Today Shell and I hosted a conversation about the 12 traditions I created the following paper as a starting point for our discussion. I made one change that was suggested already in Tradition 12. I work things out by writing and getting feedback. It happened tonight. Lets see what happens here.
Twelve
Traditions for the Church
Tradition 1: Our common welfare
should come first; the Kingdom of God depends on our unity. This demands
humility and acknowledges our own humanness.
“The church couldn’t be more divided if God had
commanded it and Christ had prayed for it.” –
Rich Read.
The Church has tried to force
unity around perceived strengths rather than acknowledged and shared weaknesses. It tends to focus on what it thinks it knows
rather than a shared experience of “not knowing, searching, failing” and still
being loved.
We tend to disregard the journey
focusing our attention on the destination. In so doing we miss much of what God
has for us, and we tend to make our
journey an imperative (“you have to do things my way,” or “believe what I
believe”) rather than simply a story of how we’ve encountered the living God.
If our common welfare comes first
this means that we need to walk with each other, and share in each other’s
journeys rather than try to tell each other how to walk. Unity means sharing
our experience, strength, and hope as we encounter God – wherever we encounter
Him.
In a very real sense, salvation
is found together, in our shared story rather than my individual story.
Together we will create a living theology that breathes and changes as our
world changes that expresses God’s infinite love for Himself and for us in
ongoing relationship.
Tradition2: For us there is but
one authority – a loving God who exists in eternal, perfect loving
relationship. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
"This
is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I
will put my law within them — write it on their hearts! — and be their God. And
they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to
teach each other about God.
They'll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow.
I'll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I'll forget they ever sinned!"
God's Decree. Jer. 31:33-34 (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary
Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
The idea that each of us can really know God – indeed that
this is what He wants – is a dangerous idea because if followed to its
conclusion it destroys the “clergy class.”
This passage’s promise is for now. We hire people to help
us “know God” better. Maybe because it is easier; maybe because we don’t really
believe that we can know Him without paying them. We are scared that we’ll miss
the boat if we don’t do it right. God is too important to mess up. We better do
it right. We better hire the pro’s to make sure we don’t screw it up. In so
doing we can miss Him altogether. That is the sad irony of our choice.
We will meet God as we share life and our journeys with one
another. God is big enough to speak through the child, the mentally challenged,
the broken, and the simple. We simply need to listen and trust the Spirit to
move in our midst.
God will govern. People won’t. The Spirit will make this
happen. So long as we hold fast to tradition 1 we should be OK.
Tradition 3: The only requirement
for membership is a desire for more of a relationship with Jesus.
Caesar demanded
people pronounce, “Caesar is Lord.” No follower of Jesus could ever make this
pronouncement and so often they were thrown to the lions or given over to the
sword.
St. Paul states
that no one can ever say, “Jesus is Lord,” apart from the Spirit of God working
in their heart and life. (1Cor. 12:3) This is probably the best measure of
whether a Christian will share communion with another – can they say, “Jesus is
Lord?” If they can, invite them in and sup with them; Fellowship with them and worship
with them for they are your brother or sister.
For our purposes,
someone belongs to Christ when they say they belong to Christ. The question of
Lordship – indeed the question of relationship – is answered by surrender.
“Here is my life
Lord, have with me and do with me as Thou wilt. I trust you, and where I don’t
help me to trust more.” It is here that we find the solution to all of our
problems. The more we trust, the more trust is demanded of us, and the more
grace is given to trust more, and our relationship with God grows.
Tradition 4: Each congregation
should be autonomous except in matters affecting other congregations or the
Kingdom of God as a whole.
Each congregation
will be wise to tend to its own issues, allowing other congregations to tend to
theirs. If a partnering congregation is violating the traditions laid out here
then they may need to be called to the carpet if it going to affect Kingdom
work.
This tradition goes back to the idea that
no one governs but God. This being the case, let God govern each congregation. Congregations
need to let the Spirit mold other congregations however He chooses.
Tradition 5: Each congregation
has but one primary purpose – to carry the gospel to those still suffering and
in need of hope.
Let’s be clear,
when God said the Church was the “Body of Christ,” He meant that it was to
carry on the work the physical man, Jesus; which He performed during his three
year ministry.
If we can
understand Jesus’ purpose, how He lived and what He did, we will be well on the
way to discovering how we are to live together. Jesus came to proclaim good news to the broken
and the desperate. We are to do the same.
We are to proclaim
hope in faith; live joyously in peace; and live such good lives that people will
want what we have. When necessary we might even use words.
Tradition 6: No congregation
should endorse, finance, or lend our name or Jesus’ name to any related
facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property or prestige
divert us from our primary purpose.
There will be no
political platforms allowed. There will be no social movements promoted. We
will not participate in the Kingdom of this world in any of its forms. The
Kingdom of this world is manifest through any attempt to “take power over”
another person or community. This is central to all the traditions.
Tradition 7: Every congregation
ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
No grants will be written. No matching
funds accepted. Nor will we engage in any fundraising activities outside of the
congregation.
Tradition 8: The Church should
remain forever non-professional. But we may employ people for service and
administrative positions that allow the church to function.
The gospel needs to be free. For our
purposes, professionalism is defined as “paying people to proclaim the gospel,”
or “counsel those in need of the gospel.” This tradition insures that anytime
someone needs to meet Jesus, he will be introduced free of charge. The gospel
needs to be free.
Having said that, child care may need to
be provided; at some point administration may be necessary and so workers in
support and service related positions may be paid to make the mission of the
congregation run more smoothly. Stipends may be given to cover travel and
housing expenses of speakers.
Tradition 9: We ought never to
endeavor to be organized, but we may create service boards or committees
directly responsible to those they serve.
Too often people end up serving the
structures they create to make their church run smoothly. The structures meant
to serve them end up being cruel task masters, stripping away the joy of
service and giving. People feel they are serving the machine rather than the
people the machine was created to serve.
This tradition fights against this
tendency. Twelve tradition congregations need to be minimalistic. Service
boards can be created where necessary. They serve the congregation as a whole,
answer to them, and are temporary in nature, disbanding after the task is
completed.
Tradition 10: We have no opinions
on outside issues hence our name (and the Name of Jesus) ought never be drawn
into public controversy.
Intrinsically connected to tradition one
and six above, this tradition makes sure we focus on our primary purpose and
keeps us out of the court of public opinion.
Tradition 11: Our public relations
policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we always need to maintain
anonymity at the level of press, radio, TV, films and the internet.
If our message is
true; if the Spirit of the Living God really does transform our lives; it will
be self-evident. We will not have to argue people into the Kingdom of God.
People will see that we have discovered life and want in. This has to be at the
heart of everything. Either Jesus is who He said He was; capable of what He
claimed; or He is not. Our lives will be judged by those wondering about His
claims.
For too long the
church has wanted its words to proclaim life rather than its life to
demonstrate the changes wrought by the Spirit in them over time. We are
committed to the latter and firmly reject the former.
Tradition 12: Humility (A complete
disregard for our positions, standing, or value in the Kingdom of the earth) is
the Spiritual foundation of all our traditions ever reminding us to place
principles above personalities.
In the original
traditions the word is “anonymity.” It might still fit here. There were three primary
reasons for anonymity in the original 12 step / 12 tradition fellowships: 1) to
protect the alcoholic from public humiliation 2) to protect the fellowship from
bad publicity, and perhaps most importantly 3) To remove social status from the
recovery rooms.
For our purposes,
protecting the anonymity of the individual is not an issue. However, the next
two reasons might be.
Many will argue
that we need to protect the congregation from the idiocy of individual
followers of Jesus. When a person does
something embarrassing that could damage the name of Jesus, it is far better if
they don’t proclaim themselves to be doing it in the name of Jesus or His body
on earth – the Church.
All of us can
probably agree that there can be no “outside status” in the Kingdom of God. A
doctor and a janitor are equals – both in need of as much grace as the other. A
stay at home mom needs as much grace as a high powered executive. The world’s
status positions cannot exist in the church.
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