The Lord’s Snack…
Over the past few days, I have been asking the following question: “Should we begin our study of the church with contemporary church practices then compare them with Scripture, or should we begin our study of the church with Scripture then compare that with contemporary church practices?”
This article from the Milipitas Bible Fellowship describes their search for a proper understanding of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. (Thank, Bro. David Black for the link!)
While this article is long, it is well worth reading. Here are a couple of excerpts:
It’s amazing how much the church does because of man-made traditions, that when closely scrutinized, simply can’t be justified from God’s Word.
Changes in the life of a church are never easy. In fact, even if the changes are more Scriptural than its current practices, they are still very threatening. Thus, the status quo, no matter how barren it leaves us, is usually preferred over change.
I know the church with whom I gather has practices and traditions that “can’t be justified from God’s Word.” However, it is our desire to change those practices. We are not perfect people, but we do desire to mature in Christ-likeness, both as individuals and as the body of Christ… even if that change is not easy.
What practices and traditions does your church have that can’t be justified from God’s word and that need to be changed?
jasrandal –
Thank you for your comment. I do not have any particular practices or traditions in mind. However, a group of people only have to meet together a few times to begin forming traditions. Our desire is to continually examine everything we do against Scripture. Recently, we realized that we were not allowing the entire body to participate in our meetings. We have since changed that. As other we recognize other practices that are contrary to Scripture, we will change those as well.