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Fighting Traditions

Traditions are amazing things. They bring comfort when times are tumultuous. They bring people together when nothing else will. We find joy in them with some ceremonies and rituals. We even find identity with some. I like traditions. I think of all the places in my life where I have been surrounded by traditions; growing up in New England, scouting, volunteer fire department, the Navy. I think the place that is steeped in the most tradition though is the church.

Traditions are not bad. As I said they can bring comfort and familiarity to unsettling times and situations. I wonder what some holidays would be like without traditions. I wonder what some get togethers would be like without traditions. I can't imagine a Fourth of July without some sort of barbeque or picnic and fireworks. I can't imagine a Thanksgiving without turkey and football. What would a graduation be without seeing the graduates march in to Pomp & Circumstance in robes or a church wedding where the bride didn't walk in while everyone stands and has all eyes on her? Some traditions are great!

Most traditions are started to signify or remember something. The thirteen buttons on a Navy enlisted man's dress blue trousers are a tradition to help us remember the original thirteen colonies. The fireworks on the Fourth of July are so we remember what it was like when we fought for Independence as a new nation. The Jews have a Passover meal each year to remember their flight from Egypt thousands of years ago. The bride entering the wedding ceremony ready to be given to the groom with all eyes on her to remind us of the church and how it will be presented to Christ as His bride. These are all great traditions when we remember what they are for and why we have them,

The problem lies in when the tradition becomes the reason you do something. I have a tendency to ask people why they are doing something. It can be very interesting to hear the responses. Often times the answer is, "I don't know. We've just always done that." I guess in those cases the tradition has become the reason for itself. I find that sad. What's even more sad, in my opinion, is when people will argue and fight over a tradition that no one can seem to recall the reason it was started. Tradition for the sake of tradition  in my book, is silly. I need to have meaning for the things I do and frankly, keeping a tradition for the tradition's sake just doesn't cut it.

One of the places we, as a society, have become very traditional is the church. I'm not talking about style of music or worship, though those are steeped in tradition as well. I'm talking about the methods that we employ when we are gathering for church. We have created liturgies and methods that in most cases have become a tradition and no one knows why the tradition was started. As a pastor in a popular pentecostal movement for many years it was almost unfathomable to have a service order of anything but: upbeat song, welcome & opening prayer, three songs, offering & announcements, three more slower worshipful songs, biblical message, altar call, closing song and prayer, dismissal. It's what we did. It's what we were supposed to do. It was tradition. I would be in trouble if I strayed from that too far too many times in a row. People don't like what they are comfortable with or used to being changed.

We have to ask ourselves why we are doing things. We need to be ready to answer the why we do things just as God told the Israelites when He instructed them to celebrate Passover to be ready to answer the question, "Why do we do this?" Why do you only attend a church that meets on Sunday morning? Can't you come together and worship God and fellowship on Saturday morning or Thursday night? Why do you insist on putting on your "Sunday best"? Isn't God with us all the time and aren't we encouraged by the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray continually? That means God is always there with us, so if Sunday best is necessary for meeting with God, we should always be in our Sunday best? Think about that the next time you are working in the garden and you aren't wearing a suit or nice dress. As a pastor one of the worst things I would hear from folks is, "That's the way we've always done it." I'm sorry, but if that's your reason for doing something and you're not open for a little change, you're just being selfish. It has all become about you.

Don't confuse traditions in the church with instructions from God. There are some things people will try to pass off as traditions to get rid of them when they are instructions from God. Taking care of the needy is something that needs to happen all year long, not just at the holidays. Worshipping God is something we do day in and day out, not just once a week when gathered together. Praying is something we do continually not just once a week when a preacher leads us in a prayer.

I am currently part of a team that has launched a new style of church that will undoubtedly form it's own traditions. We are gathering in cell sites weekly and online using video chat. The team that is starting this has pledged that we will evaluate all that we do constantly as a core value. This is in part so that we do not create traditions, intentioned or not, that the meaning and basis is forgotten. We want to hold true to scripture and what God has asked of each us as His creation.

I encourage you to sit back and look at your life. Identify the traditions in your life. Try to recall the basis for those traditions. There's nothing wrong with keeping a tradition that you don't recall the basis. However, don't be afraid to change or stop it either.

Be blessed, my friends!

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