Learning Lessons About the Bible and Tradition

Have you ever been so stuck in a tradition at church that you forgot that it is a tradition not from the Biblical text? I grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and I always thought that the Bible said you must have Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. and morning worship at 11:00 and evening worship at 6:00 and Wednesday night prayer meeting at 6:00. The reason I believed that this was in the Biblical text is because when I was growing up, those are the times everyone went to church. When I was in eighth or ninth grade I finally asked my student minister where I could find the times for church in the Bible. He smiled and asked me why I thought that the times for church were in the Bible. I told him I knew that they must be in the Bible because everyone goes to church at the same time. He giggled and wisely said, “Read your Bible and in a week or two you tell me where it is found in the Bible.” I went to the task immediately, starting in Genesis and skimming as quickly as I could for the next few weeks until I reached the last verses of Revelation. I felt betrayed, my student minister knew that the times for church were not in the Bible and he let me search for it for two weeks.

Apparently he thought I was joking originally and when I told him I followed his advice, he said that I had learned a valuable lesson. “Jimmie, not everything is in the Bible that we think is in the Bible.” I learned that the hard way, but it was right on target, “Not everything is in the Bible that we think is in the Bible.” I learned a significant lesson that day that carries on with me to this very day some twenty five years later. I learned that sometimes tradition comes from the Biblical text and it must be followed and sometimes tradition comes from events or circumstances in our lives and those traditions can be changed to fall in line more closely to the Biblical text.

Apparently events and circumstances have worked themselves into the traditions of our worship. We must learn to differentiate traditions which originated in events or circumstances and separate them from the traditions of the Biblical text and learn that the Biblical text always takes precedent over all other traditions. Our corporate worship experiences are culturally influenced experiences instead of culture changing experiences. Our God invades our culture from the outside and changes those within the culture to have a new culture of community which is unlike any other culture known to mankind. Those who are believers are to be aliens and strangers to the culture of their world and are to have a new culture built within them through the renewing of their minds. Worship is God speaking to man and man responding back to God.

Worship is so much more than three songs, taking the offering, three points and a poem and an invitation. Worship is vital, dynamic, personal, corporate, communication with the creator, love, experiential, overflowing abundance and a million other things wrapped up into an interpersonal love relationship with God and those present. Worship is so much more than the one hour penance that it has become due to our time constrained traditionalism. Worship is God speaking and believers responding back to God. It is not boring, ecclesiastical “mumbo-jumbo;” it is dynamic interpersonal communication with the creator of all things. Worship is not a duty, it is a privilege given only to believers to bring them into the very presence of God.

Lord God Almighty? Not any more!

What is man that You are mindful of him? Is there any significance to this speck of dust called man?

Why have believers in the Lord God almighty lost their view of Him as majestic? Current theology has lessened the view of God from King of kings and Lord of lords to that of personal friendship. How significant is the view of God as King of kings and Lord of lords compared to the view of God as a personal friend? Can both be correct?

David was a man after God’s own heart. David never called God his personal friend; David viewed God as the Lord almighty and full of Majesty. Moses spoke directly with God but never looked upon God; he always hid his eyes from God in respect. Have we lost all respect for God? We have taken away God’s Glory and Majesty and Honor to make Him palatable to our culture. God does not need us to do His bidding for Him. He is God! How treacherous is our theology to the reality of the majesty of the God of creation.

This describes the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe[1] Lit seam filled the temple. 2 Seraphim[2] = heavenly beings were standing above Him; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of • Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth. 4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said: Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, [and]* The bracketed text has been added for clarity. because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth [with it]* The bracketed text has been added for clarity. and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, and your sin is atoned for. 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said: Here I am. Send me.

Even the angels cover their eyes and feet out of reverence for the Lord.

God is no longer viewed as Holy, Holy, Holy but as homeboy, homeboy, homeboy. He may have come a dwelt among us, but we recognized Him not.

We do not recognize his glory or we would be more respectful of who He is.

The Gospel is offensive and we should remember that. God is offensive to man because God shines His light on the darkness of our sin and exposes it to our eyes. Man does not want to see God as King of kings and Lord of lords because that would mean that we would have someone who is in authority over us. Man hates God’s authority. Anything man can do to lessen the authority of God and make God nothing more than our homeboy, lessens the offensiveness of God to them, but lessens who god is as well.

We must be careful in our zeal not lessen who God is: The Lord God Almighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords and the Lord of heaven and earth. God is not our personal friend. We are in an interpersonal love relationship with God, but that relationship is still with God and demands submission to His authority to be in a right relationship with Him. We are to die to self and allow God to live in us.

Jesus told the disciples that He spoke to them as friends, but none ever called him friend, they called him God.

Worshipping the King?

Could you imagine back in the middle ages, when Kings were all powerful, entering into the presence of a king and before the King could speak you begin blathering out some silly thing you want to say? Can you imagine how arrogant and inconsiderate your actions would be considered by all in the throne room? The guards would rightly throw you out of the throne room and “teach” you some manners.

Then, the following week you come to the palace and enter into the throne room and this time, before the king speaks, you begin blathering out some new silly thing you want to say. You repeat this offense over and over every week for years and years without ever comprehending that your actions are highly offensive. What does this say about you?

To this point the model is pretty basic: Worship is the singular, precise, reasoned purpose for the church. Worship is the proclamation of the word of God to man and the response of man to hearing God speak. To this point, things have been straight forward concerning this model. Now it is time for some mental calisthenics.

The pattern is: God speaks then man responds. Why do we do it backwards? This behavior is arrogant, conceited, haughty, rude, disrespectful, vulgar and offensive. Is this how we are to treat God? Our philosophy of worship is out of focus. We have focused on our wants in worship instead of looking at the Bible for our guide to worship.

We are worshipping the almighty God of the universe but our actions say we disrespect Him. We have access to the throne room of God yet we treat it like the backyard deck during the summer. Even the angels who have been in the throne room for eternity have respect and show respect by covering themselves while in the presence of God.

How dare we mortals dismiss the Biblical pattern set forth for worship and demand God acquiesce to our plan and will and desires for our sacrifice? Do we really expect God to accept our sacrifice of worship any more than He accepted Cain’s sacrifice? Worship is not about us it never has been and never will be. Worship is about bringing glory to the Son, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world; the Lamb who took away the sins of man and bore them for our forgiveness.

Yes, we have access to the throne room because of the Son, but we do not get to treat it with disrespect without consequences. Are we so proud and arrogant to think we can tell God that He is out of date and that He needs to be worshipped the way that makes us feel good about ourselves? Are we really that proud and arrogant? Are we so special that we can demand God to accept our worship how we want to give it and as we want to give it?

Tears of Joy and Sadness

Today my youngest came up to me at the computer table and gave me a hug that lasted about a minute. we exchanged our, “I love you”(s) and I found myself never wanting him to grow up. I love my boys so much, but all of a sudden it hit me that I only have them at home for a few more years at best.

My babies have become pre-teens and before long they will be gone to college.

I do not know what happened in that gentle hug this morning, but it has left me teary eyed all morning. My mortality struck me as I thought about my tiny baby boy who I used to snuggle in my arms every day is now almost to big to pick up.

I do not play favorites with my children and never have, but that hug this morning was special to me, very speaicl. Sometimes we take things for granted when all along we should be living for the moment.

I miss my babies, but love the young man my sons are becoming. Too bad it is so quick.