Tradition vs Change

You would think growing up in the Catholic church that my first experience of a battle over tradition or change would have happened while at Mass or youth group. Surprisingly the first time I remember starting to ponder over why something has to be done in the traditional way was during a yearbook meeting. I was a freshman in High School and getting briefed on how the yearbook runs. As I listened things seemed to be very inefficient and hierarchical. I challenged those perceptions and traditions. I was instantly shut down by the group and dismissed for not understanding.

It was then I started to wonder why many traditions were not up for debate. I remember ranting and raving at home (possibly in my room listening to really loud rap) about if the tradition was so good and had such a good reason then someone should be able to explain it to me. When the answer came back from the group "that's just how we do it!" I was left with the frustration of not understanding and lack of adjustment to an outdated system.

Jumping ahead I have seen this time and again throughout churches, institutions and groups. I questioned things at the Catholic church. Wondering if the group can learn from outside sources and new ideas in ministry. Instead of getting welcomed into the traditions and had them explained I was dismissed as not knowing enough. Instead of facing the questions and thinking through why we do things they way we do in the catholic church I worked at the leadership tried to find ways to not examine the basis/foundation behind the traditions. Not all were this way at the Catholic church. One co-worker would often discuss the traditions with me and debate and disagree with many of them.

I find myself in the middle of tradition and change, which seems to put me at odds with both sides in any discussion. Any tradition should withstand questioning and have a clear purpose of why we still hold to this custom. If not then it should be up for adjustment or change. Changing systems, operations, practices, or other beliefs should not come easy either. To change things just to try something new lacks the same purpose that keeping a tradition "just cause" does.

While there are millions of examples I have experienced first hand I am going to look at two of them:

The first is a Christmas Eve worship service that we have at my church. This service has been around for decades. Essentially the service is done in all darkness and families come and go as they please. The worship team here has taken a great step in examining this practice and asking the hard questions. For many this is difficult because the tradition has become so important to them. It has become sacred, which is great!

The worship team, just last meeting started asking why do we have this service. Whom and what is this service serving? Does it fit our overall vision for the church? This is exactly the dialogue that I believe all traditions should face. We must be able to understand the purpose, vision, and mission of any tradition. When this dialogue continues the group may decide to keep everything the same. If so they will have done so with a clearer purpose of why and what we are accomplishing with this tradition.

The second one that comes to mind recently is a youth team that I have just joined as a leader. The youth and past leaders have established a many traditions and customs within the group. The biggest one is that the whole groups purpose, as it stands now, is to plan one retreat and that is it. Knowing the mission of the group I have started to raise the question of why are we not aiming for more. The group is open to trying to serve God through leading other aspects but are shy (and exhausted) from planning. We will see how the process of change works here as the group has already agreed to raise the bar, yet very reluctantly.

There are many other places we see this battle played out. Politics is one where this has become a major battle from change to the tradition of keeping "my America" the way I remember it. No matter the tradition being changed or kept I believe we should always, ALWAYS, be able to explain and understand why we have things the way they are. If we don't know why a tradition is in place then its probably time to examine it and adjust to our changing culture.

Performance at Church

College helped expose me to many different ideas, concepts, and possibilities. One that I never thought I would come across is the idea of church/worship becoming a performance. Growing up in the Catholic church there was never an issue with this. The church had a steady way of doing Mass no matter where you are. This eliminated the "personality" from the Mass and allowed it to rest more on the actual worshiping of God. Once at Azusa Pacific this changed. 

At APU we had chapel three times a week. There were several locations that you could go to chapel. Each place would start out with a different style of music and then the speaker. If you were not at the location of the speaker then you would see video of the speaker. The music was always live at each location. I tried out different locations as time went on. After my freshman year one of the leaders changed and thus the style. 

By senior year I found my self going to one chapel location only because of the music leader. This leader, Brian, was very calm, relaxed and flexible with the worship. There was one thing that he would say that helped me. It was along the lines of: "Stand if you want, sit if you want, just listen if thats better, just do what helps you connect with God best." It was through that that I was released from the pressure to raise my hands, stand up, or any other cliche. I would then not think about the music, but about God and do what my heart was asking for that day. Brian did his job. He got out of the way and served as a bridge to connect people to God. 

There was another chapel that I avoided at all cost. The leader there would start off worship with "Everyone please stand." Coming from a Catholic back ground you would think this would not bother me but it did. It infuriated me. I looked around and saw people in wheel chairs! What are they supposed to do? That started me and the worship leader off on the wrong foot. What made things worse was the feeling I would get as he would seem to love the lime light. I know it can be awkward on stage, not knowing what to do with your body, but in his case everything seemed to be in the same tone as the opening statement. Everyone stand to honor us. Do what we do. This is about the stage and not about being a bridge. I talked to a few people and found I was not alone in this sentiment. 

Since leaving APU I have found this performance side in worship much more often. I saw many individuals in at Mary, Queen of Peace who ended up worshiping the singers and not God. After Mass or trips they would not focus on how they connected with God, but the musician. The worship leader had failed their job in that individuals case. They had not connected others to God, but to themselves. 

I bring this all up because where I am at right now "performance" seems to be a large part of the congregation. They want to see the children's choir "preform". They want to have music preformed for them so they can listen. The music can be very beautiful, but I can not help but wonder if they are helping lead people to worship God or to the choir. Now there is not just one person doing or leading this. From my understanding it has developed as a culture in the church. Point in case is that they have a history of paying outside people to come in and preform for them instead of relying on the gifts God gave them. 

As I was talking to a friend the other day she pointed out that some people end up connecting with God better through just listening. This is very true. The question though is where is that line where it becomes more of a show than worship? I have found that participation is what leads me into worship. When I am disconnected, or not allowed to participate, then it almost becomes static on the line with me to God. 

In youth ministry classes one of the main focuses was for it to not be about "you" the youth leader. We are to represent Christ in their lives. There is a delicate balance for us to relate to the kids, but to make sure that it is not about us but about leading them to God. This can mean sometimes being unpopular or the bad guy. For worship leaders how does this look? They have the same responsibility to lead others to Christ. I think the gauge for me as well as a worship leader is in the statements the church makes. You can hear it and see it in their tone if you are helping them to grow or helping them to honor and revere you.