Tradition, Not Traditionalism

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

There have been a lot of changes to the worship service at RBC over the last two and half years. The choir and special music have been replaced by congregational singing from a hymnal. Jokes in the opening remarks have been replaced by a Call to Worship and the reading of God’s Word. Corporate confession of sin and of the blessed good news of Jesus Christ were introduced to remind us all of our need for God’s grace and of the glorious truth that we stand in and by it.

Our service is dominated by the reading, confession, and summary of Scripture. We come to hear God’s Word, and we repeat it back in humble recognition that it is true. The Call to Worship, Scripture Reading, Confession of Sin, Absolution, Sermon, Meditation before the Lord’s Supper, and Benediction are all taken directly from the biblical text each week. Many of the songs we sing are directly from the Book of Psalms or depend strongly on the language of the Bible. Even the ancient creeds and catechism we recite morning and evening are but summaries of what the Scriptures teach.

You will not find many services like ours in the Valley today, but that is not because what we are doing in innovative. On the contrary, it is quite old. The basic structure of our worship has been shared by Christians for centuries stretching back to the earliest days of the Church. What we are doing is so old many have forgotten that it was important and moved on. Some may be dismayed at such traditionalism, but traditionalism refers to dead formality, doing things in a certain way simply for the sake of doing it that way. That is not what we seek. What we seek is a living expression of an ancient faith, a continuing participation in those things which God’s people have always believed.

How will you see and experience worship today? Will it be mindless repetition and empty traditionalism, or will it be a dynamic, heartfelt expression of a living yet ancient faith? As we sing, will you casually or quietly follow along, or will you sing out with hearts full of joy and the Holy Spirit? When we pray, will you say “Amen!” and truly mean “Let it be so, Lord!” or will you simply listen while someone else prays? –JME