Comments on: How “Traditional” is the Traditional Service?

By: Leon H

Leon H — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:55:20 +0000

Greetings Fellow Christians,
I have been the ‘good’ kid through my life. I was rarely invited to any ‘party.’ The pull of temptation has always been there, some people feel it others ignore it and some fall into it. Whenever I was somewhere or around someone doing something ‘wrong or bad’ I felt as if God were telling me that something was bad. When I graduated from high school the attack increased. Trying to ‘let your light shine’ in the darkness of the world can become very exhausting. When I started teaching Sunday School to the Teenagers, the pull increased again. Each time I accepted a task in my church, the temptation level increased and God’s strength and comfort increased too. My sister invited my family to the dedication of her new child. This dedication was in her new church. I love my sister and accepted her invitation. She had been attending this church for about a year. I did not know much about this church except that she enjoyed going there.
Well cutting to my point, the moment that I stepped into that church, I felt as if God was warning me. As if He was preparing me for some event that would require much more than my human strength was able to provide. That church was every bit as contemporary as any other contemporary church could be. About the only things I recognized was (1) the short period of ‘meeting everyone, (2) the offering collection, and (3) the pastor waiting at the door when the services were over. Needless to say, after being with my sister and loving the new baby, my wife and family left. The talk on the ride home was almost unbelievable. My oldest child Chris was 14 at the time. He was very upset. He said he did not want to ever go back there. He said that some of his ‘friends’ went to churches like that one but that they were not really ‘good.’
The next Sunday, we were back at our church. The traditional service was so refreshing. I could feel that God was there right beside me, repairing the world’s wear on my body. I was being renewed by God’s worship and the fellowship of other Christians. The next couple of months were sort of strained, my sister called and invited us back to a couple of events (45 mile drive) to her church. My son insisted that he did not want to go back to that church. My sister stayed at that church for another year and a half, she now attends a traditional church.
I can not help but be reminded that (1) God states what is to be accepted as worship (2) God is only present when the worship is acceptable to Him (3) that the worship be reverent and ordered, and (4) be not of this world.

By: sista cala

sista cala — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:56:19 +0000

“..reality of God that comes with the best fruits of tradition.” I like the way you stated that, because not all fruits of tradition are good. Sometimes traditions can distract from the working of the Spirit.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:00:13 +0000

You are welcome. I’m just calling it like I see it. When, oh when, will we stop trying to make being a Christian “cool”?

By: Darryl

Darryl — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 20:04:19 +0000

Suzanne,
Wow. I was a youth minister for 18 years. I am a “pastor” (we don’t call them that in my fellowship) and have been in this role for 11 years now. I think your observation is very close to my own. However I never thought about your last sentence until you articulated it so well. “They, and some of their friends, equate so-called contemporary worship with a bunch of middle agers tryng to reclaim their youth.” Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Thanks for the observation!

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:40:11 +0000

I just found this blog. Interesting thing I’ve noticed about this “traditional” vs. “contemporary” worship is that, in my circle of friends and acquaintances, it’s the 45 – 55 age group that really wants the rock band kind of contemporary worship services. My children, ages 18 and 20, hate, and I cannot stress this enough, HATE Christian rock and Christian rap and absolutely do not want it in church. They are both involved in campus ministry organizations in their schools, but it was a struggle to find those that didn’t revolve around what they call “Be-bopping for God”. They, and some of their friends, equate so-called contemporary worship with a bunch of middle agers trying to reclaim their youth.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:42:22 +0000

If you want Traditional, try the local Missouri Synod Lutheran Church!

By: wezlo

wezlo — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:37:12 +0000

Michael, I understand – just keep putting scare-quotes around “traditional” and “contemporary” when you say the terms and maybe someone will eventually ask you why you do that. Of course my first comment on worship to the search committee that brought me here was, “I like hymns, played on electric guitars.” It’s still a mystery how on earth I got called here…

By: Michael Spencer

Michael Spencer — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:54:27 +0000

Wezlo,

For almost 7 years I’ve pursued the post evangelical vision of real tradition. As regular readers of this blog know, I’ve come back to my SBC roots out of necessity. I won’t run the links. I’ll just say that your post reads like what I’ve written 100x on this blog.

For a year I tried to pursue this in worship in a home fellowship and God simply slammed the door.

I’m back in the SBC and the discussion isn’t going to be about ancient tradition EXCEPT to the extent that comes in with ME as a part of these church communities.

So please understand that I agree with you, but that revolution isn’t happening in the SBC except by the smallest of increments, and this blog is dedicated to that task.

By: Darryl

Darryl — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:49:17 +0000

wezlo,

i think you nailed it.

By: wezlo

wezlo — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:32:33 +0000

Using “traditional” to describe Protestant Worship in America is kinda silly. A good portion of the hymns sung are from either the 19th or early 20th centuries, there’s little or no liturgy, and even organs only became fixtures in the late medieval period. The current style of worship in the majority of Protestant Churches was really only finalized during and in the years following WWII, with some elements of the previous 100 years. Doing any cursory reading of Protestant Worship earlier than that is like stepping into another world that people who like “traditional” worship wouldn’t even recognize (and even that’s “Separatist Protestant,” not “Traditional”). I tend to call typical Protestant worship, “Leave It to Beaver” worship because that’s the era it sprang up in.

Likewise, calling “contemporary” worship “contemporary” is a misnomer – as that style really cropped up in the 1970′s. It’s 37 years old, which is hardly “contemporary.” I tend to call it “contemporary-ish” as the form is 37 years old (and aging fast), but it still makes room for new elements of communication to be included when them become available (and just like with “traditional” worship, the worth of their use is related to how the people make use of them – a poorly used screen or video clip is just like a badly played organ or piano).

What’s worse is taking these two forms and saying it’s, “blended.” At most, 75 years of worship practice is being included (really it’s less than that, but I’ll make room for the tent-meetings of the 20′s and 30′s in this) – this leaves over 1900 years of Christian worship out of the equation in the “blending.” Oops.