Contemporary or Traditional

 

 

There is a tension in the modern church between those who hold to the traditions of the past and those who want to be more contemporary. While one group values the religious traditions that have developed through the centuries, the other group would change the church to be more in step with the modern world. Many churches have sought a compromise by offering both contemporary and traditional services. But there is another alternative – a better alternative. Return the church and Christianity to its original faith and practice discarding all human innovations whether ancient or modern. Man’s ideas in religion whether old or new, traditional or contemporary, are not acceptable to God. We should not look to the past or the present, but rather to God’s Word.

 

In an effort to be contemporary we must not plunge ahead of the teachings of Christ. (2 John 9) On the other hand the traditions of men should be given no place in Christianity. (Matthew 15:1-9) In the clash between traditional values and contemporary thinking, the church must not yield to either; but rather stand as “the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) We must not allow ourselves to be “tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14) whether it arises from the traditions of our forefathers or the forward thinking of our contemporaries.

 Claude