1. Free As Sons
   
2. Does "Go Ye" Mean "Go Me?"
   
3. Are We Really Born Again?
   
4. The Sacrifices of Cain and Abel
   
5. Silence Says Something
   
6. Body Language
   
7. Repentance Before Faith
   
8. I Wonder
   
9. Can I Know?
   
10. Ultimate Logical Conclusions
    
11. Errors in Peter's Sermon
    
12. Did Timothy Need Admonition?
    
13. Jesus' Youth Sermon For Adults
    
14. Why Didn't Paul Reform?
    
15. Christmas
    
16. Let The Unmarried Marry
    
17. A Dialect of Division
    
18. Our Traditions
    
19. Adding Our Safeguards
    
20. According To The Pattern
    
21. A Creed In The Deed
    
22. Samuel Did Not Know The Lord!
    
23. Response From Our Readers
    
24. Cries Of A Troubled Church
    
25. Sharing Without Fellowship
    
26. I Joined A Church
    
27. Open Membership
    
28. Another Last Will And Testament
    
29. Sad Thoughts About Church Growth
    
30. My Four Retirement Homes
    
31. Hook's Points: A Potpourri
    

OUR TRADITIONS

Once I initiated a summer program involving several other churches in our city to help familiarize our young people with their religious neighbors. The youths of these groups gathered at each of these churches on successive weeks to hear the ministers tell about their churches. The rector of the Episcopal Church caught the attention of our youth. In his discourse and response to questions, his standard explanation and justification for almost every practice was: "This is our tradition." At least, he was honest about it!

Since we in the Church of Christ have always spoken out against following tradition and we have claimed higher authority than tradition, that experience was astonishing to all of us.

I am uncomfortable with such honesty as that minister displayed for it causes me to question my own integrity. So, I began to look into the mirror, as it were, and was surprised and dismayed at what I saw in us.

Instead of speaking of assembling, we traditionally speak of going to church. Ecclesia means assembly but our tradition is to make it mean church. In keeping with our custom, three assemblies are conducted each week.

We approach our building designated by a sign declaring it to house the "Church of Christ." While we admit that it could be called "Church of God" or "Church of the Lord" with as much scriptural basis, our tradition makes it necessary to be designated as "Church of Christ."

Although church­owned property is not mentioned in the scriptures, our tradition declares such property to be almost essential.

As we enter the building, we are met by greeters and ushers who direct us to a pew in the auditorium. We are given an attendance card to fill out. A procession of the participants alerts us that the service is about to begin. A song leader invites us to take a hymnal and join in the singing, all of which is congregational. These songs are set to music for four­part harmony in shaped notes.

After the preacher preaches to the church stressing the importance of attending classes and giving support to children's homes and preacher training schools, an invitation song is sung.

A couple comes forward to place membership in the congregation so they can have their names put on the church roll and be under the authority of the elders. While the people watch, a person is baptized (backwards) in the baptistry by a man in rubber waders.

Now the Lord's Supper is served during which a bit of matzos cracker is taken by each participant, and then a sip of unfermented, red grape juice is taken from a tiny individual glass. As though it were a part of the Lord's Supper, a collection plate is passed, as it is done on a regular basis.

Toward the conclusion of the activities, an elder, whom we do not call a bishop, presents the budget and encourages the use of pledge cards. At last, the youth director leads a dismissal prayer and urges everyone to shake hands and be friendly.

But we have no traditions! We just follow practices as they are set forth and exemplified in the New Testament scriptures! Really?

The italicized items above are not all wrong as we practice them, and some are rather trivial, but who can deny that they are traditional practices to which we are not necessarily instructed or limited by scriptural authority?

Is it wrong to follow custom or tradition? Let us look at different aspects of this matter.

Jesus was brought up in the culture of Jewish traditions. The Pharisees believed that on Sinai God gave, not only the written law, but the oral teachings also. They maintained that these teachings were preserved in the generations through the elders, their distinguished ancestors from Moses on. Decisions of various judges and interpretations of great rabbis were also considered to be equally binding as the written law. In the Gospels, the "oral law" was called the "traditions of the elders," which were no more than custom made into a code of law. By it they sought to define and clarify uncertainties of the law as a safeguard against violation.

Rather than Jesus having been in conflict with the Pharisees over written law, his point of contention with them was about their following tradition when it rejected or nullified the written law (See Mark 7:1­13; Matthew 15:1­20).

Not unlike the Jewish claim, the Catholic concept is that tradition is the teaching of Christ given orally to the apostles and handed down in the church, though not written in the pages of the New Testament scriptures or any other compilation. By this concept, they support their claim that the church (hierarchy) is the living voice of God on earth. This seems to be a convenient means for adding to, or changing, God's directives throughout time. It must draw the same rebuke that Jesus gave to the Pharisees and their traditions.

There are apostolic traditions-a handing down, or passing on, by the apostles. Their messages were handed down from the Spirit. Concerning both written and unwritten tradition, Paul wrote, "I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you" (I Cor. 11:2). In verse 23, Paul assures the Corinthians, "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you..." Contrary to the general understanding that traditions are unwritten, Paul exhorts, "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thes. 2:15). The only essential traditions for us are those written by inspired men.

Long practiced social customs become traditional, and uninspired traditions are not necessarily wrong. Jesus kept social customs, and some of them related to religion, like his custom of attending the synagogue, his receiving the scroll, his standing to read, his returning the scroll, and his sitting to comment on what he had read. Jesus did not denounce the washing of feet, fasting, or the kiss of greeting as being evil due to their traditional acceptance.

Following tradition is wrong when a customary practice is bound, such as our allowing no variation from congregational singing, prohibiting the use of wine in the Lord's Supper, demanding that we wear the designation "Church of Christ," outlawing any but the King James Version of the Bible, or making contribution to the church budget essential. These, and other such practices, may be interpretative safeguards against participation in activities which the collective disciples consider doubtful or wrong. By binding these "safe" activities, however, the church, even while disclaiming church authority, imposes church authority.

Even though we must admit to following traditions, ours are not as bad as those of other churches! Other people even have special programs during the Christmas holidays and make much to do about Jesus' resurrection in the Easter season! They dedicate babies. In order to hide the participant and let the message be emphasized, the ministers and choir wear robes. Instead of having someone read the Scriptures, others will involve all in responsive readings. They meet in sanctuaries when everyone surely knows that they are auditoriums, and they decorate these with Christian art, stained glass, and crosses. Others may have a female song leader, which song leader, though unmentioned in scripture, surely must be a male. Also some have pastors instead of ministers, and they witness while we do personal evangelism. Avoiding our traditional name, "Church of Christ", some wear other scriptural descriptions such as "Christian Church" and "Church of God."

To be honest, we must judge our traditional practices by the same rule that we apply to others. Those pointed out in the paragraph above are no worse than our own familiar ones. Others just don't know how to say "Shibboleth"! No tradition may be bound as essential, except those given by the Spirit.

Heritage-and tradition is a part of heritage-enriches our lives by giving us identity, giving us a common bond, and distilling the wisdom of the past for us. Although that is a desirable feature of heritage, it can also be its dangerous aspect. Do our heritage and tradition give us a common identity with, and bind us closer to, all of God's children, or just to a sectarian group of them? Do they reflect the wisdom of the ages or that of sectarian heroes? Sadly, the tribes are still identified by their "Shibboleth" and "Sibboleth" (Judges 12).

Accumulation of sediment over a period of time made our baptistry look dingy and unappealing. By an application of acid, the crud was removed to reveal beautiful color and freshness. In like manner, the acid of challenge applied to traditional concepts is necessary to restore freshness of meaning long lost, dimmed, or perverted by tradition.

Change for the sake of change is not always profitable, but the harder a custom is to change, the more reason there is to challenge it.

Ponder this insight of Jeroslav Pelikan: "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living."