“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”

I want to be honest up front. I am very much aware that Tradition can be stifling, boring and extremely bad—most often when they, the traditions, have extended beyond their purpose, applicability or proven wrong/hurtful. With that said, I think an interesting question should be raised, namely, “What if what grounds the Tradition is eternal, unchanging truth himself?”

In the Christian worldview, we find that grounding in God. Yet, within the non-denominational movement, of which Revolve is a part of, there seems to be an allergy to Tradition. A quick scan of many non-denominational websites under the “About” tab often shows a church striving to distance itself from a tradition. All too often churches pride themselves on distinctness and uniqueness.

In Jude 1:3 the author urges his readers to “...contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” Just before that he mentions he had been “eager to write to you about our common salvation.” Yes, we have quite a few differences among local churches and they are important differences to discuss. However, should we not desire to firstly establish ourselves in the [apostolic] tradition? Should our offer to visitors on our websites not be to foster further division, as we strive to not be like church X or Y, but that we declare ourselves a part of a long, biblical tradition?

All of this to say, this is why I am passionate for the Creeds class. These short statements pack a ton of biblical truth (just ask someone who was in the first class). To return to the Chesterton quote above, we have 2000 years of fellow saints we can “give votes to” on our common salvation and the content of the faith we should contend for.

The first Creeds class looked at the Nicene Creed.

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¹ Worldview being how you view reality or the “lens” through you filter information, decisions and actions.

² I am not ignorant to the “why” of the “distinctness approach” due to someone’s potential baggage with “churchianity” or legalistic churches. However, uniting yourself to the “faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” WOULD make you distinct from those churches you’re trying to be distinct from!