Let's overturn these tables

Tradition. It appears in all sorts of places.

In rites of passage such as weddings. In celebrations like Christmas. In remembrances such as ANZAC Day or Independence Day. And in families. And, of course, in churches.

Is it a good thing, or is it not so helpful?

---

The psychology of traditions

Psychologists tell us that traditions can definitely enhance our lives. They are foundational elements of our shared culture and values. They help maintain our lives and peace of mind:

• Traditions provide continuity with our past, thus giving us a sense of stability.
• They help us know how to behave in certain situations, so we don’t have to spend too much time thinking. Think of the Christmas traditions you follow in your family.
• So they give us a sense of identity and belonging. We feel like we are with people like us, which helps us feel comfortable.
• All this tends to strengthen shared values and beliefs and so guides individual and group behaviour.

Traditions, the psychologists say, are generally helpful to happiness and mental health.

When traditions are not so helpful

Life situations change, but traditions can stifle or slow down necessary change in response. If we blindly follow the past, we can stifle critical and innovative thinking. It can become a struggle between cultural preservation and progress.

The conflict between tradition and new ideas can lead to generational conflict where new and better values and ideas can be opposed. This can lead to identity crisis where an individual, or a whole society, feels torn between two different sets of values and behaviours. Some people are more able to adapt and change than others which can lead to breakdowns in friendships or traditional loyalties.

So it seems that traditions are useful as long as they relevant and support the goals of a family, organisation or culture, but may become unhelpful if goals or culture change.

Tradition and the church

The Christian church is one of the oldest institutions in the world, and obviously has its share of traditions.

• The church year with its seasons and celebrations (Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, etc).
• Liturgies, prayers, hymns and readings that have come down from earlier days.
• Each denomination has its style of worship that has developed over time.
• Other less obvious traditions concern religious language, dressing up to go to church (or not) and even where people sit in church.

Are these traditions helpful, or not?

This, of course, is where it gets difficult. A matter of opinion. But perhaps we have some clear guidelines.

Jesus and tradition

The Jews of Jesus’ day, especially the Pharisees, had a good deal of tradition, which stood alongside their scriptures and showed how they believed the scriptures should be interpreted and applied. While Jesus followed, or didn’t contest, many of the traditions, on many occasions he gave contrary interpretations. At least once (Mark 7:1-23) he specifically condemned traditions which he believed negated God’s teaching.

Jesus’ early followers also grappled with the value of tradition:

• The Holy Spirit led Peter to break with tradition in visiting the home of the gentile Cornelius (Acts 11:1-18).
• The Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) was all about how much of Jewish law and tradition should be applied to gentile converts.
• Paul was strong on letting go of many traditions (Galatians 1:14, Colossians 2:8) that he saw as contrary to the new covenant.

We can summarise that the New Testament records a time of great change in God’s relationship with people, and behaviour and belief needed to be in conformity with God’s new ways. And so some traditions needed to be jettisoned.

Tradition and the Holy Spirit

We have already seen the Holy Spirit at work in the early church teaching Peter to be open to new covenant perspectives. But surely the Holy Spirit has remained active throughout church history, where we can discern many Spirit-inspired breaks with tradition:

• St Francis stood against the wealth, power and corruption of the church hierarchy of his day and the traditions that allowed it, and worked for justice and peace.
• The Reformation broke with many Catholic traditions of the day.
• The Wesleys and the Booths reacted to a somewhat lame Church of England to break with tradition and lead movements of spiritual enthusiam and community care (respectively).
• The charismatic renewal and the modern day Christian justice movements also turned away from some modern church traditions.

Where need demanded, these heroes of the faith (and many others I haven’t mentioned) were willing to break with tradition to fulfil God’s calling on them.

Tradition in the church

So it seems that church traditions are helpful as long as they support the mission of the church. However if the culture we live in changes, our traditions may not be so relevant and would need to be replaed by new traditions.

Tradition & innovation today

It is no secret that the church is losing ground in most first world countries. It isn’t so much opposed as ignored, considered irrelevant. Which means that we aren’t fulfilling our mission to make disciples and love our neighbour.

There are many reasons why we are falling short, and not all of them are the church’s own doing. But if we care about this mission, we have little choice but to reconsider our traditions and practices to see where we might re-connect with the communities around us.

The traditions that govern the way we structure our churches and our gatherings may make them like a foreign country to the people around us, and even those in the church. For example:

• People these days are generally less interested in sitting passively while someone talks to them. They are comfortable with searching via Google, podcasts and Youtube, and prefer something more interactive.
• Some people enjoy singing in public choirs or football matches, but not many these days would be comfortable with church singing.
• For many, church services can seem to be an escape from the reality of the world around us rather than something that helps them live better.
• For others, sleeping in, playing sport or serving in the community would be preferable than attending church.

None of this makes church services “wrong”, but it likely makes them less useful in our mission. Some churches are breaking with some traditions about styles of worship and ministry to be more relevant and helpful:

• A church which doesn’t follow one traditional pattern of worship, but offers five different styles of meeting to provide for different people’s needs.
• A group of missional communities not associated with any church or denomination, which are more successful than most churches in attracting non-believers.
• A church made up of hundreds of microchurches, each one serving a particular group in the surrounding community.
• And more.

Changing traditions

Recognising if a church needs to change some of its approaches to relate better to the community around it, is the important first step. Working out what to change will be challenging.

But working out how to make changes that affect people will likely be even more challenging. The church may be one of the few constants in a person’s life, and change can be threatening. Studies show that even when there is clear need for change, people may still subconsciously resist change because it feels like a threat to an established way of doing things.

So congregations need to feel the present traditions are valued for what they have achieved in the past, but need to be amended to continue to achieve what everyone values. They need to feel that they still have control over their choices. Consulting, explaining the vision, keeping people informed, not moving too fast, helping people develop new skills and showing you care, are all important for leaders of change.

There is plenty of information on leading change in a sensitive people-centred way – by sharing a vision of the new repeatedly, influencing those most likely to influence others, including celebration and rites of passage to farewell the old and be excited about the new, and so much more.

Studies show that when people are informed, have input, believe in the change and see their trusted leaders enthusiastically supporting change, they are much more able and willing to participate in the change themselves.

Seeking first the kingdom of God

In the end, we are servants in the kingdom of God. If congregations have embraced this truth they should be able to let go of traditions that are no longer serving thewir purpose, and happily develop new traditions. Change is a reality of modern life, and churches need to be willing to do what it takes to fulfil our mission.

I hope and pray that we will see more and more churches beginning new ways to be the church and news to fulfil our mission.

Photo by Ron Lach.

More pages on new ways to be the church