Mysteries on the Walls of our Faith and Worship
One of our young woman recently baptized asked for help to solve a mystery that perplexed her to no end. Among the towels, garments, and other items in the baptismal changing room, she noticed two black, curly wigs hanging on the wall. “Why are those wigs hanging there?” she asked. The answer was unclear, but it was suggested that perhaps they'd been put there a long time ago, for women who didn't want to be seen with stringy, wet hair, or for the modesty of older women with thinning hair who might appear balding coming up out of the waterr. Definitive? Nah. Plausible? Sure. Nevertheless, the mystery remained (as did the wigs hanging in the changing room).
Sometimes we have “wigs” hanging around. They may be traditions that were started in other times for specific reasons. For example, you may have seen communion plates covered by runners or tablecloths going back to times when buildings didn’t have air conditioners and the cloths were used to keep the flies off the elements. The circumstances changed, but the cover remained.
There are many traditions we honor that are fine and acceptable, but which are only expedients and may be a mystery to our young, new Christians, visitors, and the like. That is not to disparage them, but it is to say that we should be ready to discuss them.
Whether that is standing before a song or Scripture reading, leading a specific number of songs before prayer, having an invitation at the end of a sermon, having the Lord’s Supper before the sermon (or vice versa), ending worship with a prayer or a song (Matthew 26:30), the way those leading in worship enter the auditorium, or any number of habits and customs congregations settle into, we should never let these simply settle into our subconsciousness.
Periodically, it’s good to explain and discuss these habits and traditions, whether in brief form during the course of our services, at greater length in a Bible class, or certainly in one-on-one conversations.
It is also good to ask if and how we might vary or alter some of these customs, periodically or even permanently. There are acts of worship we are commanded to engage in each Lord’s Day (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2), but for how long and in what order? The Word of God is to be reverenced, but does standing inherently do that? What the people did in response to Ezra was spontaneous, and they followed it up by bowing low with their faces to the ground (Nehemiah 8:5-6).
These traditions may be good, or at the least neutral.
But the point is to keep them from becoming mysteries hanging on the walls of our faith or our worship. Let’s continually ask what we are doing and why!
"And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others" (Mark 7:13, NLT).
Asking The Wrong Question
- I’ve never heard the avid fisherman say, “Do I have to go back to the lake?”
- I’ve never heard the shopaholic say, “How often do I have to go to the store?”
- I’ve never heard the committed sports fan say, “How many games do I have to watch?”
- I’ve never heard the foodie say, “How often do I have to try a new restaurant or dish?”
- I’ve never heard the head-over-heels-in-love say, “How many times do I have to see him/her each week?”
- I’ve never heard the devoted mom say, “How often must I hold my baby?”
We’ve lost the battle when our sermons, articles, and classes center around answering the question, “How often must I assemble? How many times a week do I have to come to church? Are Sunday night and Wednesday night mandatory?”
How unnatural for a disciple, a committed follower of Jesus who is in love with Him and who has such a relationship with Him that He is priority number one, to approach the assemblies in such a way! Must? Have to? You see, the question is wrong. The mentality and approach is where the work needs to occur.
When Jesus and His Church are my passion, the thought-process becomes “I get to,” “I want to,” and “I will!” Neither parents, grandparents, spouses, elders, preachers, siblings, nor anyone else should have to get behind to push the one who has put Jesus at the heart and center of their lives.
"Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).
Drawn to the Well
In Alabama, any good farmer knows that to keep your cattle or horses from wandering off you’ve got to build a fence. That’s how we do it here, we build fences. But that is not how they do it in Australia… “In Australia, ranches (called stations) are so vast that fences are superfluous. Under these conditions, a farmer has to sink a bore and create a well, a precious water supply in the Outback. It is assumed that livestock, though they will stray, will never roam too far from the well, lest they die. As long as there is a supply of clean water, the livestock will remain close by.”
The Good Sheperd doesn't build a fence around us to keep us from leaving. Instead, God provides us with a positive reason for why we should stay. He uses love, not law, to draw us to Himself.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).
"But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life" (John 4:14, NLT).