europe which in its final organisation will be political as well as economic. The Roman Catholic Church, of course, seeks always to have a hand in politics all over the world for its own ends.