Creeping Traditionalism
In my last article Brethren: The Increasing Rebellion I pointed to the changes taking place among educated young people among the Assemblies. Several factors push them into this direction, and one of them is the increasing traditionalism in the assemblies.
By "traditionalism" I mean a tendency to adhere in an inflexible manner to what was there yesterday, the day before yesterday, and the day before. For example, if only two songs were sung at the start all these years, anything less than that or more than that is immediately seen as anathema. If clapping of hands has been always absent, then someone who claps is seen as a weirdo, and so on.
I am not advocating that everything be broken down for that would be anarchy. Nor am I advocating an inflexible "order of service" for that would make us no different from the nominal churches. On the contrary, we need to regain the spontaneity that characterized the early brethren. Thy had both an order as well as flexibility. Unless we regain that healthy balance, we can expect in increasing defection from the assemblies. [Tambourine, Public Domain Image]
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