I’ve come to give greater value to a church’s identity and tradition. I guess that’s natural as we get older. Suddenly church isn’t an entity waiting for me to come and change it; it’s a place where I want to go be changed. Where I once thought that I was the one to set a vision and make that vision reality, I’m now more aware that my vision isn’t always God’s vision.
I’m also aware of the contrast between the tenure of the average minister and the roots that many families have within a congregation. Ministers typically come for 2, 5, or maybe 10 years; many families have participated in a congregation for ten times those numbers. If things don’t go well at a church, the minister leaves and heads somewhere else; in many congregations, that’s not a viable option for the members.
When we come to be part of a church, that church has an identity. If we feel it’s our mission to transform that identity, it’s likely that we’ve landed in the wrong place. Change can and will take place as we become more like Christ. But churches will have different ways of living out what it means to be Christ in their context. I now believe that we have to show some respect for how that has been done in the past. We don’t have to be tied to it, nor judged by it, but we do need to honor it.
I’ll flesh this out a bit more in some other posts. But I’d like to hear your thoughts. How do you view church culture and identity?
Tim, I get your point and somewhat agree, but also somewhat disagree. Sometimes the “identity of the church” hinders the growth of its members. The focus is on tradition at the expense of truth. I was told by an elder not to bring up things I had learned through study (even things he told me he agreed with) because it would cause people to get upset. As I read Scripture, I don’t see that as a concern of Jesus or the Apostles. Paul, in particular, seemed to be good at making people uncomfortable by challenging them to grow. Of course, it appears he set the standard for future preachers by only staying a maximum of 3 years at any one location, a trend you mentioned in your article. We have too many “church traditions” that are killing our congregations today. Things like dress codes – one church I know has a coat and tie dress code for any man serving on Sunday mornings. We’re losing a LOT of people because of this binding where God hasn’t bound. Others discourage singing “new songs” or showing videos as part of the lesson because it makes the older members uncomfortable (even though those things are shown to be effective and are not sinful in the least). We stifle the spirit through too many of these traditions. I’m not a preacher but I still recently left a congregation because of this. Traditions can become idols, and we need to be aware of this.
I see your point, Travis, and know that traditionalism can kill a church. As can a total disregard for the history of a congregation.
In many cases, I think we need to leave room for different expressions of faith within the body of Christ. If someone is absolutely convinced that the church must use instrumental music, to offer an example, I think they are better off starting a new group, rather than forcing their “new wine” into the old wineskins.
I think Paul taught respect for existing ideas, such as we see in Romans 14. He even encourages an acceptance of those who haven’t fully embraced monotheism in 1 Corinthians 8!
At the same time, I disagree with the idea that we can’t study certain topics or teach biblically out of fear of upsetting others; I think that elder was wrong to tell you that. Let change come in that way, through the opening of minds and the enlightening of misguided thinking.