​The Easy Error of Traditionalism

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” – Colossians 2:8-10
 
For some of us, it is easy to become traditionalists.  But for all of us, religious traditionalism is to be guarded against.  Some of us have a predisposed personality that simply doesn’t like change.  I am one of those.  I hate signing on social media only to find that the entire homepage has changed.  Where is my chat window?  Where are my groups?  And why in the world does my own feed default to “top stories” rather than “most recent”?  Who wants that?  Please give me the option to use it the old way.  I like Microsoft Word in the old format.  I like Excel in the old format.  I like my iPhone in the old format.  I simply do not like change.  Yet, I am married to a beautiful, godly woman that wants the newest, most cutting edge edition of anything and everything.  I do not hold her “error” against her.  It’s just a preference – a preference that simply has no lasting consequences.  It’s easily fixed by her having her own MacBook and me having mine. 
 
This whole debate over “how” to do things in church continues to drag along without truly touching the most important things.  We want church to “look like church”.  But our view of church is based on little more than the previous generation – perhaps 2 generations back.  If we view church through the eyes of a believer 1900 years ago, none of our churches look like churches today.  The problem is, we fail to see that.  Churches 1900 years ago didn’t have buildings, pulpits, pews, fellowship halls, pianos, hymnbooks, pastors in coats and ties, offering plates, baptisteries, etc. What if we took those things away from our churches today – any one of them?  There’d be uproar and mass hysteria.  There’d be accusations of people departing from the faith.  The term “apostasy” would be thrown around.  The label of “heretic” would be tossed towards certain people.  And yet, we know none of the early churches used any of those things in their weekly worship of God. 
 
Religiously, most of us are far less tolerant of change than in any other facet of life.  Generally speaking, we are comfortable in the way we do things.  Yet, this often leads to confidence that our way is the only way.  Must a church have a building to be a church?  Must there be pews?  Must there be an American flag in the sanctuary?  A Christian flag?  Must there be 3 songs sang?  Must “Amazing Grace” always follow the Lord’s Supper?  Must the pastor wear a coat and tie?  Must we collect tithes in a box – or perhaps by passing a plate?  All of these questions are legitimate things to discuss.  All of them may have arguments made for or against them.  But we cannot consider our prefernce on these things to be adamantly Scriptural.  What I prefer and what I have Biblical support for is not always the same thing.  We need to make certain that we make a distinction between the two. 
 
I have no desire in this article to argue for the regulative or normative principle of worship.  I would argue, though, that we should follow the regulative principle of worship if I were to write on it.  That is, we ought to follow the teaching of Scripture on all things that we do in worship. We should have “chapter and verse” for our practices.  That said, such practices don’t always look the same in every church.  Churches are (Biblically) independent and given some liberty to do things differently.  Some churches never stand for singing while some stand during the entire song service.  The Bible gives no specific instruction for singing other than saying we are to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).  Was Paul’s intent here to have every church look the same in this?  Not at all.  Of course, there should be similarities.  But whether a church sings while sitting and another sings while standing isn’t on Paul’s radar whatsoever.  Few people could read in the 1st century.  So logically, most songs had to be memorized by the congregation.  And even if one could read, everything was handwritten.  However, this doesn’t prohibit churches today from having printed copies of lyrics in a society where printing is available and we have a high percentage of literacy.  Paul doesn’t care whether the church memorizes a song or sings from the lyrics on a page.  His point is that they sing – and sing Scriptural, God honoring songs in a way that glorifies God. 
 
There simply is no step-by-step schedule of worship in the Bible for New Testament churches.  We are instructed on what to do.  However, exactly what order and through what medium these things are carried out, we are given leniency.  Does the singing precede the sermon?  What if we had it after?  Do we pray after the first song?  The second?  Before the sermon?  After?  The key is “that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling” (1 Timothy 2:8).  Clearly prayer is to be a major part of the worship service.  The order of when it is done during the service will be different from church to church.  It doesn’t make the church I pastor right and the church you attend wrong merely because we have prayer at a different time.  The important thing is that prayer is a part of our services.
 
As singing and praying are prescribed in the Bible, so the preaching of the Word of God is a necessity for the worship service.  Paul told Timothy, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13).  This is rather clear.  The exposition of Scripture – that is, reading a passage and explaining to the congregation what it means – is to be a major part of the worship service.  This may be done before the song service, after the song service, or between song services.  An elder may teach through Revelation or the Song of Solomon.  Despite the actions of some denominations, every elder isn’t required to teach the same passage as every other elder in every church on the same Sunday.  While our church may be going through Romans currently, another church may be going through Isaiah.  There will be variance from church to church.  However, the methodical preaching of God’s Word must be present when we assemble for worship.  This is not optional. 
 
Consequently, there are three essential parts of the worship service outlined for New Testament churches in the Bible – preaching, prayer and singing.  These may look different from church to church.  In fact, if churches are truly independent, they will look different.  That said, we are not allowed to vary from these activities.  These are required.  If the pastor preaches from an elevated pulpit or by sitting on a stool, we have no instruction.  We may have a preference but we do not have Scripture to back up such a preference.  The key is that the Bible is faithfully proclaimed while the Gospel is declared truthfully.  When we pray, the congregation is to reverently open their hearts to God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Whether they stand, sit or kneel, nothing is said.  The key is that we pray as a local assembly.  When we sing, we are to sing Biblically accurate lyrics with music that doesn’t overpower the theme of the song.  This may be done sitting or standing…from loose-leaf paper, from a hymnbook, from memory or from a screen.  We simply aren’t given a requirement on where to write the letters that make up the lyrics – or to write them at all for that matter.  The important thing is that we sing to the Lord. 
 
With all of the problems in modern Christianity – none of which are more detrimental than a corruption of the Gospel itself – it seems petty that we’d argue over a schedule in a worship service rather than the quality of worship.  Is the Bible clear about how to carry out some things?  Absolutely.  However, we aren’t given such rigorous step-by-step instruction as the Mosaic Law.  Preach the truth with zeal…sing to the Lord with all your heart…pray for the Lord to lead us to be more faithful in carrying out our instruction.  But, don’t get bent out of shape when another church collects tithes by passing a plate while you prefer a box in the back of the church – or the front...whatever!  The important thing is that there are members willing to share what God has prospered them.
 
Traditionalism is easy for us all to fall into.  We must guard against it.  Fight for the truth by all means.  Fight for the things God instructs us to do – of course!  However, if we aren’t careful, we will find ourselves arguing for the wrong things.  Our focus will turn from Christ to ritual.  We will have the idea that our worship is accepted because of (extra-Biblical) legal demands rather than approaching God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).  Every church will have traditions.  There’s really no way to get around that.  We all have to do things somehow.  Let us remember, however, that just because somebody doesn’t look exactly like we do, they are not our enemy.  Let us acknowledge those that preach the truth and sing the truth and pray the truth as brothers and sisters in Christ.  There aren’t many doing those things today.  Let us not make an enemy of the people of God merely over a preference or a tradition.