Ed Stetzer recently published this article Three Things Churches Love that Kill Outreach. No surprise, he takes a swing at tradition citing #3 – Too many churches love their traditions more than their children.
Here’s what he wrote;
How can you tell? They persist in using methods that are not relevant to their own children and grandchildren. Far too often, church leaders, in an effort to protect the traditions of their congregations, draw lines in the sand on nonessential issues.
This is not to say that “tradition” is wrong. It depends on how you define it, but I think most will know what I mean. Christian scholar Jaroslav Pelikan said, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” Churches that love tradition that way will choose their traditions over their children every time.
Too often, churches allow traditions to hinder their ability to humbly assess their missional effectiveness. Moreover, they allow traditions to trump the future trajectory of their demographic. I know of several young pastors who have been exiled from their local congregations because they didn’t fit the mold of what had always been the ethos of the leadership. Sometimes this is because impatient pastors try and force change too quickly. Other times it’s because settled churches resist change so forcefully.
Undoubtedly, there are always times to defend the traditional stances of essential doctrines in the local church. But we should not have a cultural elitism that hinders passing the torch to a new generation of leaders. If your church loves the way you do church more than your children, it loves the wrong thing. Continue reading
What is a caricature? Merriam-Webster defines it as “exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics” When done with theological positions, exaggerations and distortions are usually a result of shallow or non-existent interaction with the positions being characterized. Instead broad-brushed generalizations are formed, usually because of opponents views, which are not carefully interacted with either!
I recently got hooked on this new reality show called The Moment. Former MVP quarterback, Kurt Warner hosts the show that provides a life changing opportunity for selected contestants. Each contestant was nominated by a loved one to live out their dream job, which they could not pursue because life got in the way. In other words, they were on a particular track and greater priorities took over causing them to abandon their goals. Most pretty much settled into a normal life filled with everyday responsibilities that many would label mundane.
The story of the prodigal son found in Luke 15:11-31 has to be one of the commonly preached passages. The story goes a man had two sons, each with an inheritance but one decides to abandon it and sow oats to his hearts content. But then he’s wasted his inheritance, finds himself wallowing with the pigs and recalls the goodness of his father’s home. He comes back to a party, which his father gladly prepares for him. The passage is commonly used to provide comfort to those who were far off, who have lived in ways that might make them feel ashamed and underserving of the God’s goodness.
TheoThoughts 