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The Apostles' Traditions - The Heart of the Matter
Part 1 - The Forgotten Commands
I am quite certain that very few Christians would have a problem with the proposition that the Bible contains commands which are supposed to be obeyed. When Paul wrote to Timothy, as someone in church leadership, and told him to, 'Command and teach these things... (1 Timothy 4v11), then we take this to mean that these were indeed things which constituted commands, and which were therefore to be adhered to and obeyed. So when, for instance, we read in the pages of scripture that we are to, 'Bless those who persecute you... '(Romans 12v14), then we rightly understand it to be something we are obliged to do, and not merely an option. We can conclude, therefore, in the light of such a clear biblical statement, that it is obvious that no believer is free to curse anyone, and, further, that should one decide so to do, then one would be in actual disobedience to the Word of God.
What might cause quite a lot of Christians problems, however, is my next proposition that there is, in fact, a whole batch of commands relating to one particular area of following the Lord which not only are not obeyed, but which are either considered to be irrelevant, or not even known to be in the pages of scripture at all. What I am referring to are the particular practices of the churches established by the apostles, and the fact that the way in which such churches were set up was not only a matter of apostolic command, but was further intended to be the only way churches were ever intended to be set up.
What I intend to demonstrate is that the New Testament reveals clearly that not only are apostolic doctrine (what we believe) and morality (personal holiness) binding on us as commands, but so too are the practices and ways of doing things passed down by the apostles regarding how churches ought to function and operate. What we are going to see is that there are practices, or traditions, to which every church ought to adhere, such practices and traditions being actual biblical commands, which are binding on us, and which ought therefore to be obeyed just like any other biblical commands. So let's turn to scripture itself in order to ascertain that the New Testament does indeed speak of 'traditions' handed down by the apostles, and that such'traditions' are considered commands which are binding on us.
'So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions (Gk: paradosis - a handing down, established practice) which you were taught by us (the apostles), either by word of mouth or by letter.....And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things which we command......Now we command you brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition (paradosis - established practice) that you received from us. (2 Thessalonians 2v15, 3v4 and 6, Revised Standard Version)
Now in these verses Paul is referring to Christian behavior (personal holiness) in general, and then, in particular, the need for each man to work and not to be idle. So we see here that there were certain practices, or 'traditions', which pertained to practical aspects of the Christian life, and which Paul handed down to the believers in Thessalonica, and which he further stated to be commands, in the name of the Lord. And these particular commands covered not only the mandate to work and earn one's own living, but also to withdraw fellowship from any brothers who decide to disobey and to remain in idleness.
So we therefore have here an example of what I am going to call apostolic tradition. This particular example pertains to the area of Christian behavior (personal holiness), and we have established it to be a matter of clear scriptural command. And as we now proceed to some other references from Paul, this time to the Corinthian believers, then it is of the utmost importance to understand that the context of what he writes is that which they were doing, their practices, when they come together as a church. What follows is a direct claim from Paul for divine command concerning the way believers ought to go about things when they gather together as a church.
'I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions (paradosis - established practice) even as I have delivered them to you.' (I Corinthians 11v2 Revised Standard Version)
Paul is here referring to the comprehensive blueprint for the Corinthian church which he had passed on to them; in particular their practices when they gather together. Or, to put it another way, he is dealing with the issue as to how they met as a church, and the way they went about things when they did so. Paul is not here dealing with matters of doctrine or belief, and neither is he concerning himself with that which pertains to personal holiness. No, his remit here is to correct certain abuses that were occurring when they came together as a church, and in process of so doing he commends them that the mechanics, so to speak, of their coming together - the nuts and bolts of what they actually did when gathered, if you will - were in line with the traditions he had handed down to them. And what this tells us is that it is quite obvious that Paul had indeed taught the Corinthian church to meet in a particular way, and to proceed along particular lines and to do particular things. He had, in fact, given them a how to do it-type set of instructions when it came to meeting as a church, and he praises them that they were continuing to do the things, albeit with some corrections needing to be implemented, as he had previously instructed them.
'If anyone is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God.' (I Corinthians 11v16 Revised Standard Version)
Notice here Paul's assumption and insistence that all churches were set up the same, and based purely on apostolic practice. The particular issue he 's referring to here was whether or not people in the church should have head coverings in order to participate in the open worship and sharing together that occurred when the New Testament churches met, but the thing to highlight is Paul's command, and expectation, of complete uniformity in that regard. What we are seeing quite clearly is that there was indeed a set way of doing things that the apostles expected all churches to adhere to. (Just for the record my own understanding of that particular passage is that women should have long hair and men should have short hair, and that it's all tied up with the differing gender roles of men and women, and with the angelic beings who are looking on at believers.)
'As in all the churches of the saints......' (I Corinthians 14v33b Revised Standard Version) Here, regarding the issue of women speaking during the church gathering, we once more see Paul assuming that all churches are practicing in the same way. Again and again we see this simple and unmistakable fact that the apostles set churches up to function and go about things in exactly the same way when they gathered together. The apostles didn't go around suggesting various different ways for churches to go about things when they met depending on what suited them best, or on what they felt like at the time, or some such nonsense like that; they rather instructed all the churches in the only way they were ever intended to go about things when they came together - and it was simply expected that all the churches would comply. And so there's no possible mistaking what I'm driving at here, then just get a load of this:
'What! Did the word of God originate with you, or are you the only ones it has reached?' (Can you not just feel the sting of Paul's sarcasm here at any idea that there could possibly be other ways of doing church than that which he had taught them?)'If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.' (I Corinthians 14v36-38 Revised Standard Version)
Again, we must underline the fact that all these verses (and we shall see the scholars concurring on all this later) pertain to matters of church practice, to what believers actually did when they got together as a church. It relates to how they functioned and how they were set up regarding their corporate activities. And Paul, when referring to the issue of church practice, puts it all under the simple and straightforward heading of being a matter of the Lord's command. It is not optional! It is not a matter of what suits one best! And neither is it a matter of the way in which the Holy Spirit is leading! The Holy Spirit will never lead anyone to go against the teaching of the Bible (He did, after all, write it in the first place), but He will most definitely lead us when we meet according to the teaching of the Bible! No, this is a matter of one thing and one thing only: it is the command of the Lord! Further, Paul actually tells us not to recognize, and to ignore, anyone who says differently! Do you realize just what this means? Well, I'll tell you:
It means that the prevailing idea that the Lord wants different types of churches meeting in different types of ways goes totally against the teaching of the New Testament. The apostles, under the Lord's own guidance through the Holy Spirit, set up churches to operate and function in a particular and definite way, and in later chapters we will demonstrate just what that way was, but of course the point to underline at this juncture is simply that a church is either based on such apostolic practice, or tradition, or on something else. And if a church is based on something else, then it equates to but one thing - the traditions of mere men! And if that is the case, then such churches simply cannot be said to be biblical churches. They can be said to be unbiblical churches (we are not saying they are not churches), but they cannot be said to be biblically based in any way at all. Indeed, the precious and wonderful believers in such churches may well be doctrinally sound and orthodox in so far as their other beliefs and scriptural understanding is concerned, and they may well also be living faithful lives in so as far as personal holiness goes, but when it comes to what church is all about then they completely fail the test of being biblical, of being how Jesus always intended they should be.
And that is what this web site is all about. Indeed, what our church here is all about as well. So join us on a journey to discover from the New Testament what churches, as established and set up by the original apostles of Jesus, were actually like. Then you will be ready to embark on the even greater adventure of establishing and setting them up again!