Pastor and author Alistair Begg recently lamented the decline of Scripture in congregational life as part of his message at the annual Sing! Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Traditionally, the pulpit was central and visually dominant, not as an expression of the preacher's authority, but as a reminder of the authority of Scripture," Begg said in his message, recalling the awe he felt as a child when the church "beadle" carried the Bible to the pulpit before the service began.
However, he noted that centrality has been lost in most churches nowadays, The Christian Post reports.
"Plexiglass, bar stools — why? Well, you've got to please the consumers," Begg said, referring to the seeker-sensitive style of modern worship spaces. "It's a noble prospect, but there's an unfortunate symbolism to it."
According to Begg, the decline of the raised pulpit reflects a broader issue: the diminishing role of Scripture in congregational life. He argued that modern churchgoers typically arrive with a more casual mindset rather than being eager to hear God's Word.
"Instead of coming into worship with the express understanding that all of this begins with God in His glory, people come with coffee in hand, saying, 'Let's see if he's got something good for us today,'" he said.
"Expositional preaching gives way to inspirational talks, which gives way to therapeutical endeavors," he continued. "I'm not sure that America understands just how deep the problem is in relationship to biblical illiteracy. You cannot continue to make your journey through life without your Bible, not as a talisman, not as something just to be revered in a corner, but without the Bible as our daily source of knowledge and encounter with God."
He went on to call for a return to what he calls "serious engagement with the Bible," which involves more expositional preaching and less inspirational talks,
"There is a correlation between a collapse in our understanding of God and the expressions that are represented in the pulpit," he emphasized. "You see, the task of the pastor in coming to the scriptures is not simply to provide information about what the Bible says with a few pointers to take home, fill in the blanks kind of stuff. That's not the primary objective in the unfolding of Scripture. The desire, the longing of the pastor and the preacher and the people is that we might have a divine encounter with the living God through His Word, that we might meet God, that we might hear from God. …We don't need to hear what Alistair knows about this or that. We need to hear from God."
"Congregational worship is not just a get-together. It begins with God, not with myself in my need," the pastor continued.
"Why is it so hard, in many cases, to get people to sing? The poor people up here, they've got to be here one hour early in order to get themselves all jazzed up, so in the hope that they can get us all jazzed up. And if we don't get jazzed up immediately, then we're going to sing it again, and we'll keep singing it until you're jazzed up. And we'll repeat the chorus 14 times, and we'll make sure that you're finally there. What's the problem? Spiritual deadness is the problem," he lamented.
The annual Sing! Conference, organized by Christian musicians Keith and Kristyn Getty, was held last week (Sept. 4-6), with this year's theme being "The Songs of the Bible." The conference featured keynote speakers, worship leaders, theologians, and artists from around the world.
Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Truth For Life with Alistair Begg
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.