Reminded by Tradition

Drew recently posted an article that got me thinking about tradition again. For the most part in the past few years, I think I have fallen more and more to a distrust or discontent with traditions. I think my unrest has stemmed less from the tradition itself, and more from the people's mindset in practicing the tradition.

For years and years, I've heard of people practicing Lent. I went to school with people that practiced it every year of their lives, but often it wasn't anything more than a hassle to them, or an irritating inconvenience. More often than not, it was about something they could complain about to their friends. For instance, one of them would say, "Man, I want to go home tonight to play video games, but I can't because I gave them up for Lent!" OK, that may not be the best example, but it was more about the action they were performing than it was about the purpose of Lent itself.

Again, I go back to Isaiah 58. Check out the first half of the chapter.

Isaiah 58

True and False Worship

1 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!
2 Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?

These people, God's people, were doing what He asked. They followed the tradition of offering sacrifices and fasting, and going to the Temple to pray, and bowing their heads in penance, just as God asked them to do. But they totally missed the point of those things, the point of humbling themselves before God so they might see how much they needed Him.

And so what good is tradition if people don't know why they do it, or if people don't do it for the purpose traditions like Lent should be followed?

The natural step that humans take when they want to correct a problem is to go to the complete other extreme. This is why many non-denominational churches, saying they were "returning to the Bible", did away completely with traditions such as Lent. They see the problem of traditions that no longer hold any meaning. Why even do them? Even if they have been around for hundreds of years, if they've lost all meaning what use are they? Is it better to drop something that has been around forever than to keep doing something mindlessly when you don't even know the purpose. Maybe so. They seem to be filth in God's eyes.

But we see now that some of these churches are returning to traditions, like the ones Drew referenced in Advent and Lent. Isn't this exciting?! They are returning to the traditions that they now see as valuable and full of meaning again!

To me, it's exciting to see these churches that perform these actions out of love and respect for a God Who they need and love, and desire to remind themselves about constantly. Afterall, that's why God established those traditions for His people so long ago. They were meant to remind His people of how He had rescued them from danger and destruction into a life that was full and abundant in Him.

Thanks for the thought provoking post, Drew!

Later guys,
Matt