Tradition: Blessing and Bane

by Parrish W. Jones, Ph.D.

Acts 15:1- 29

Most of us have traditions, and most of us find ourselves having to change our traditions as time passes. For those of us who have moved away from parents or whose children have moved away, it has been necessary to change traditions. Things we once did for Christmas, Easter, birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays simply can't happen. Since being married, Mary Ellen and I have changed how we could celebrate these things several times over as we went to having resident and non-resident dependent children to having children in college in various parts of the country, to having married children and grandchildren we have to share with other grandparents at Christmas and other times. Few of us live, as families once did, in the same geographic area. In rethinking our celebrations, we have to remember what is essential to the celebration and what is not. Then we go from there.

In the life of the church we have many traditions some are blessings to us. Some are a bane, a curse on our existence. I'll not try to give you an inventory of those for Summit. I'll leave that to you. However, there are some important questions we have to ask when we think about our traditions:

1. ◦What do we do (if anything) when our tradition conflicts with the values of the community?
2. ◦What is our responsibility toward the community?
3. ◦To what extent must we change who we are in order to make the community
4. ◦feel welcome?
5. ◦What do we do when our traditions create barriers?
6. ◦How do we address this issue without compromising our essence as the church of Jesus Christ?
The early church went through this kind of discussion and crisis many times. One of those times and issues is clearly described to us in the lesson we read this morning.

The issue before them was that as Peter and Paul and others went into communities to live and proclaim the gospel non-Jews, called Gentiles, began to become Christians. The Jews in the church began to question the practice of letting these non-Jews become members of the church, be baptized and receive communion without first being circumcised and obeying Jewish dietary laws.

The conflict became so great that they called a summit of the church leadership to discuss the issue and decide. The question before them is just this: What is required to be Christian? Does one have to be Jewish to be Christian? What is the essence of faith in Jesus?

The answer to this question would be painful either way. Some would be injured and perhaps leave the church if the issue went with those called Judaizers. In fact, it is likely that the movement of the church into Gentile regions would have been terribly hampered. It also seems clear that had the answer gone against the Judaizers, many Jewish Christians would feel injured and leave the church. The question is raised: What does it mean to be the church in the Roman Empire in the first century of the Christian Era?

Fortunately, God had given the church a few clear examples to work with. One of those came from Peter as we read. His experience preaching to Cornelius and his household of Gentiles who all were filled with the Holy Spirit and were baptized. Then Paul and Barnabas shared all their experiences which seemed convincing to James the brother of Jesus.

The principle we can draw from all of this is that God demonstrates that divine intentions are not constrained by human traditions. If we think of traditions as ways the church presents itself to the world, we can group them in this sort of way:

1. ◦Images and Symbols
2. ◦Beliefs and Values
3. ◦Style
In each of these areas we have to distinguish between what is essential, what is equivocal, and what is simply dispensable. Needless to say, that is no easy matter. However, we can take a stab.

One thing we know about churches is that some traditions are absolutely necessary to the life of the church. Others contribute to the life of the church and some do not. Some got started and nobody knows why or where they came from but it is clear they are not necessary and have become a burden.

There are many things that Summit does that are wonderful: the Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch, the Christmas in April projects, youth mission trips, Sunday School, Presbyterian Women, the Fellowship Groups, summer children's and youth activities and education programs, youth groups, our music ministry, Vacation Bible School, Discipleship Classes, the way we look after our members and try to see to the many needs that arise within the church family and the community, and so on and so forth. The list of course is nearly endless.

The question we can ask of all of these is what are essential to being the church. Some of them we would almost immediately say are essential to being a church and others could be eliminated without loosing our character as a church. The other side of this question is what are we leaving out that is essential to being a church.

Now I do not raise these questions because I have any particular answers. I am not hear to answer the questions. You are perfectly capable of answering these questions, but it is my job to always keep these questions before you. Any minister worth her or his salt will do the same.

Of course, the answer is slightly different for us than it was in the time of Peter and Paul because we have a different culture. However, many of the issues we face have themes similar to their issues. That essential question still stands before us: What is truly essential about being the church? What does it mean to be the church in 21st Century Stafford County, Northern Virginia, the United States, and the world?

To answer that question we have to decide what images and symbols, what beliefs and what styles are necessary for us to be the church in our context. There are certain essentials that will be true for the church wherever it is. We have to decide what things we may have to incorporate into the ministry of our church in terms of style, images and symbols for our region that in Africa or even downtown Washington would be different. What teachings of the Gospel speak most importantly to the life of the people who live in our area?

These questions are important because the answers to them make it possible to carry out our evangelistic and mission responsibilities within the church and to our community.