Jesus and Tradition

***Below are excerpts from my response to an email I received today about drinks in the sanctuary. The real underlying question is about tradition. Before younger readers launch into a bariage against tradtion let me say that part of tradition is expecting others to do what you do. Anytime I find myself in a different environment outside of my preferences and struggle to connect with Christ I must ask myself if I am locked into a tradition. I know perhaps as many in the younger generation stuck their form of tradition as the older are in theirs. With that said enjoy...I would love feedback***

Wow, this is such a touchy subject because it really has nothing to do with logic but rather is processed by people at an emotional level.

Most people who feel so strong about no drink in the sanctuary do not feel that way during non service times – such as changing light bulbs, hanging Christmas decorations, etc. Why then at a certain day, certain moment, certain time does something that is otherwise ok become not ok? Obviously the answer is not a logical one but an emotional one. The feeling that drinking a beverage in the sanctuary dishonors God, yet to drink the same beverage at the same time in a different location such as a classroom while studying God’s Word is not dishonoring.

Is God honestly offended on a Wednesday night by a person drinking coffee in the sanctuary studying his Word while at the same time not being offended by someone drinking coffee at the same time in the Young Professionals class studying His Word? The logical answer is clear but once again we are not dealing with logic but people’s emotions.

Paul wrote about this in I Cor 8. Some believers still bound up in tradition felt “sinful” if they ate meat sacrificed to Idols and were trying to oppose their opinion on everyone else. Other believers, especially gentiles, who did not have the hang up of Jewish tradition about “unclean meats” couldn’t understand the problem with eating the meat. After all, what does meat have to do with their relationship with Christ??? While clearly expressing that the act itself of eating of the meat is not “sinful” Paul tries to bring balance to keeping peace among believers of different mindsets. In this case, Paul says that while he himself and others eat meat and don’t worry about it, while in the presence of someone who does he would abstain so as not to cause their faith to weaken. However, at the same time Paul constantly presented teaching on the sufficiency of Christ, rather than outward deeds, so that those same people weak in faith could grow in their understanding to embrace different cultures and different modes and expressions of worship.

My point? The only logical reason to keep drinks out of the sanctuary is 1) is it a cleaning issue – spills, etc. 2) is it a distraction

To me during worship times it can be a distraction as well as a potential mess since there is standing and sitting and much moving around. Bible study times on the other hand it is neither distracting nor any greater risk of mess than elsewhere on the campus.

I know you asked a simple question and I wrote a book response but do not under estimate how significant this question is. It is about way more than drinks in the sanctuary. It is about whether we as a church family will transition to reach out to our community. They don’t come in with our traditions. They act different, think different, dress different, etc. Which is more important to us…to give them Jesus or traditions. These are tough questions because we answer them logically but feel them emotionally. There are many people in our church that are going to have to go through a period of emotional stretching out of traditions to get back to the priority of connecting people with Jesus. It will be felt at all levels – music, service order, service times, dress, etc…

We must continue to pave the way in prayer, be consistent in clear teaching and demonstrate steady love to those experiencing emotional stretching without being moved from the task before us…which is transitioning our church to reach our growing community with the wonderful message of Jesus Christ.

There is a reason why every AG church in South OKC has shrunk over the last 10 years. It isn’t about drinks or no drinks, contemporary or traditional, casual or dress…it is about priority – keeping the traditions or reaching people for Christ. Turning a church from inward focused to outward focuse is the constant task of church leadership.

It is good to take a personal evaluation once in awhile of your own focus. I do regularly. Ask yourself, do I spend more time talking and visiting with new people or people that I already know? The answer to that question reveals our focus – outward or inward.

To see the harvest that we have prayed so many years for it will take more and more people becoming outward rather than inward focused. That transition is an emotional journey that our church family must travel. It is my prayer that the majority will make the journey, but it is a journey that we must take.

Thoughts????