When Tradition Obscures Mission

I remember sitting in a local church leadership meeting of mainly older Christians as, for almost an hour, they discussed whether to move the coffee pot and the area where they served cookies from one part of their fellowship hall to another. Changing the location was breaking a tradition.

At first, I thought I was going insane listening to this, but as my emotions calmed, my heart was moved to see they were dear followers of Jesus who were just used to a certain way of doing things, and to think of doing them any other way was difficult.

That may be an extreme example, but what about the not-so-extreme examples in the church today, where we resist change, even at the expense of mission? It’s funny how church traditions once may have been very effective, but now may go against the reason they even started in the first place. Read More

The history of the organ is a dark one. The earliest form of organ was built in the third century BC. Water pressure was used to provide a wind supply to a set of pipes. This instrument was not only played in the arenas of the Roman Empire but also in its temples and brothels. The early Christians were thrown to the lions as the hydraulis as it was known played in the background. Bullocks, rams, and pigeons were slaughtered and then offered as burnt offerings to the pagan gods of Rome to organ music. The feasts and orgies that followed these sacrifices were also accompanied by organ music. Organ music entertained the waiting customers at Roman brothels and covered the pleas and cries of young girls and boys who were one of the attractions at these brothels. It is not surprising that the early Church banned the use of the organ and other musical instruments such as the tabor, the lyre, and the nose flute in Christian worship. The latter were also played in Roman arenas, temples, and brothels.

Little by little various pagan customs and practices would become a part of Christian worship. They include (but are not limited to) the lighting of candles, the burning of incense, the singing of Kyrie Eleison, processions, the veneration of icons, relics, and statues, circle-dancing, labyrinth-walking, pilgrimages to holy sites, and incubation, "the religious practice of sleeping in a sacred area with the intention of experiencing a divinely inspired dream or cure."