Sunday, January 17, 2010

The Idolatry of Tradition

A few months ago I visited a rapidly growing church in South Carolina that is primarily attracting young adults to their worship services. It was an exciting experience and I wrote about it in my blog the following week. That blog was recently published in the Baptist Courier, which is the official newspaper for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Though many in South Carolina read the article and rejoiced that God was doing such a powerful thing among young adults in their area, one pastor wrote to say he disagreed with my observations. Though I want to be careful not to judge my brother in Christ, his comments highlight what I see as a disturbing trend developing in some traditional churches. I call it "tradition idolatry."

When I refer to tradition idolatry what I mean is the tendency to assume that following one's religious traditions is that same thing as following God. Don't get me wrong, many cherished church traditions are very meaningful and it would be sad to see them neglected. But cherished traditions are not equal to Biblical mandates. Churches must never give up biblical mandates, but they may alter their traditions many times over the lifetime of a congregation.

After all, most traditions in churches were simply products of their time and were convenient ways to do things when they were developed. Times have changed but in many churches, the traditions remain. For example, many traditional churches have Sunday morning worship at 11 AM. That was a time that worked well for the farmers that made up many congregations when American culture was more agricultural oriented. But that particular time slot is not as convenient as it once was, yet the tradition remains in many churches. Churches that forget the point of worship, which is to honor and glorify God in spirit and in truth, and instead focus on the time slot are in danger of practicing tradition idolatry.

Perhaps the time slot is not important to some churches, but what about the instruments used in worship? Certain instruments were popular a generation ago, but different instruments may be popular today. The point is not the instruments themselves, but how those instruments are used to glorify God. More traditional churches may use a hymn book while less traditional churches may project the words on the wall. Both are products of the times and neither is mandated in Scripture. What congregations need to be taught is how to worship with a heart that is focused on God not on self. While traditions may have an allure of "godliness," they are often simply catered to "self" because we feel comfortable with our traditions. Sadly, when people choose to follow their traditions instead of following the Bible, the boundary of tradition idolatry has been crossed.

Churches that have begun to hold to their traditions more than to timeless Biblical principles cannot expect to be blessed by God. God has never blessed idolatry, nor will He ever bless it. Let us each examine our hearts to see where we are placing our trust. Is it in the traditions of men or in the Word of Truth?

14 comments:

  1. Touchy subject...bless you for following God's prompting in speaking out.

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  2. It is not the instuments we use, or how we worship! The question should be " Is our Heart focussed on worshipping God! In Exodus 15:1 Moses sang "I will sing to the Lord for He has triumped gloriously!"

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  3. Amen! Keep on sharing your insight's, brother!

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  4. Well said. The Jesus that we follow came to earth to shake up religious establishments, not install them. I think that society's assault on Christianity forces many of us to withdraw into our boxes. The structures and repetitions of tradition provides security and protection for some.
    As far as hymns are concerned... I miss them. I have not been to a church that sang hymns in a long time. Modern worship music is great, but lets face it, in many songs its hard to tell if the subject is Jesus, or a lover.

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  5. Excellent Terry, agree wholeheartedly. We stand at a point in history where fidelity to a cultural identity seems to trump fidelity to Christ. The parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14 has become our model for ministry - if we are not doing ministry in a way that provides an authentic table of friendship to those on the fringes of religious culture, then we are not doing Jesus-shaped ministry. Politics-as-Jesus and other religious oddities have to die if we are going to see incarnational ministry happen. In fact, religion has to die. Least religious? That's a good thing. Jesus hates religion.

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  6. Amen! But the question I ask, is how do I show others that traditions are not the Bible and that even though we me have traditions it is not the same thing as following God?

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  7. This is a serious issue. I have been asked more questions about music and bible translation than about steps to salvation and genuine repentence. One way of addressing hidebound traditions is to have "special" services in which change is part of the theme. Introduce new styles of music in the form of "special" music. Allow folks to awaken from their slumber gently. Insisting on change for change sake is just as idolotrous as resisting change. Foremost, love must be our motive and prayer must be our means.

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  8. Logan,
    I think the key is to start WITH the Bible instead of a method or program. Study the Bible, teach it to others, when you get to a part that goes against the traditions of men, go ahead and teach it, then ask the listeners, what would we look like if we actually followed that passage? Then let the Spirit take over as the group processes the info.
    What we often do is "tell" the group how it would look and then the perception is that we want to replace THEIR tradition with OUR tradition. That is a loosing battle, and rightly so. Instead, just teach the Word and let the applications flow from it. It will take awhile, but a group that is focused on the Lord will eventually begin to adjust to actually following Him and not their traditions. Typically, a wall falls one brick at a time, so don't try to take on all the traditions at once. Just deal with the ones that flow out of whatever scripture you are teaching at the moment.

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  9. It is more than just the traditions of men, it is also the realization that "GOD" actually exists. This is the Mystery that many miss. What I am refering to is "Faith" and Belief." When we take that time in His Word and allow His Spirit to Work in us, we learn how God wants to lead the church. This is the heart of real worship.

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  10. Terry: I have many problems with the emergent church movement, one of which is, it seems to me, that the modern contemporary church is a repackaging of liberalism of another generation, It is not about styles of worship but rather about doctrine and theology in these contemparary churches that bother me.

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  11. Wayne,
    Thanks for your thoughts, and I think you are right to be concerned that churches teach solid doctrine, as without good doctrine, what is the point of church anyway? But my concern is that some churches have replaced "doctrine" with "tradition" and they are not the same thing. Likewise, some more innovative churches have replaced "doctrine" with "innovation" and that too is a problem. But the point of writing my blog post was to help traditional churches make sure they are actually standing on doctrine and not just tradition. If we allow tradition to replace doctrine, we become like the Pharisees of the New Testament, and I know none of us want that. When I served with your brother Robert many years ago in Anderson, he was definately traditional, but he had a good grasp of the difference between doctrine and tradition. I never felt he worshipped his tradition, though he preferred it to more contemporary stuff. Knowing the difference between tradition and doctrine is half the struggle and Robert "got that", which is probably why he and I got along so well. Just something to think about.

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  12. Add to that: food and drinks in the sanctuary (we are the temple not the building), Bible versions, pulpit vs. no pulpit, chior or band, no hat policies and there are even more methods we need to constantly evaluate that have NO bearing on our relationship with God!

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  13. Nate,
    Thanks for your input. And thanks for pointing out that there are many issues that have no bearing on our relationship with God.

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