May 27, 2002

'Why fight over worship styles?' Basden asks
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___Tradition and traditionalism constitute the second area of confusion, he said.
___"Tradition is not necessarily bad, but traditionalism is always bad," Basden said. "When we begin to worship our traditions, we have moved to traditionalism."
___He acknowledged many worship traditions among Baptists--time and length of service, kind of songs to sing and hear sung, Bible version used, role of technology, dress, order of service.
___"All these are related to our habits, our comfort level," he noted. "But not one is an eternal command of God. The only command is to worship.
___"You and I should be thankful for any traditions that have served us well, but we should hold them very loosely or we could idolize them," he warned.
___Finally, Basden said, confusion reigns about culture and worship.
___"Culture is changing, and the church must change in response. This is simply the incarnational principle of Jesus Christ," he said. "If you and I really want to reach secular people, then you and I must figure out how to communicate the good news in relevant ways."
___Basden suggested churches can learn from international missionaries who reach people not by starting churches just like those they came from in the United States, but by starting churches "indigenous to that culture.
___"If we could just get clarity on these three matters, then I think the worship wars would cease," he said.

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