We have been having tons of discussion on traditions and how we utilize it today in the church. Some people even say that we need to remove tradition from the church completely or change our traditions for the sake of change. For one we will never remove tradition completely from any aspect of our lives. Let me give you a very simple example of this fact. Do you shower in the morning, afternoon, evening or not at all? This is your tradition, it may change periodically or even be random sometimes but it is still a tradition.
The dictionary defines the word tradition like this:
- the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, esp. by word of mouth or by practice: a story that has come down to us by popular tradition
- a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting: The rebellious students wanted to break with tradition
- a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices
- Theology
* (among Jews) body of laws and doctrines, or any one of them, held to have been received from Moses and originally handed down orally from generation to generation.
* (among Christians) a body of teachings, or any one of them, held to have been delivered by Christ and His apostles but not originally committed to writing
* (among Muslims) a hadith
One thing that I am constantly cautioning myself about related to traditions is not to condemn something just because it is a tradition in the church. While I could not agree more that we can not allow traditions to become more important than the gospel, tradition in itself is not a bad thing. For example, every year at Christmas our family get together to exchange gifts and have a very large and I do mean very large meal. That is a tradition and it is not bad at all. However, when I was growing up we always went to my grandmothers house on both sides on our family. Since that time both of my grandmothers have passed away. Those traditions has evolved into the new tradition of meeting at my parents home and with Ronna’s parents at their home. All traditions, not a single one of them bad, yet we did not forsake ourselves or our family when the tradition was changed. I think it would be very awkward to knock on the door of my grandmothers house in Pasadena on Christmas Day and walk in on the family living there now.
My first point is this, tradition itself is not bad, we all have them and we follow them. However, we can not allow these to become the single driving force in our lives and we should never condemn someone for having a tradition that is different from our own. Some people open all their gifts on Christmas Eve and they have what Santa brought on Christmas morning. Others open a single gift on Christmas Eve and then everything thing else on Christmas morning. Still others wait until Christmas morning to open everything. Which of these traditions is right? If someone does it different do we tell them it is a sin and wrong or do we simply accept them for what they are, traditions?
Second, we don’t have to change tradition if there is nothing wrong with it. To put it simply if it is not broken, don’t fix it. I know at some point in the future my entire family will be coming to our home on Christmas Day and we will have to share time with our kids spouses families. If I declared that time to be this year it would cause some issues within our family. Does this sound familiar to anyone? The changes will happen when the time is right and when circumstances dictate.
Third, we don’t have to make a complete 180 degree turn all at once. A great example of this is with Ronna’s family on Christmas Eve. When we first started dating we met at Ronna’s great grandmothers home in Baytown, over time that visit got shorter and we would all migrate over to Ronna’s grandmothers home. Again over the year that tradition have shifted to her parents home. Sometimes it is just better to mix it up, to take some of the new in with the old and to enjoy both. I know it did not matter whose house we went to or even how long we stayed, there was always good food and good company.
So what do all these Christmas stories have to do with the church? Well for one, our church family has some traditions. We like to meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM (9:00 for donuts and coffee). We like to host bible class first followed by the morning assembly (Big Church) at 10:30. In our Communion Service we like to use the larger crackers and break them ourselves, and we like to drink out of individual little cups. We like to use an overhead projector for our song service instead of holding those heavy books. We like to have the A/C running during the summer time and the heater on in the winter. We like to have our preacher lead a sermon from the pulpit (preferably 25-30 min-sometimes longer). I could go on and on all of these items are traditions. We do not need to change them for the sake of changing them but we must realize that they will change over time and both scenarios are good.
Right now we are undergoing one of those times in the church when we have a very active, strong and motivated group of young people that are pushing for change (like this have never happened before). I was born in the 60’s but I did not live through them, but I have heard rumors. Anyway, the point is we, as a church, must examine each of these new traditions and determine what the impact will be on the old tradition. We must take the focus off ourselves and seek advice and guidance from the only source we can trust, our Heavenly Father.
Go back and read Matthew 6, Jesus in teaching His first disciples to pray used these words.
'Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
'Your kingdom come
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
God’s will for our lives will be fulfilled here on earth, if we will seek Him and allow His Spirit to work in us it will be much easier. Some traditions will not change, now is not the time. But, if it is the time don’t you think God is strong enough to make it happen no matter how hard we may fight it? It done not mean we have to abandon all of our traditional or that we have to implement all the new traditions. Shouldn’t it be a good mixture of existing with new and a deep fulfillment in enjoying both. What a wonderful example of this very issue in our music. How many times has a new artist recorded an old song to give it new life. Once the new recording is out how many of us have gone back to the original recording and listened to it again? It sounded like new to us, we could enjoy it like it was the first time we have ever heard it, and we could bring it to our kids and let them hear it for the first time. Except when they heard it they liked the new version and you still preferred the original. Good news, both of you are right and better news, both of these songs can bring joy to all of us or glory to God.
My prayer for all of our traditions is that God will use them for His glory, both the older ones and the newer ones.
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For a man of so few words...that was a lot of words! WOW! That was really good. The question we really have to ask is if our traditions are furthering the spread of the gospel or hindering it...whether they are new or old. When people walk in our bildings or meet us on the street, are they filled with the same awe that the city people of Jerusalem were in the early chapters of Acts?? If not...how do we make it so. That, to me, ought to be the pattern/tradition we follow...making Jesus look awesome to the world around us.
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