Guest Blogger: Jason Helopoulos
Worship. I hold to the regulative principle out of conviction. Some of you may not hold to the regulative principle, but you do have some conviction rergarding worship. I have yet to meet a Christian who doesn’t. Whatever that conviction is, we would all do well to listen to Calvin’s admonition to the church in Wezel.
Now, I want to remind you that this is John Calvin. He has never been accused of lacking in the area of opinions and convictions regarding worship. He was intentional in ordering the liturgy in both Strasbourg and Genevea. He trained pastors to risk their lives in establishing faithful worship in France. He had true convictions that were to him a matter of life and death. He would not budge on that which struck at the substance of the faith, but he was willing to accomadate himself out of mutual love for the church and his brethren when the substance was not in jeopardy.
This is a quote from a letter he wrote to an already existing congregation regarding the use of candles in worship. To be clear, Calvin is writing to an already established church with established practices. If it was a new church or a church in which a practice disagreeable to him had not yet been introduced, he makes it clear that he would labor against its introduction. But here, in an already established church, he doesn’t want to see its unity jeopardized. It is worth some time of reflection, lest some of us have what Calvin calls an “excessive rigor and moroseness” over issues of form and cirucmstance when the elements and substance are present:
