The Importance of Tradition

“Tradition is the living faith of the dead.
Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” –Jaroslav Pelikan

“Recognizing the ancient church’s commitment to articulating and defending the historic, orthodox Christian faith against false teaching, we also affirm the four ancient creeds: the Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasian, and Chalcedonian Creeds. These are faithful and biblical confessions, particularly in clarifying the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation of Christ.” –RBC General Statement of Faith, Article X

Modern evangelicalism is so wed to the spirit of this age that many Christians have little acquaintance with or use for Church history, ancient creeds, Reformed confessions, and the truly catholic (universal) traditions of the Christian Church. Many do not know or care about their history, and we all are poorer as a result. Christianity cannot be unfastened from its historical roots, because the Christian faith is founded on the belief God acted in history and unfolded His redemptive plan, not just in our lives or lifetime, but over thousands of years through men and women who lived and died in hope of the resurrection. Christianity is a historical faith, so any expression of it that denies, discards, or otherwise undermines that history is essentially un-Christian.

           

Oftentimes when people think of “tradition” they think of boring, narrow-minded, formulaic routines that mean little to those that practice them. Some think this way about hymns and responsive readings, creeds and confessions, or weekly communion. It certainly is possible for any or all of these to become meaningless repetition. If we sing those hymns without thinking about them, without speaking those words from the heart to each other and to God, then we are not worshipping at all. The same could be said for each element of worship.

           

While we must constantly beware of the temptation of traditionalism, we should also continually be mindful of the importance of tradition. We are not the first Christians to walk the earth, read the Bible, “do church,” or seek to evangelize the world. We need less innovation and more serious biblical and historical contemplation of the reality of God's presence and work in and among His people since the dawn of creation. We ought to learn from tradition, not rely on it for our authority, but appreciate what it has to teach us and how much we depend upon it, whether we realize it or not. History has a tendency to humble us, to place in proper perspective our role in light of God’s larger scheme. Such humility is always appropriate for Christians and churches. –JME

Handouts for the Book of Genesis

I recently completed another teaching series through the Book of Genesis. During the course of that series, I developed and distributed supplementary handouts covering the entire book. These are not teaching outlines. They are supplemental guides for further study, reflection, and application. –JME

Supplementary Handoutsfor the Book of Genesis (PDF)

Teaching Series on the Book of Genesis (YouTube Playlist)

Downloadable Audio on the Book of Genesis

An Ordinary Church Preaching Extraordinary Grace

American evangelicalism is saturated with churches following the “Burger King Model of Ministry.” The message is “Have It Your Way” and Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way” is the theme song. In this environment people select a church based on what they want in a ministry. Music, programs, prestige, and experience are primary factors in finding a church home.

In such a climate, RBC’s commitments must seem radical. We are not interested in tailoring church to individual preferences or felt needs. We want to be focused entirely on Christ. Everything we do flows out of our commitment to structuring every aspect of ministry—leadership, worship, discipleship, outreach, communication—according to the principles and precepts of the Bible. We are content to offer quite ordinary programs. Worship as a church on the Lord’s Day. Sunday School, Wednesday night, and supplementary Bible classes to edify and equip the saints. But where are the youth programs? Where are the social events? Where are all the things the church is supposed to provide to keep us busy and happy?

We don’t believe social activities, life enrichment, and entertainment are the church’s responsibility to provide. Don’t misunderstand; we have (and will continue to have) potlucks and social opportunities every month for members to enjoy together, but worship and the ministry of the word is primary. We believe the church is to focus on being the church. When our lives are not so cluttered with programs and events, we have time, space, and energy to invite our brethren into our homes or out for a meal. We create opportunities for fellowship and life enrichment at the level of the family. Who are the people in your congregational group? Start inviting one couple over every week. Get together with brothers and sisters for coffee and conversation about what you are learning and how you are growing in the Lord. Set aside time each week to call or write a note to a few members from your church family to let them know you were thinking about and praying for them that day.

The church cannot be all things to all people. If it tries, it ceases to be the church at all. We want this church to be an ordinary church. We aren’t trying to keep up with mega-churches or other ministries. We aren’t interested in stealing sheep or wooing Christians from other congregations with programs. We are an ordinary church, preaching an extraordinary message of grace. And we wouldn’t want it any other way. –JME

Living as Exiles in a Corrupt Country

If the events of the last two months have done nothing else for American Christians, we can hope they have finally and forever disabused us of thinking of the USA as a “Christian nation.” We’re not, never have been, and never will be. Contrary to the extravagant claims of some dispensational speculatists (and Mormon pundits like Glenn Beck), America is not a covenant nation, we are not God’s chosen people, and the survival of this world does not depend on our existence. Stop it already. We are a nation founded, thank God, on principles of religious freedom. Some, by no means all, of our founders were Christians or, at least, Christian-ish. Our founding documents identify God as Creator and source of personal liberty. All of that is great, but let’s put it in modern perspective.

Since 1973 America has destroyed and dismembered between 53-57 million unborn infants with the government’s blessing and support, then we sell their organs. We make the Third Reich look like a kindergarten schoolyard bully. We license the marriage of same sex couples. We pay people who won’t work (not just those who can’t) and give them more money if they are sexually irresponsible as well as lazy. Does this sound like a godly nation?

What can we do about it? What we really need is a God-fearing, conservative President. Nope, we tried that. It didn’t change much. But if a moral majority controlled the Congress… no, we tried that too. It didn’t help much either. Maybe if the judiciary or the media or…. Friends, at what point will we recognize there are no political solutions to moral and spiritual problems? I believe in being politically and socially active. If you are connected to me on social media, you know how much energy I have devoted to Planned Parenthood in recent days. But the earliest Christians did not expect or even attempt to turn Rome into Israel. They knew they were “sojourners and exiles” living in a hostile land (1Pet. 2:11-12). Jesus calls us to live out the ethics of the kingdom of heaven among those who do not recognize its claims (Matt. 5:13-16). This is not to suggest we be morally, socially, or politically passive. The OT prophets provide extensive precedents for engaging corrupt cultures from a spiritual and prophetic paradigm. However, they also show us how believers in the one true God are to live among pagans (Jer. 29:1-23; e.g. Dan. 1; 3; 6).

While we hope and pray and plead (and vote) for national repentance, we should have realistic and biblical expectations. We hope for a return to basic morality. We desire leaders to once again acknowledge and fear God. But this nation will not be spared the wrath of God by political transformation. Jesus has always been and still is our only hope of salvation. “This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through” (Php. 3:20-21). –JME

Baptizing Baby Saints

Why would anyone baptize an infant? That is ridiculous! You never see an infant baptized in the Bible. It is a practice invented by the Roman Catholic Church. Those kinds of remarks are very familiar to me. I said things like that in the past. But recently I baptized five little boys as “covenant children,” without a profession of personal faith, based on the faith and covenant membership of their parents, and Sunday, August 2^nd, I am baptizing (sprinkling!) three young children, including an actual infant. Why would I ever do such a thing? Why did my convictions change? How could anyone ever think it is right to baptize an infant

There is a lot that can be said about the biblical basis for infant baptism as a sign of the covenant of grace, and I will have a lot more to say about it in the coming months. The change in my convictions did not happen suddenly, recently, or without significant study and much thought and prayer. But in this article, originally prepared for our church bulletin, I want to point out something most of you already know that supports the baptism of infants born into the covenant.

We work from grace, not for it. We obey the Lord because we are saved, not in order to be. The Bible is clear that salvation is by grace, through faith, not of works (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:28). So why are believers baptized? After all, the thief on the cross was not baptized, but he was saved. Believers are baptized to be obedient to Christ their Lord (Matt. 28:19-20). They are baptized to visibly demonstrate their union with Christ and participate in the covenant of grace (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27). Believers are baptized because they are set apart as holy, because they belong to God’s covenant of grace (Acts 10:46-48; 16:30-34). And that is why the children of believers are to be baptized too.

The NT says it explicitly: the children of believers are holy (1Cor. 7:14). The Greek word hagios used in this verse is translated saint throughout the NT epistles. This does not mean a believer’s children are automatically saved. Each of them much trust in Christ and repent of their sins. They must personally choose to serve the Lord. They are not saved by their parents’ faith. But because their parents are Christians, they already belong to the Church. They are visibly, outwardly connected to Christ. They are part of the covenant community. They are set apart as holy to God. The Bible says so. And that is why (among many reasons) we now baptize our children. –JME

Reformed Confession and Daily Devotions

Many Christians have a habit of daily time spent in reading the Scriptures and in prayer. If you don’t have a habit of doing so, I certainly recommend it. While there is no explicit command for such a “daily devotional,” the Bible is replete with statements about the daily practice of prayer and meditation on God’s word (Psa. 1:2; 5:3; 55:17; 119:97).

Some Christians find daily devotional books helpful which contain brief readings on spiritual themes. Such resources can be useful, but many of the most popular ones are full of unbiblical teaching and man-centered theology. We should be careful not to too quickly adopt or embrace books or resources based on their popularity. Being on the best-seller’s list at Lifeway or CBD is not necessarily an indicator of a book’s orthodoxy (and may actually suggest it isn’t).

Often overlooked as a devotional resource are the classic and historic confessions of faith written by godly men to train the church in sound doctrine through the ages. Particularly valuable are the robust Westminster Confession of Faith, WestminsterLarger Catechism, and Heidelberg Catechism which have served the church well for about 400 years. These documents are full of biblical doctrine and solid theology presented in a well-organized, systematic form. Each section can be read in just a few minutes and contains extensive Scripture references to show the biblical basis for its claims. Moreover these documents are freely available online or on a mobile device. They are in the public domain and so may be downloaded and printed if one prefers a hard copy. Our elders enjoy reading and studying from a small hardback edition that contains full proof-texts of the Bible verses and which only costs $12. You can also purchase very nice, inexpensive copies on Amazon and CBD.

The historic confessions can be helpful additions to a daily time spent in the Scriptures. Their introduction to basic theology and concise summaries of Bible words and doctrines will challenge, inform, and bless any Christian who spends time reading and reflecting on them. If you have not read these three historic documents, let me encourage you to do so. I trust you will be helped, encouraged, and comforted by them. –JME

Giving Account Of Ourselves to God

“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

(Romans 14:12)

If I am honest, I have to admit a lot of my daily stress and frustration is due to my dissatisfaction with other people. I worry too much about others, what they think, what they do, what they don’t do, and in general how they live their lives. Now it is not as though I am scrolling through Facebook feeds to find things to aggravate me, but when other people’s foolishness, irresponsibility, and even sin directly affects me, I get irritated, even sometimes angry.

This is one of many reasons I need Romans 14:12 in my life, not because other people’s sin or selfishness is necessarily a “Romans 14 issue,” but because I need to be reminded regularly that my responsibility before God is…me, not the other people around me. Of course, I am responsible for some people around me. God holds me accountable for my wife and kids and even, to some extent, the local church I serve (Eph. 5:22-6:4; Heb. 13:17; Jas. 3:1). I am also responsible for how I treat, think about, and speak about other people in my life. I will give an account for the foolish words (Matt. 12:36), foolish thoughts (Psa. 19:14; 37:1), and foolish anger (Matt. 5:21-26) that is sometimes directed toward other people, but I will not be held accountable for their sins or shortcomings, only my own.

When frustration or anger is the result of being too occupied with other people and their concerns, we should repent of being a busybody and focus on our own lives instead (1Thess. 4:11). But when frustration and disappointment is simply the result of living in a fallen world and interacting with fallen people, we can take great comfort in the reassurance that “each of us will give an account of himself to God.” The Lord knows each of us intimately, both the good and the bad. We each have our hands full with our own shortcomings and continuing need for greater sanctification. There is no time to waste on being aggravated about people and circumstances we cannot change. We should mourn the sinful world we live in but remain focused on preparing to see the Savior. Soli Deo Gloria. –JME