“Some churches, in an attempt to establish continuity with the past, root everything about their worship and action in the community’s memories. This emphasis on tradition is vital, but as Jaroslav Pelikan warned, there is always the danger that instead of embracing tradition as the living faith of the dead, the Church traps itself in traditionalism — the dead faith of the living.”

“The church must stop living in the past.”

“We need churches to be present right here, right now in their communities.”

“Churches that don’t look forward will soon be left behind.”

Pastors and church leaders sometimes make statements like these whenever they worry that subtle distortions in a church’s identity will lead to deviations in a church’s trajectory. What stands out to me about these statements is their temporal concern. They zero in on the church’s understanding of the role she occupies for a particular generation.

The Church in 3-Fold Time

An influential book, released toward the end of the twentieth century, is Habits of the Heart by Robert Bellah and several professors of sociology at the University of California. In their chapter on religion, the authors describe churches as “communities of memory.” They write:

“Worship calls to mind the story of the relationship of the community with God: how God brought his chosen people out of Egypt or gave his only begotten son for the salvation of mankind. Worship also reiterates the obligations that the community has undertaken, including the biblical insistence on justice and righteousness, and on love of God and neighbor, as well as the promises God has made that make it possible for the community to hope for the future.” (227)

The Church and the Past 

Notice the three periods of time in this description of worship. First, there is the past – what God has done to constitute the community and bring about salvation. The Church must “call to mind” that memory; otherwise, her identity will suffer and she will abandon her role as a “community of memory.”

We don’t have to read far in our Bibles before encountering numerous warnings of Israel “forgetting” what God had done to rescue them from slavery. The nature of this “forgetfulness” was not cognitive (such as, “We forgot God parted the Red Sea!”) but motivational — the past event no longer had any bearing on present faith or future hope. Once God’s people lost their memory, they believed falsehoods about their world, devoted themselves to superstitions, and sacrificed their distinctive identity that was to shine a light to the nations.

The Church of the Present

Notice also how the definition above includes the role of the faith community in the present. It is not enough for the church to recount what God has done in the past. God’s people must discover points of application – what God’s past actions mean for their present life together, both in public spheres of influence and in personal morality.

True Christian worship includes the call to holiness – a consecrated way of life that creates a culture of faith, hope, and love. Essential to Christian discipleship is the equipping of believers to discern what Christian faithfulness looks like right now, in this moment of time. Failure to consider the present moment is to cast aside our missionary task. We are called not merely to a particular place, but also in a particular time.

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