Time Tested Treasures

Sacrificing Reverence for Relevance

I grew up in the Bible-belt.

From birth to high school my family went to an mid sized Non-Denominational church. It was pretty trendy, though I wouldn’t call it attractional. Seems safe to say it was contemporary.

Either way it was decidedly not traditional or liturgical.

It’s fair to say that I was given a good, foundational understanding of the gospel, a high view of the authority of the Bible, and opportunities to both serve and lead that shaped who I am. I am beyond grateful. Yet I never heard the words creed or catechism. I was married with children long before I ever opened a hymnal – other than for sight reading practice in choir. I’m nearly 30 and this past year I first heard of the 1689 Baptist Confession, or any confession for that matter.

I’m immensely thankful to know about these resources now and while I’m still pretty young.

I don’t understand why time tested works of faithful saints have been disregarded and ignored by so many. I doubt that my church leaders were unfamiliar with them or deemed them of little value. Simply put, creeds, catechisms, confessions, liturgy and the like, are no longer culturally relevant.

True to the stereotype of young people, I used to believe that new was better than old. I thought, unless explicitly wrong, churches today should operate in culturally relevant ways. Now I question why we want to be relevant to a culture so godless?

The “problem” with evangelical churches is not that we need to find a new way to do church but that we keep trying to find new ways to do church.

My pastor recently posted this on social media. I’m not sure if it’s an orignal quote or something he read elsewhere, but I’m sure he’s not the first person to think this thought.

It’s. So. True.

I’ve begun exploring some of these old treasures. By God’s grace I’m learning the value of the time tested over the new and shiny. I’ve hardly scratched the surface, but it hasn’t taken much to prove to me that we need to be a bit slower to throw out what’s old. My new favorite thing is this Hymns of Grace hymnal. My inner choir kid screams with delight holding it. I have memorized some hymns over the years, but very few do I know more than the first verse by heart. One thing I love is the vast scope of worship contained in hymnals. Such a rich source of theology that’s easy to memorize, simple and fun to teach to my little ones.

I don’t believe singing from a hymnal is any more sacred than singing along with a YouTube video. But it sure is less distracting! For me it is also more worshipful. Holding the bound and arranged sheet music, is calming and purposeful. There are no ads, no live concert or funny camera angles.

It’s reverent.

Either way, it’s encouraging to look back through life and see ways in which you’re growing in grace. This is one area I’ve identified a growing desire for understanding and meaningful engagement. I don’t want my religion to be shallow. I don’t want it to be trendy. It’s a very slippery slope. Small changes over time somehow take us from the Jesus of the bible (think not only the gospels, but also Rev 1, Daniel 7, etc) to a watered down therapeutic Jesus that is only powerful enough to make us feel better, but not powerful enough to save.

I hope I won’t be misunderstood, I’m all for exploring new ministry ideas, writing new songs, and using new teaching tools. But let’s also embrace the time tested treasures that 2,000 years of history has left us.

We need not sacrifice reverence for the sake of relevance.