Tradition, TRADITION!
I teach English as a second language every Friday night in a community center. This last Friday a church had rented out an adjacent space for a healing and deliverance service. I’d like to make some cultural observations from what I witnessed. In fact I couldn’t avoid witnessing it, since it was in the multi-purpose room across the hall.
The whole time I was having class and a brief devotional afterwards, plus the time I hung around before and after the class to talk with students (about 1 ½ hours) there was a church service going on next to our class. In fact, I don’t think they had actually gotten to the healing and deliverance part yet.
I think we all know what I mean by a church service. There was a lot of time devoted to singing and then the obligatory public speaking (preaching), etc. etc. All of this undoubtedly organized by a clearly planned schedule. Most Western Christians have been to many “services,” some of us thousands of times. While there may be slight denominational variations, they are pretty much all the same, and they are all variations on a theme based on the prototype of the Latin Mass.
Jesus healed. Jesus delivered people from demonic oppression. The apostles healed and delivered people from demonic oppression. And, the early Christians did exactly the same thing. But there was something missing when they did it…the service. In fact, anything similar to a “service” was completely foreign to early Christian practice; certainly from what we see in the Bible.
The church didn’t really have services until they had buildings. And they really didn’t have dedicated buildings until they had become the quasi-official religion of the Roman Empire in 313 AD, at the Edict of Milan. Before that time what Christians had were gatherings, which is the meaning behind the Greek work (ekklesia) which we translate “church.” But despite how you might picture those meetings in your mind, they were not church services. A more contemporary way of expressing what was happening would be a spiritual “get together.”
And these early Christian get togethers were pretty free flowing and unplanned. The only Biblical description we have of them is found in I Cor. 14:26-33. Note what is happening here; hymns, words of instruction, revelations (prophecy), tongues and interpretation of tongues. Everyone participated and based on the way Paul describes it, was totally impromptu. In fact, it was so impromptu that Paul suggests they be careful that it doesn’t get out of hand; but he doesn’t suggest that they turn it into a planned service. He was merely suggesting that they don’t allow it to devolve into a chaotic free for all. The fact that Paul had to warn against this, yet didn’t give particularly detailed instructions on what to do instead, is informative. That is because Jesus was leading the church, not men. In essence, to use some new age terminology,[1] they were channeling Jesus as a group.
This is what was not happening: preaching of sermons, planned singing and use of a planned agenda; all the things we normally do. People were listening to Jesus together (prophecy), and waiting to see what he wanted to do. For more on this read Authority: How Jesus Leads a Church.
Here’s my point. We have become so addicted to the “service” that we can’t seem to do much ministry without squeezing it into this format. We heal in this format, we teach in this format, we even preach the gospel in this format, and this group was delivering people from demonic oppression in this format. All of these things are good things. But, the format isn’t necessary; it is really based on the post biblical traditions of men. And frankly, the service format usually just gets in the way of effective ministry. It certainly gets in the way of connecting with Jesus, which should be the point. These traditions of men certainly don’t add anything to our effectiveness. So why do we do them? Tradition, tradition, tradition; now we are channeling Tevye, from Fiddler on the Roof. What’s my suggestion? Let’s just go back to the simple, powerful and spiritually satisfying behavior that is actually taught in the Bible. Let’s skip the traditions of men. In the process you will probably actually encounter Jesus, which is beautiful.
- Why do you think we are addicted to the service format?
- Can you think of a single way that the service format actually helps us connect with Jesus’ leading?
- Is it possible to faithfully fulfill every planned point of the service agenda (as is usually written in the bulletin) yet not connect with the leading of Jesus? Is it common?
- What would happen if the Holy Spirit wanted to lead us away from what was pre-planned in the bulletin? In a typical church “service” would we be able to notice? Would we follow? Based on our normal “service” procedure, would the Holy Spirit need to shout to get our attention, instead of whisper, which is his normal mode of communication?
[1] This is just an analogy, I’m not advocating for new age religion or new age practice. I’m just trying to use a current metaphor which may help some of us picture what was going on nearly 2,000 years ago.
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Exactly so Ross. After the very last service that I led the worship leader and tech team met to tell me that I just couldn’t do what I did, they couldn’t handle the pressure of me going off the map, so to speak. The actual words, “We are just too big to have you following off after the Holy Spirit in our services.” The more interesting learning is to discover, now that my wife and I have been part of a simple church (10 persons) for almost two years, is how much the “service” is ingrained in our habits and beliefs. It has been especially difficult for her to give up predictability in both happenings and time. We are through it now but the de-tox phase was long and difficult. By the way, just had our first baptism and have two seekers added, one a 14 yr old and another adult. Great joy!
Sad to think about how the service, its preset length and events, prevented many from connecting to Jesus when sometimes they were getting there. Sadder still that when the preacher does it well and the worship team does it well that people think they have connected with Jesus instead of what is really happening.
John,
Great story about what happened to you. How devastating to actually be able to say, “We are just too big to have you following off after the Holy Spirit in our services.” Thank you also for sharing the story of how deeply “the service” is baked into our bones. Thank you for sharing this and congrats your simple church moving into the harvest. I always love to hear that.
Ross
What is being forgotten, many of the ” NT Bible” Jewish charcters still went to synogogue on Saturday. That was ingrained in them, the Sabbath day. They met and had service. After the fall of Jerusalem, and the persecution of the church, the end result was to meet in homes. As the persecution let up it almost became popular to go to temple for many Romans, under Constatine. The two element that are in common with modern day churches of course is a building (temple) and people meeting together.
Stephen
Dear Stephen,
It is possible that some of Jewish believers we know in the Bible went to synagogue after the death and resurrection of Jesus. But, if it is true we don’t have record of it in the Bible. What is your source for this belief? It is true that Paul and his apostolic team went to synagogues for evangelistic purposes, but that wasn’t for a worship experience. It is correct that early Jewish Christians tended to meet at Solomon’s Colonnades or Porch which was part of the court of the Gentiles of the Temple in Jerusalem. This is near where Jesus overturned the money changer’s tables. This was a public place where many people gathered. This is where Peter and John cured the lame man (Acts 3) and we know that the Church tended to hang out together there and preach publicly there (Acts 5).
The best guess of how that looked is that they hung out in a large group for fellowship and ministry to non-Christians through healing and teaching (see Acts 5:12 to end of chapter). The key verse is the last verse in Acts 5, (5:42) And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. My best guess is that the ministry in Solomon’s Porch was public ministry to non-beleievers, where those who were interested could come and find the Christians. By this time the Christians had quite a good reputation; so good that people were coming to Christ every day (Acts 5:12-16).
But the teaching ministry and the gathering of Christians among themselves was done in houses (5:42). So, the idea that it was the habit of early Jewish Christians to meet in the synagogues or even the temple for church like activities can’t be verified from the Scriptures, or any historical source I know of. Meetings of Christians, per se, even in Jerusalem was in house churches. After the destruction of the Temple that stopped. It probably stopped earlier as Christians were less and less acceptable to traditional Jews. In fact, meeting in large groups anywhere among Christians pretty much stopped until the Edict of Milan in (313 AD), which you refer to as “under Constantine.” However, between the Jewish Christians meeting at the Solomon’s Porch and the Edict of Milan was roughly 280 years (10 generations). That’s a huge span of time. All of that time was composed of the meetings of Christians not being associated with any building whatsoever, other than a house. Even a house wasn’t necessary.
So, if your inference is that Christian meetings in the early church were building and service oriented affairs, both the Jewish and Gentile church, that is not supportable by the biblical or historical record. I don’t know of any reputable (or non-reputable) church historian who would make such a claim. What we see from the historical record, and what all church historians that I know of seem to conclude, is that the early church was an informal group that met in houses (or other non-dedicated locations like catacombs). That’s why they are commonly referred to as “house churches.” That idea is easily documented in the New Testament and seems to be the continued practice of the Church for the next nearly 300 years.
It is only when the Church becomes tied to the Roman State and begin to meet in Roman courthouses called “basilicas” that we see the Church break away from that practice. And there is a good reason. The temple of the Christian covenant with God is the human heart, not a temple made with hands. We don’t need special buildings and we don’t need services. That’s because God lives inside of us and he can lead us himself any time we get together (see Authority: How Jesus Leads a Church).
Finally, Stephen, the idea that a church building is a “temple” is incorrect, and not a small error. Christians buildings may be called that, and even named that, but it just shows the lack of knowledge of the people naming the building. A temple is a building in which a god resides. That’s what the Temple in Jerusalem was. God’s presence actually came there and resided in the Holy of Holies when Solomon dedicated it I Kings 8:10-13. That’s exactly what Romans or any other religion thought of their temples. Christians didn’t go to Roman temples, to do so would be to deny Christ. The temple of Christians is the human heart. To think that we can have a Christian building as a temple is to deny the new covenant, our covenant with God. It is a serious theological misunderstanding, although a common one nowadays.
So, Stephen, if I understand what you were trying to posit, it was that meeting in building and having services has always been a part of Christian practice. That idea is not supportable by the biblical record or the historical record. And, there is a good reason, it defies the logic of the new covenant and returns us to old covenant practices.
Ross, I just discovered your blog brother, and I love it! Great article on “service addiction.” It’s so true. It was William Barclay who commented on I Corinthians 14 that “perhaps we have become slaves to the ‘order of service’” That term “order” of service has in my ears an “authoritarian” ring to it. But the NT scriptures speak un this way:
COLOSSIANS 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another.
PHILIPPIANS 2:1-2
If you find any comfort from being in the Anointed, if His love brings you some encouragement, if you experience true companionship with His Spirit, if His tenderness and mercy fill your heart; then, brothers and sisters, here is one thing that would complete my joy—come together as one in mind and spirit and purpose, sharing in the same love.
HEBREWS 10:15
Since we have a great High Priest who presides over the house of God, let us draw near with true hearts full of faith, with hearts rinsed clean of any evil conscience, and with bodies cleansed with pure water. Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One who promised it to us is faithful. Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches.
I CORINTHIANS 14:29
Let two to three prophets speak, and let others with discerning gifts evaluate the messages they hear.
William Barclay states in his commentary on I Corinthians 14 states:
“It may well be that we set far too much store on dignity and order nowadays. It may well be that we have become the slaves of orders of service.”
I have discussed this with some of my pastor friends. I tell them that the Western church has a failure of imagination in their meetings—they are so predictable. I went to one “church service” and when it came time to tell the congregation to turn around and greet someone, they actually said this: “We are going to do something different this morning. Instead of turning around and greeting someone, turn around and give them a hug.” The way it was spoken, it was as if it was a really bold suggestion. There was something so tragic about that that I can’t even put it into words.
When I have discussed this with pastor friends of mine, I always hear the same answer:
“Clark, there would be chaos if we opened up the meeting like what you are suggesting.”
Man, if I had a nickel for every time I have heard that!
Here’s what Samuel Ridout wrote in his book “The Person and Work of the Holy
Spirit, published in 1899:
“The moment you put man, no matter how able and gifted, between the Spirit of God and the Church, you deny the great fact of Christianity—the presence of the Spirit in the Church….I know, too, that the plea of for” regularity” and “order” will be raised; but, again, is God The author of confusion? Can the Spirit not be trusted to maintain the dignity of God’s house, in which He dwells? Ah! Beloved brethren, unbelief lies at the root of most of this human arrangement. David’s new cart and Uzzah’s restraining hand were well-meant devices to secure the orderly procession of the ark to its place, but they did not secure what they were intended for. Let us trust more implicitly—let us prove our gracious God–and we will ever find the presence of His Spirit’s blessed reality.” Samuel Ridout
I would add to Samuel’s remark: “The moment you put man, or an “order of service” between the Spirit of God and the Church, you deny the great fact of Christianity–the presence of the Spirit in the Church.”
Hey Clark,
Very good thoughts. Most of us are honestly addicted to our traditions, no less so than Roman Catholics or the Pharisees for that matter. Jesus never had a good thing to say about traditions…not one. It speaks to our need to be in control, to follow “the right way to do things” rather than Jesus. Yeah, I’ve heard the chaos comment many times too. With out realizing it, our brothers are accusing the Spirit of not being able to control a meeting of believers. That’s what we really see in I Cor 14, a meeting controlled by the Spirit of Jesus with full participation by the Christians. Paul’s guidelines are about what to do if humans try to take control and fulfill their own agenda, not how to avoid chaos by conforming to traditional rituals. That just pushes the Holy Spirit out of the picture.
Ross