This Is the Day

“We’ve never done it that way.” It’s a threat, or so it feels to many church leaders. Or it’s a warning or an incantation against change of any sort. Some have said they are the last words of the institutional church. We’ve never done it that way.

Yet, it's not hard to understand the desire to cling to what has always been. There is security in sameness. There is comfort in familiarity. Indeed, there seems to be an inherent good in preservation. Paul tells the Thessalonians to “hold fast to the traditions.” That seems to be a call to resist change, to keep doing the same things over and over. We like our traditions; they define us. “We’ve been doing them since day one,” we say, “since the very beginning.”

But what are the traditions Paul says to cling to? Are they indeed the practices that we have been doing since day one? Are Paul’s traditions the behaviors, actions, and words that we have repeated since we learned the faith? Ritual is important even now. Repeated actions can give us a sense of belonging, connection, and understanding. We partake of the Lord’s Supper again and again, and sometimes something profound shines through.

Perhaps, however, what Paul is really trying to get the Thessalonians to consider is not so much the doing but the foundation. The tradition is the love that fosters the behaviors. That’s what we stand firm on. Actions change by necessity. Words develop new meanings and understandings. But love that gives birth to words and actions remains the same. Stand firm on that love. That’s what has been with you since day one.