We all learn from people whom we trust. Some atheists may claim that they only
believe the things that they have seen or the things they can verify by
personal observation. Yet, nobody can
live this way and still function in society.
We all rely on others to teach us, and we can only learn if we –to some
degree- trust our ‘teachers’ to tell us what is true. Yet, as we grow up, we must come to a stage
where we look beyond our trusted teachers and put them to the test. When children go to school they will hear
things that –in some way- will contradict the things they learned at home. So,
they must compare, contrast, and choose which lessons from their parents to
keep and which to discard. Some people,
even in old age, keep quoting all the things their fathers used to say. However, as fathers we don’t have the perfect
insights and we do make mistakes.
Hopefully we learn from our mistakes, and we grow in God through the
renewing of our minds.
Also in our relationship to God, we must grow and
mature. Recently we baptized a couple
that had originally come to Christ through Mormon teaching; only later did they
recognize that Mormon teaching does not line up with the Word of God. As pastors and preachers, we do may miss at
times the biblical balance and even allow idols to co-exist with God. Therefore every member is called to spiritual
maturity and to compare the teaching and the preaching in the church with the
Word of God. When churches and their
leaders cannot cope with critical questions from their members, they are in
danger of ‘hardening of the categories’ and fossilization of the church. If we insist our teenagers accept everything
we say or believe without any personal processing or evaluation, we train them
to be people-pleasers, rather than God-pleasers.
After we were branded heretics by one church and rejected
for membership by two of the neighboring churches, we were welcomed in a rural
reformed church nearby. The elders had
all read my book and concluded that it did not espouse any heresies. Yet, I studied at a nearby seminary, and so I
had to look for opportunities to get some practical experience. First I was allowed to preach in a local
(secular) seniors’ home. That was pretty
safe, for most attendees were deaf or demented and many would sleep during the
delivery of my carefully crafted homilies.
About a year later I was allowed to also teach a catechism
group. I was warned from the start not
to get myself in trouble (again). I was
happy teaching the young people. I was glad
that many felt comfortable to share their personal convictions and their
doubts. I was careful not to jump to
quick condemnation, yet I challenged and urged them to keep God at the centre
of their lives. Things went fine until in
the Spring I had a (routine) visit from an elder visiting my class. At the time I was dealing with the Ten
Commandments; that night we discussed the Second Commandment. The church-approved textbook argued that we
may not have anything in our worship (services) that is not instituted in the
Bible, such as: praying to mother Mary or the saints, burning of candles, and
liturgical dance.
I explained that the Bible clearly teaches that we can only
pray to God. Therefore, we may not pray
to any creatures. Yet, the Bible does
not forbid the burning of candles or liturgical dance. So, we cannot place all four examples on the
same level; the first two are forbidden, while the latter two are expressions
of worship style. “I have never pushed
our church to use candles in a Christmas service or to introduce liturgical
dance, but we cannot condemn other churches for doing so.” For the brother elder, however, this was not
good enough. So, after the season had
ended, I was summoned to a meeting.
I was urged to maintain the harmony in the church by
upholding the traditions. Yet, I argued
that we may never confuse the revealed will of God with human traditions. Again, I was branded the trouble-maker, but I
insisted, “If you want me to teach our young people the Word of God, I love to
serve. Yet, if you want a teacher to
enforce the church traditions, you ought to find a traditionalist” For a while the pastor tried to reconcile me
to the council’s will. He maintained, in
line with (the wording of) the Heidelberg Catechism, that God’s Law forbids us
to introduce any elements into the worship services that have not been
prescribed in the Bible. I disagreed. When Paul addresses the Corinthian church, he
does not say, “Who gave you the idea to speak in tongues during the worship
service? Where did God institute such a
practice?” Rather, he used a functional
approach. He was not after Law-keeping,
but after Church-building. So, he said,
“Speaking in tongues without proper interpretation does not build the church. Therefore, you ought to keep it out (of your
worship meetings). Apparently, Paul had
a different approach about worship do’s and don’ts!
So, I concluded, “It seems to me that you claim to bar candles
and liturgical dance from worship on the basis of the Law of God. Yet, in reality you abuse the Word of God to
bolster your traditions. You make God’s
Word say the things you want to hear, thereby judging other churches.” If tradition rules, God can no longer be in
the centre; this too, is idolatry!
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