Human traditions are to the Gospel of Jesus Christ what bowls are to soup. Why?
There are some great responses from folks which are right on target. Here is my own answer:
The Gospel message of Jesus is an eternal gift from God to us. It doesn't change from year to year or setting to setting. But each culture and congregation has a different way of presenting the gospel. Human traditions allow the eternal message message of Jesus to be presented in a relevant way to a new generation. The Gospel is the nourishing soup. The human traditions allow the soup to be passed from one person to another and enjoyed.
But don't think bowls are unimportant. In fact, bowls are unavoidable. (Ever try to eat soup without a bowl or cup?)
Think about all the different human traditions we have: one hour worship services; church buildings that look a particular way; types of music used in worship; kinds of church governments; 20 minute sermons (ok 25 minutes); Sunday school; vacation Bible school; church camps. They're all human traditions. But how could we share the Gospel without some of these very human traditions?
Every now and then someone comes along and says, "bowls are bad." In other words, we need to get rid of all human traditions and just do what the first century church did. But whenever we think we can get rid of all human traditions, we simply end up creating new traditions of our own.
Why is that? Because the New Testament gives us a message. It doesn't give us many methods for delivering the message. No where does the Bible say that a church service should be a particular length, have a particular order, or particular style.
I believe God did this intentionally. He wants us to be united in what is important - the message of Jesus Christ. But he wants us to be creatively diverse in how we express the Gospel.
The perennial mistake that we Christians make is that we confuse the bowl for the soup. We get attached to our human traditions and think they are eternal and must never be changed. Some people are even walking around carrying beautiful bowls that have long since become empty.
And eventually they starve to death.
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5 comments:
You are a great teacher, you know. It is a good reminder to me to be sure that we are partaking of that nourishing soup every day, and not spending our time polishing the bowl. It's easy to get bowl-proud, or to spend our time focusing on the perfection of the bowl (I know this from my own recent Sunday afternoon frustrations. And I don't want to starve - that part of what you said was really sad.
We do need a bowl...but an old, rugged, wooden one is just fine. Thanks for reminding us what is most important...and doing so in such a gentle way.
Your are a great teacher...for many reasons...one of which is your ability to guide (correct) your flock in a caring way. If you ever think I'm not listening, please smack me in the head with your rod!
Bud Reed
Hah! I'm more likely to need it than you.
Thanks, Bud.
You know, a year ago when I first visited the congregation at Heritage, I found the church home I had been looking for. Your wonderful teaching style and inviting services were a welcome change to where we had been. However, when I was looking for a church, I certainly would have never chosen a portable/mobile church. I don't know the exact reasons; perhaps pride, perhaps uncertainty, etc..., but I committed now to the SOUP, and not the bowl! You have such great metaphors for the Word of God!
Thanks Kelly! Less than an hour until the trailers get here! I'm going to snap some pics and post them later.
By the way, nice fish.
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