Gimme that old time tradition

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." - Andy Warhol

Tradition. It means different things to each of us. Perhaps the word makes feel warm as you think of a family brought together by their traditions of celebrating Christmas. Or perhaps, like me, the word makes you think of a family cold and divided by tradition. My family is. My many brothers and sisters are torn by a tradition they have placed so much emphasis on that it is now nothing short of a religion in itself.

Of course, I'm refering to my church. I grew up among these people, laughed with them and learned much from them. This explains why my heart is torn to see my church slowly falling to ruin before my eyes.

A man in our church once stood at a meeting with tears in his eyes. Something was clearly troubling him which he held at great importance. What could it be? Had we forgotten the power and majesty of our God? Was the severe shortage of people willing to serve God in the church troubling him? No. He was extremely upset that we were allowed to clap in church. When he was a boy, he was taught that this was something one might do in a theatre, and no Christian should ever go to a theatre. His very faith was seemed strongly rooted to this fact. He wanted to have clapping abolished in the church. And right away, it was. Please, I don't mention this to offend the man who believed this, or any others who agreed. It just astounds me how quickly the church was willing to change this, and yet how gruellingly long it takes to make any changes to the church which might benefit the kingdom of God.

Our church was founded by the elderly. They are people of strong faith and devotion, as well as strong tradition. What is our faith? That Christ died for us, and is the only way to God. By accepting Him, we are forgiven of all our sins, and made pure. He gives us new life, which we devote to seeking and serving Him. What about our traditions? We must never clap in church. Church is meant to be reverent and quiet, not boistrous or joyful. Our tradition tells us that miracles do not happen today, but were only meant for the time when the apostles walked the earth. Spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues were also only meant for this time. It also informs us that a "good Christian" will never attend movies or watch television, as this is too worldly. Pastoral candidates have been turned down for making references to movies. Worship music which includes drums and electric guitars is also too worldly. Wow. Quite a list. And I know I've left many more things out. What is our faith again? After reading all of that, it's easy to forget the very reason why we gather each week, which is exactly what has happened.

So much emphasis is placed on these rules that we've made them the core of what we believe. This is dangerous. Nothing can be at the core of our beliefs except the fact that Jesus is the Son of God who took our sins upon Himself and died to give us new life, eternal life. Putting anything else at the centre will make our faith topple. Something must change. But what? Surely not our religion. The fact that Christ is Lord and has died and risen again will never change, not even in another two thousand years. So what must we change? The tradition. We must constantly be willing to change and look at our same beliefs from new perspectives so that young people in changing cultures can find new ways to experience the same, unchanging God. Just about all the hype surrounding Christianity results from our stubborn traditions, not from the faith itself.

I don't want to see my both the height of my church's success and its fall all in my one short lifetime. We are refusing to meet the world where it's at, and so we're crumbling. This is not what Christ intended for His Body. Please, fry the tradition, before it fries us.