tradition

[ezra]

Colossians 2:8King James Version (KJV)
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

is protocol and traditions hurting the Church? what type music we sing how many sons do we sing ,what version Bible do we use ? woman wear skirts /dresses only. men wear short hair? the tradition of men, that has been passed down.. if gma gpa said it then it must be true . my other concern is Church denom organizations .. southern baptist headquarters general baptist Pentecostal etc.. are we as the Church where we should be in our relationship or do we allow the denomination control us?

 

[Willie T]

Are you beginning to think, "Emergent?"

 

[ezra]

Are you beginning to think, "Emergent?"

no i am beginning to think a lot of traditions are killing the Church..

 

[Blake]

Colossians 2:8King James Version (KJV)
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

is protocol and traditions hurting the Church? what type music we sing how many sons do we sing ,what version Bible do we use ? woman wear skirts /dresses only. men wear short hair? the tradition of men, that has been passed down.. if gma gpa said it then it must be true . my other concern is Church denom organizations .. southern baptist headquarters general baptist Pentecostal etc.. are we as the Church where we should be in our relationship or do we allow the denomination control us?

Yes brother... these things ARE hurting the church. I've seen too many good people turned away entirely, despite my BEST efforts at trying to fix the wounds, because people were more concerned with the tattoos on their skin or the way they were dressed, than them actually being in church. I've seen overly religious men and women turn their nose up to people who are following the call of God into the church, even though they're still in the world and prone to its vices... people are willing to give THEMSELVES more grace and time to grow in righteousness than they are willing to give others.

The good news is, God is going to shake up the churches, and anyone who isn't stationed on the rock is going to fall off. The number of Christians will dwindle, but the remnant who remains will be much more than nominal Christians, they will be true disciples.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Some of these things aren't necessarily bad in and of themselves, it's when they become legalism--ie, you can't be saved if you use any Bible version other than the KJV, you can't be saved if listening to rock music doesn't convict you, etc. It's when these things become about being "holier than thou", people basing their salvation on the superficial rules they follow rather than the much-harder-to-follow commandment to "love one another, as I have loved you" (John 13:34-35). When tradition takes over the actual message, you definitely have a problem.
(I'm not saying KJV-onlyists are right, or that churches/certain denominations are right to condemn rock music. Obviously, since I broke off from those teachings and now use other Bible versions and listen to all kinds of music styles.)

 

[Not_Now.Soon]

I think traditions are a foundation. Kind of like a house has a foundation built before the rest is built on top of it. God gave such foundations to Isreal with giving very detailed information to fill the temple with tradition, holy days to be celebrated that have historical siginifance, and are a tool to teach as well as celebrate. Teachings on how to give on the alter, even what the high preist wears when they serve God.

If you go on from there to today's traditions, there is still something from them that is benifitual. People hold reverence towards the ways they were taught to worship, and it's a stable ground to grow from as well as pass a foundation on to their children.

The issue is when it replaces and overshadows what God teaches. When tradition is greater to be respected and if it's not in those patterns of tradition it's rejected. The tradition of dressing up for church I think has a bit of good merit, because it makes church something that isn't just casual. It's something special, something you dress up for. At least that's my feeling of it growing up with that tradition. But when a person comes in that isn't dressed up, that shouldn't be a mark against them, or a pressure on them. The benifit of the tradition can get in the way if it's a focus. Or if a person so focuses on thir apearence, even if it's with the right attitude such as this is their presenting themself to God, that person might lose track of being close to God, being in fellowship, or hearing the teachings and sermon, because something they wear isn't right. Perhaps muddy from the walk into the church.

Jesus confronted a tradition of the religous leaders when they asked him why his followers didn't wash in the hand washing ceremony. In response Jesus gave some very pointed holes in some of their traditions, and how they were breaking away from the teachings of God. Mathew 15:1-20, Mark 7:1-23, and Luke 11:37-54 all share this event.

I think a tradition can be good, but at a certain age we need to be like adults looking at our homes we are responsible for, and deciding what foundations were good, and what were not.