I teach a string orchestra. When I started the orchestra, I determined its mission (teach home school students in our area how to play stringed instruments), who would be eligible to participate (home school students ages 9 and up), what instruments would be taught (violin, viola, cello and bass), when we would have rehearsals, etc. I don’t have a huge list of rules but I do have some expectations (students must have working instruments, must attend rehearsals and must practice at home). There are benefits for those who join the orchestra (learn the joys of playing a stringed instrument, of performing with a group for others). Those who want to participate must follow these guidelines and only then will they reap the benefits. It’s not a hard concept.

Invariably, every year I get a question similar to this: My child wants to learn the flute. Do you teach the flute? or, My child plays guitar. Would you like to have a guitar player? or, My child is 8. Can she join? When told that the answer is no, parents are usually understanding and either choose not to participate or pick an instrument that is included in the list above.

On one occasion though, this was not enough. I had a prospective student who really wanted to participate but she wanted to play the dulcimer. She asked if she could play the dulcimer in my orchestra. I told her, “No”. That wasn’t good enough. She didn’t understand that the guidelines I had laid down were to be followed. She showed up the following week with her dulcimer. I told her that we didn’t have dulcimers in our group. That didn’t bother her. She proceeded to sit down with the rest of the orchestra, take her dulcimer out and attempt to play with us. Nothing I said could convince her that this was not acceptable. After class was over, I told her not to bring the dulcimer back.

What was the big deal? Why didn’t I just let her join us with her dulcimer? There is nothing wrong with playing a dulcimer. In fact, it is a very cool instrument but it does not belong in my orchestra. Why? Because the mission of my orchestra was to teach the standard classical string instruments — violin, viola, cello and bass. Anything additional would be going against the purpose of the orchestra.

The same thing happens in the Lord’s church today. God started the church. He sent His Son to die for the church. He determined who would be allowed entrance into the church (He added those to the church who had been saved through baptism — Acts 2). He determined what the mission of the church would be (teaching the sinner, edifying the saints, benevolence toward the saints). He determined how the church would be funded (voluntary contribution by the saints — 2 Cor 9:7). He determined the benefits of being a part of His church (being an adopted child of God, living eternally with Him in heaven and much more).

Those who want to become part of the Lord’s church and reap the benefits must fulfill the requirements for entrance and follow the guidelines laid out. These guidelines are not left to human interpretation and are not difficult to find. God has revealed His desires in His Word and has made it readily available to anyone who is willing to seek it out. He has promised help in understanding and wisdom to determine what His guidelines are. It takes some effort. It takes humility and obedience and a willingness to do things His way, not ours.

Not everyone wants to follow these guidelines. Some have determined a different way to enter into the Lord’s church (reciting the believer’s prayer and accepting Jesus into their heart). They can read that the early Christians were baptized for the removal of their sins and afterwards were added by God to His church. Some have determined that they will raise funds for their congregation through various sales of baked goods or fund raiser type programs or that they will participate in businesses such as schools, hospitals and the like to provide extra funds. There are those who have decided that the church should do more than what God has designated as its mission. Entertainment of various sorts, secular education of children, etc have been added to the original mission that God intended.

What is the big deal? All of these things are good wholesome activities. Why would God not want His church to participate in these worthwhile endeavors? It’s a lot like the dulcimer. A fine instrument that makes beautiful music but the dulcimer was not in the guidelines laid down for the orchestra. It was an addition that, had it been allowed to continue, would have changed the sound of the orchestra. These worthwhile activities would do the same thing — change the church from something God had organized to something man had organized.

Some activities that go on during my orchestra rehearsals are not part of the rehearsals. Parents like to stay during the rehearsals. They might read a book or do some crocheting or help one of their other children with their school work. They also like to play board games with their children who are not participating in the orchestra but the most common activity that goes on is visiting with other moms who are there. These activities are good, wholesome activities but they are not part of the rehearsal. There are times that they become a distraction from the rehearsal because, well, it’s hard to talk quietly when there is a bunch of music being played.

Good, wholesome activities that are not part of God’s original design for His church can become a distraction as well. Things that are perfectly acceptable for individuals to participate in on their own time, in their own homes can become a distraction to the mission of the Lord’s church. Instead of teaching sinners about God and encouraging saints to follow God’s will more closely, that bold and important purpose of the church is reduced down to parties and activities that entertain the fleshly desires of man instead of feeding the spiritual needs of man. The noise of the parties and activities overpower the quiet whisper of God.

I don’t ask a lot of my students in the orchestra but one thing I expect is that they practice what they’ve learned at home. If they come to the rehearsals, listen well, try their best and do all I ask of them, they will still not be very good musicians if they don’t practice what they’ve learned at home. It takes a lot of effort to learn to play an instrument. It cannot be accomplished in the hour or so of rehearsal time we have together. I have students who attempt to learn their instrument without ever thinking about it until the next week. I have had students who don’t even get their instruments out of the car during the week. They then expect the whole orchestra to slow down while they struggle over their notes. The whole orchestra suffers because this one student did not grow musically as he should have, as he could have if he had put forth the effort.

There are some in the Lord’s church who do the same thing. They attend the worship services regularly but do not make the effort to learn more about God on their own time. They would prefer to be shown a list of dos and don’ts to be adhered to rather than have to study and find it out for themselves. God revealed His desires, His expectations in His word but instead of just handing us a list of dos and don’ts, He, in His wisdom, gave us historical accounts and letters and psalms and proverbs that He inspired the authors to write. We are told to read, study and meditate on these words. It’s only when we put in the hard work that we can truly know what He wants us to do. Those who don’t put forth this effort don’t understand what God wants from them or what God expects of His church. They see no problem in adding to the church because they don’t really know what the Bible says about it. They slow down the work of the church by their attempts to change it into something that makes them happy.

We need to learn to respect God and His authority. We need to study His word, not because we have to but because we love Him and we want to know everything He has revealed to us. We need to not accept what any man has to say about God’s word without proving them and insisting that they respect God’s word for what it is — the revelation of our Creator — realizing that any additions or omissions we make to His word changes His word and changes us from being a Christian, a follower of Christ, to being a follower of a mere man.