Built To Last

Tradition is built to last.  My church is very big on tradition.  This church has been around for about 2000 years.  Tradition works because it lasts.  It is not much for innovation or change.  Tradition does not ask what is the best way to approach a situation in this day and age.  It is not about problem solving.  Change is the problem, not the solution to a situation for tradition.  Mom and Pop churches can be very  popular for a while.  It seems to respond to a specific want or need of church goers.  But because it has no tradition, it changes easily, and then too much for people who wanted something new when they joined but don't want new once they are members.  So Mom and Pop churches come and go.  Exciting, attractive, energizing, and then foreclosure.  I find that people in my church like a familiarity with history.  Come into a building and know what to expect, and can understand.  Differences within a tradition is OK.  The placement of things, the seating, the floor and walls can be different but within some familiar understanding.  Tradition will not respond to boredom, or loneliness or the sense that you do not have much control over what happens.  Those are people problems.  Tradition is about keeping the institution from foreclosure.  It has done a good job of that for 2000 years.