Changing the Traditions of Men

My dad is a sentimentalist and he loves tradition—reading the story of Jesus’ birth at Christmas; coming together as a family for Thanksgiving; he and I going out for breakfast every so often then going to the local hobby shop to look at model trains. He loves those things. So do I. I love them because I’m spending time with him or with my family. But our tradition isn’t what makes us a family. It’s being together. As I grow older, I realize that those traditions are really things we repeat because we have good memories from doing them in the past.

 When I was little we had a model train platform, and Dad and I worked on it together all the time. It’s been over 25 years now and we haven’t had a platform since then. We still have some of the track...still have some of the trains...still have the great memories, and they’re fond ones...but now that I’m nearly 40 and Dad is 60, things are different. We live in a different time and have different responsibilities, and the traditions of the past won’t sustain our relationship of the present or future. We see things differently.

 Church has become much the same. People talk to me all the time about how Church should be or shouldn’t be. “We need good preaching on Sunday morning to sustain us through the week,” they say. Or, “I remember when we would worship for hours.” Or, “There’s no power anymore, only control.” I’m sure you can add your comments as well. As I’ve watched people leaving traditional church in droves, I’ve prayed and pondered much about what is going on and I’ve come to a few conclusions.

 God is a God of progressive revelation. He never changes but continues to reveal more and more of His nature to us. It’s kind of like if you were walking down the road and you passed a Wal-mart, you wouldn’t pass that same store again unless you were walking in a circle. This is partly what has happened to the Church—she has gotten stuck in certain circles and keeps passing the same points over and over. We call them belief systems. You could call them denominations, but they’re really circles based on the traditions of men and justified with Scripture. The fact that different people like to worship God in different ways is not wrong. It’s actually a great picture of the diversity of God. It’s the other stuff that corrupts us.

 Mark 7:5-9 “Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.’”

 Growing up in a denominational church, I remember the rules well—all the things I couldn’t do because it might tempt me to sin, like co-ed swimming or dancing. We were told all the time how we were sinners, but Jesus died for us. And every few weeks, just about everyone in the church was re-dedicating their life back to God—deacons included. We were “responding” to the traditions of men, not the power of God. Now you might be thinking, “Well our church isn’t like that. We’re an independent, multi-racial, interdenominational, third-day church that’s been in the river, experienced renewal, blah, blah, blah.” So let me ask you, “Why are you still empty? Why are you going to conferences to get your fix, I mean, hear the latest word? Why are you subscribed to all the prophetic e-mail newsletters?” Hey, this describes me too...believe me. I’m thinking out loud to you. Why is our Christian experience the way it is? Three simple words explain it all...We...want...Him. And to get Him, we’ll jump through the hoops, endure the tradition, do whatever it takes just to get Him.

 I recently was adding some rooms in my basement, which was quite the fiasco because I am not exactly gifted in construction. One day my mom and dad were over to visit and I was showing them my progress. I mentioned to Dad that he was welcome to come over and help me frame walls sometime if he wanted. He responded that he knew nothing about framing walls and wouldn’t be much help. I told Mom later that I wasn’t asking him over because of his ability, I just wanted to be with him. He never did come over to help.

 I believe the Church is going through an identity crisis. We want God to come and dwell among us. We want powerful Sunday services that assure us that God was dwelling among us. And we’re grasping at whatever we can to make that happen. We want God to come and get rid of all the junk and fill us up with power so we can go out and win the lost and be a light—all during the 2 hours of Sunday morning. I have a revelation for you. Sunday morning isn’t the answer. Christianity isn’t about what happens on Sunday morning. Let me ask you this—When does a person need fed and cleaned and taken care of by another? When they are infants and toddlers! Apply that to Sunday morning and you’ll discover part of the problem. Our churches have too many babies and the Pastor can’t possibly feed and care for them all. He or she shouldn’t have to. I am not saying to get rid of Sunday morning services. I am saying that perhaps we need to re-evaluate their role and purpose.

 I believe it’s time to grow up and move on with God. We can no longer base our 168-hour week on 2 hours of Pseudo-spirituality on a Sunday morning. It is a moment-by-moment relationship. That means we will need to reorganize our time. It will mean giving up things that we love to do. But if we really want Him, if we really want that relationship of our dreams with the Lord, then making those changes will be easy, right? By the time Sunday comes, we should be going to explode, not receive. We go to give our thanks and praise to the Creator God, the one we love and adore. We gather to come together to celebrate being a part of His body and to enjoy its many facets.

 God is doing a new thing, not because He changed, but because we’re on a new stretch of road, and this road leads to Zion. Let’s lay aside the things that keep us going in circles—the traditions of men—and become what God has wanted us to be all along—one with Him. I want to challenge you to change—change your mind...change your opinions...change your life—not through your own ability and willpower, but through submitting your will to Him. Jesus said, “Not My will, but Yours be done.” May that be the anthem of the 21st Century.