I realize I've neglected this blog for over a year, and I'm truly sorry. A few things have changed in my world though, and between my travel schedule, and being back home most Sundays to help with the music at our church, it's been an exhausting year, both physically, and Spiritually.
Today, I'd like to talk a little about traditions. These are mentioned a few times during Scripture, both in a good way, and a bad way. Let's take a look at both good and bad!
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
We see here that Paul makes mention of good traditions which should be followed, both as a church, and as individuals, but these traditions are qualified by 1: word, and 2: epistle. If you are a student of the Bible, then you doubtless know that where the word of God is concerned, all that was available to the early church was the Old Testament. God was showing men like Peter, Paul, John, and the other new testament writers revelation for the church age, so as they got it from God, and wrote it down and God breathed upon it, it became God's word. Thus, there were traditions which they wrote about which should be followed.
I'm sure as the early church took shape, there were several great traditions which were instituted, as there are even today! For instance, the tradition of an altar call, where members are invited to come and do business with God directly after the preaching is a recent tradition which can be very helpful in a church service. Other traditions, like church building design, order of service, and things such as that, however, have changed as time has gone by, and while there is nothing wrong with these traditions, a certain amount of care is necessary so churches or pastors don't get dogmatic with them.
Let's examine the other place where tradition is mentioned in Scripture. Matthew 15
1 ¶Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. Matthew 15:1-4.
We see here the pharisees, who were quite consumed with their traditions. It wasn't just about being keepers of the Old Testament law; they read into it, and infused their own customs and traditions with it. They lived by the letter so much that they read between the lines, and inserted letters that weren't even there, just to make themselves look holy. In this case, they were angry at Jesus because the disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate. Don't get me wrong though. I think washing your hands before you eat is a marvelous and sanitary tradition. I prefer to wash my hands before I eat, especially if I've just been interacting with a bunch of people, shaking hands, playing keyboards that 100 others have played before me, and touching surfaces that kids have probably sneezed on with their nasty colds, but there are definitely some people who don't care about that stuff, and don't wash their hands before they eat, such was the case with the disciples, obviously. The pharisees esteemed washing their hands before dinner to be just as important as "Thou shalt not kill", and trying to ensnare Jesus, they called Him out on it. Notice what He said in verses 3 and 4, clearly drawing a line between tradition and commandment. Again, there are some traditions that are good, but they're just traditions! Don't break fellowship with people who don't participate in your tradition, and don't get mad at them for holding traditions that you don't participate in.
Look at another interesting verse. Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Here, Paul is dealing with a church in a place that is embracing the latest and greatest philosophies, and no doubt some had crept into the church. Paul's concern here is that the people will be spoiled by those traditions, and espouse them instead of what Christ wanted. We see much of that in today's emergent churches, where worldly traditions are being brought into the church of God. Things like leadership conferences, retreats, and the like started in the corporate world, and trickled down to the church level. Am I saying it's all wrong? Absolutely not! I do believe, however, that the church should exercise caution before embracing whatever the next big fad is.
There's something else to be said about tradition though. Tradition can make pharisees out of people. I remember taking a young man with me to some meetings, and the first one was at a church who applauded after somebody sang or preached. This young man became so angry that he got up and walked out of the service, and refused to get a blessing because that church did something different than what our church does. Our church doesn't applaud after singing and preaching, so he figured they were wrong because they did. In fact, he thought it was so wrong that he wanted to break fellowship with me because I didn't publicly denounce the church. The lesson here is this. Clearly, the Bible is silent in its dealings with how to respond after a person sings. In fact, we never read of guest soloists or quartets being brought in to the early church, but before you go banning such things, remember the Bible never said you couldn't have them, either! In our church, we say "amen" if a song has blessed us, but in many churches, people clap. Is there a difference? Maybe there is, but I believe it's more of a perceived difference than anything else. The argument is that clapping is what you do at a concert, or a theater, so we should do something different in church. However, on the other side of the coin, both are expressions of appreciation, and there are plenty of references in Scripture to hand clapping. So, who's right, and who's wrong? Neither! It's just simple tradition, and whether a church claps, says "amen", or just sits there and looks bored, I can appreciate, well, at least the first two.
I heard of a pastor who wrote a book about why churches shouldn't install projection screens, and I'm sure there are pastors who read his book, and immediately tore down their screens, because traditionally, the church never had screens before, and this other guy must be right! May I remind you that traditionally, the church didn't have air conditioning, sound systems, a nursery for the kids, Sunday School, or indoor plumming? These are very recent inventions, and I bless the day most of them were invented, and installed in churches! In fact, I don't know anyone who complains about any of them, except maybe a Sunday School that starts too early on a Sunday morning! Lol!
Did you know that the piano is a recent invention? Before the piano, churches used large pipe organs, but Martin Luther was dogmatically against them, refering to them as "Satan's evil chest of pipes." Is a piano or an organ wrong to have in a church? I know some folks who say they are, and prefer to sing acapella, and that's fine for them. However, the Bible makes mention of all kinds of instruments being used to praise the Lord, even *gasp* percussion instruments! Read Exodus 15, and you will find that the first instrument used in high praise to the Lord which was mentioned in Scripture was a timbrel, which was a kind of hand drum kin to a tambourine! Now, I've been to some pretty conservative Baptist churches who wouldn't appreciate me bringing a tambourine and playing it in their midst, but fear not, I don't even own one! Many churches up north, however, don't prefer a bass guitar. I guess they can't disassociate it with rock 'n roll music, but mind you, Jerry Lee Lewis was just as obnoxious on a piano as many rock bass players are. However, if I go to a church like that, I leave my Gibson bass at home, or in the car. I can respect their preferences. To I think the preference is ridiculous and unfounded? Of course I do, but they probably think my preference of having a bass guitar is ridiculous, and too close to the line! While I politely disagree, I can respect their views on the issue, as long as they can respect mine, and won't break fellowship with me over it.
Here's the bottom line! Traditions, by and large, since the Biblical cannon has been closed, are simply preferences which have been carried on for years. Some are good, but the danger is wen, like the pharisees, you make your traditions kin to Scripture. If you go to a church that observes traditions that you don't necessarily agree with, but aren't compromising where the Bible is concerned, the best thing to do is just to respect them, and don't start a fight about them. In otherwords, if a church claps after somebody sings, or displays their songs on a screen, don't discount the church just because your old church did things different. Likewise, if you grew up in a church that claps, and you go to another one that doesn't, don't cause a scene just because they do things differently. It is unfortunate that more of our basis of breaking fellowship as Bible believing Christians are traditions, rather than over people who bring in false doctrine.
