To be a distinctive people is always the calling and challenge which Cod through his Word and Spirit binds upon his church. This is to be reflected by believers in thought, word, and deed. In view of the strong tides of worldliness sweeping across the churches in this century, the Christian Reformed Church in synodical session in 1928 adopted a series of resolutions. The first deals with basic doctrinal and ethical principles which may .well serve Christians everywhere in determining their attitudes and actions to this present world in harmony with the Scriptures.

               

“Synod reminds our people of the doctrinal and ethical principles which should guide the Christian in his relation to the world in general and in the matter of amusements in particular, and urges all our professors, ministers, elders. .and Bible teachers to emphasize these principles in this age of prevailing worldliness. Some of the most important of these principles follow:

1. The honor of God requires:

a) that the Christian’s amusements should at tile very least not conflict with any commandment of Gad;

b) that we and our children should be keenly aware, aoo in our amusements. of our covenant relation to God as His peculiar people;

c) that the Christian shall deem it a matter of loyalty to God not to further the interests of an institution which is manifestly an instrument of Satan for attack on the kingdom of God.

2. From the consideration of the welfare of man we conclude:

a) that there is a legitimate place in life for such amusements as are recreative for body and mind;

b) that no physical recreation or mental diversion should be tolerated which is in any way or in any degree subversive of our spiritual and moral well-being;

c) that, even when our amusements are not spiritually or morally harmful, they should not be allowed to occupy more than a secondary, subordinate place in life.

3. The principle of spiritual separation from the world:

a) does not imply that Christians should form separate communities or should shun all association with ungodly men (I Cor. 5:9ff.);

b) forbids friendship, in distinction from fellowship, with evil men (James 4:4);

c) requires that we shun all evil in the world;

d) demands a weaning away of the heart from the transient things of this present earthly sphere (Colossians 3:1,2)

4. Christian Liberty:

a) consists in freedom from the power of sin; in freedom from the law: its curse, its demands as a condition for earning eternal life; and in liberty of conscience with reference to human ordinances and things neither prescribed flOr condemned, either directly or indirectly, in the Word of God;

b) is limited in its exercise by the law of woe (I Cor. 8:9,13), the law of self-preservation (Matt. 18:8), and the law of self-denial, which often requires the renunciation of things in themselves lawful (Matt. 16:24).”

Acts of Synod 1928, pp. 86, 87, of the Christian Reformed Church.