Time to change a few ‘traditions’

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303

By JOHN HATCHER
Contributing Writer

The Apostle Paul was careful to admonish his fledgling church to beware of being taken captive by the tradition of men (Colossians 2:8). The key word here is tradition. It means that which is handed down from one generation to another. Some tradition is good. Some neutral. Some bad.

When traditions take the place of a genuine relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then we have a problem. Also, when traditions become outdated in their form and meaning, hanging onto them creates a faith that seems irrelevant.

If you will bear with me, for the next several weeks I want to call attention to some of our religious traditions that might just need review.

There’s a tradition very much alive in most evangelical churches and it’s called “walking the aisle.” I was ten years old when I walked the aisle of Bethel Baptist Church in Midland, Ga. (just outside Columbus). Bobby Burch and Andy Webb had already decided to join me in walking the aisle that summer night to make our decision for Christ. To my knowledge then and now, there was no other way to demonstrate one’s acceptance of Jesus Christ except to walk down the aisle, take the preacher’s hand, and tell him what decision you were making.

Even if the pastor were to make a home visit resulting in a personal decision to become a Christian, you were still expected to walk the aisle the following Sunday to make your decision real. Additionally, if you wanted to join the church, transferring membership from another church, you were expected to walk down the aisle and let your request be known. If you wanted to rededicate your life, you were to walk down the aisle and tell the preacher.

“Walking down the aisle” became the experiential, interactive portion of the service. If someone walked the aisle for whatever reason, the church could feel a sense that the service had spoken to at least one or a few. The “invitation” which initiated the walked down the aisle appeared, for the most part, to be the climax of every service. It seemed everything was riding on the message and its all important invitation.

Many preachers have died a thousand deaths during the invitation, knowing this is where he would be judged. To some, therefore, the sign of a vibrant and faithful congregation was to see many new converts, believers who had rededicated their lives, and Christians who were transferring their memberships lined up across the front of the auditorium. When such a service was concluded, the faithful would return to their cafeterias or homes, believing they had had a great church service. It was all about walking the aisle.

Of course, bless the heart of the poor pastor who had no one to walk the aisle Sunday after Sunday. He was in a barren land.

“Walking the aisle,” however, is a fairly recent tradition in church history. It certainly does not go back to the first church of Jerusalem. No, it’s an innovation of revivalism born in the area of Cane Ridge, Ky. during the revivals of the early 19th century.

Revival preachers were catching the wind of the Spirit by setting up tent-like revival meetings in Kentucky and people were coming by the thousands, staying days, often weeks. Since they were not churches in the formal sense, the revival preachers had to come up with a way so people could make known their decision to accept Christ. Their answer: ask the people to walk a saw-dust trail to a provincial altar. They did and the idea has stuck now, especially in the evangelical church, for 200 years or so.

The problem with most traditions is that they were never meant to be a tradition. They were merely expedient for the moment.

Now, if someone is fearful of walking the aisle, he may never make his faith in Jesus Christ known for the great fear of standing up before a huge crowd. Should not the church visit other ways by which the inquirers could make a confession of faith? How about submitting a written statement of their faith and request to be accepted into a church? What about introducing them at a church potluck supper where stress of standing before people is not so high?

Perhaps we need to take the pressure off the invitation and lift up more the praise and worship of God and the teaching/preaching of the Bible.