# “This is serious business” by Carl Trueman

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2009/05/12/this-is-serious-business-by-carl-trueman/
- Published: 2009-05-12T14:05:06-05:00
- Author: tollelege

“If God is awesome, sovereign and holy; if human beings are small, sinful, and lost;
if Christ died and rose again by a most miraculous and costly act of grace, then
this should impact the way things happen in church. This is not to argue for a one-
size-fits-all-my-way-or-the-highway approach to church. Context and culture are 
important; but what is expressed through the idioms of particular cultural manifestations
of the church should be awe, reverence, and, above all seriousness – not a colourless
and cold miserable seriousness but a fitting amazement at the greatness of God and
His grace.

A church service involving clowns or fancy dress or skits or stand-up comedy does
not reflect the seriousness of the gospel; and those who take the gospel seriously
should know better. Frankly, it is more appropriate to liberal theology which does
not take the gospel, or the God of the gospel, seriously. Serious things demand 
serious idioms.

I heard recently of a church service involving dressing up in costume and music 
taken from a Tom Cruise movie. Now, if I go for my annual prostate examination, 
and the doctor comes into the consulting room dressed as Coco the Clown, with ‘Take
my breath away’ from Top Gun playing in the background, guess what? I’m going to
take the doctor out with a left hook, flee the surgery, and probably file a complaint
with the appropriate professional body. This is serious business; and if he looks
like a twit and acts like a twit, then I can only conclude that he is a twit.

You can tell a lot about someone’s theology from what they do in church. Involve
Kenny G’s music in your worship service, and I can tell not only that you have no
taste in music but also that you have nothing to offer theologically to those who
come through the church doors; indeed, what you do have can probably be found better
elsewhere.”

–Carl Trueman, “Look, It’s Rubbish!” _Reformation2_1 as cited on [http://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/wages-of-spin/look-its-rubbish.php ](http://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/wages-of-spin/look-its-rubbish.php)(
accessed May 12, 2009).

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