Let’s talk Tradition
Radically defending tradition has pushed people away from the church
Disclaimer
Before I begin I’d just like to mention that this topic was extremely hard for me to consolidate into a post. I’ve been thinking about this subject for over a year and have been observing closely our actions as a church and the consequences of those actions to the congregation. Please don’t take the following as a pessimistic view of the church but rather an opportunity to self-reflect for improvement.
Two types of tradition? Huh?
So I wanted to start with breaking down my thesis which is Radically defending tradition has pushed people away from the church.
Radically defending is associated with those individuals who believe any change to the customs of the church is a threat to the identity of the church itself.
Tradition takes form as two meanings that we need to discuss. Most people are aware of the basic definition which is the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. Examples would be a lot of the cultural aspects of the church like language (Coptic) or chanters dressing in a tonia. However cultural tradition is commonly associated with dogmatic tradition which is incorrect. Dogmatic tradition is usually differentiated with a capital T and its’ meaning is the set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. Tradition of the church is best exemplified with the sacraments (Priesthood, Baptism, Marriage, etc.). These are aspects of the church at its core shouldn’t change but systematically change over periods of time (Baptism used to be a process that took days to complete but has been consolidated into a few hours). The point is, change in cultural tradition is not change in faith and that needs to be fully comprehended if we want to continue to improve the Coptic Orthodox Church in America.
People are defined as not just Copts that left the church but even those who aren’t Coptic Orthodox that chose not to join our church.
But aren’t we an Egyptian church?
I think another important point that needs to be discussed is that we need to stop thinking of the Coptic Orthodox Church as an Egyptian church. This needs to be fully comprehended if we’re going to move any dialog on how the church should improve in North America. The problems with considering the COC (Coptic Orthodox Church) as an Egyptian church is the enculturation baggage that comes along with it as well as the inherent tribalism. Egyptian church means we must bind ourselves to the customs and traditions of Egypt that may contradict the customs here in North America. When there’s an Egyptian culture attached to the church it’s difficult for outsiders to consider the Coptic Church due to it’s explicit Egyptian vibe.
Make the church more accessible
We need to constantly remind ourselves that the church should be accessible to more than just Egyptians who grew up in the traditions of the church. We must serve the world and have open doors to the world. That means be able to drop a lot of the Coptic responses for English responses if it means that more of the congregation can respond. Don’t prioritize the uniformity of the Coptic tune at the cost of the minority (or even the majority!). Accessibility also means not speaking Arabic (if you can obviously speak English of course) around non-Arabic speakers which can make them feel removed from the culture of the church.
The previous point is also valid outside of the church when we interact around others in our day-day activities. If you show explicit divides between yourself and non-arabs/middle easterners then you become a less accessible person overall which means people can’t see Christ in you. For example, my father works in the same office as my mother and they refuse to speak Arabic to each other because they don’t want to separate themselves with their co-workers.
Another point to make is womens’ role in the church. I KNOW, overly talked about topic but let’s just be open minded about why that is. In Middle Eastern countries women are perceived differently than here in the United States which can explain why women participation in the Coptic Church has mostly been teaching/cleaning/cooking. Yes I’m aware deaconesses exist but it’s not pushed enough in the church to encourage women to join in on. Unfortunately a major contributing factor to the minimal role women play in the church is the patriarchal system currently in place. I am not suggesting we change the current Tradition and practice of priesthood. However, “Deacons” have become too prideful in their role in the church, which make women discouraged to want to participate in services. My message to the men is try to push the women to participate more: during Tasbeha let them sing along in the same area as the guys or even let them lead, give one of the girls the deaff (cymbals) if she knows how to play, encourage them to come to hymns class, etc. My point is that there needs to be an image that the church isn’t just led by men so that women can see that the church services are for them to lead as well!
Don’t trash talk the others
Sadly I have to bring this up. Too often we find ourselves trash talking other denominations/religions because they don’t share the same dogma/customs as COC. Some of it comes from immigrant parents raising their children in Egyptian communities or “bubbles” which accustoms them to only associate with their own “kind”.
Other instances can be when Copts growing up are learning the differences between Orthodox and other denominations/religions, in which they don’t maturely handle that information, so as a result they use it as a divide between themselves and the others.
The jokes and negative connotations about other denominations/religions formulate more of the tribalism I mentioned earlier. It’s extremely disrespectful to demean anyone based off their faith and is counterproductive for Christianity as a whole.
Lastly, negative conversations about people who drink alcohol excessively, smoke hookah/cigarettes/other drugs, premarital sex, or go to parties are dangerous rhetoric and should be stopped immediately. We shouldn’t be shaming people for their weaknesses which is hypocritical of even us! It creates this facade that in order to be a Christian one must be perfect. If the church is the hospital we must treat it as such and accept everyone for their fallouts. Nobody should feel ashamed of being amongst the community.
No-one will see the attractiveness of the church if we’re constantly pushing ourselves away from the rest of the world in our mannerisms. We need to develop a respect and an understanding for those who did not grow up in a traditional COC fashion. It’s our Christ-like manner that will unify us all.
How do we foster a Christian story of acceptance?
Great question. There aren’t any rules that can be added in order to make everything mentioned previously any simpler. We should already be in a state of acceptance of others as we are asked to love one another. This message is crucial to adopt in our current lives in order to be an example to younger generations who may rely on us for guidance. In addition, the gradual adoption of this message will not only influence the youth, but also our peers, colleagues, and brother and sisters in church.
Also when anyone breaks tradition in our church let’s not be in an initial state of judgement and break out in anger. We need to understand that what we may believe is common decency or tradition is not everyone else’s. For example looking someone in the eye may seem like the appropriate thing to do in the American culture but in other cultures it’s extremely inappropriate. So the next time someone distracts you by wearing their hat in church or by not paying attention to the Gospel, pause! Relax your mind and understand that this person may not have the intention of disrespecting the church. Overreacting to these minor issues may permanently damage that persons’ experience and perception of the church, causing them to stray away from the faith. We need to express love and acceptance to one another regardless of differences in values/principles/traditions.
Biblical Examples
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” Matthew 15:1–3 RSV
Our Lord is very clear in His response. We must not judge one another even to those who aren’t abiding by cultural traditions.
As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand. Romans 14:1–4 RSV
Here St. Paul reiterates the theme of acceptance of one another. This does not imply that we accept someone with the intention to change their way of life, but rather to accept someone for who they are, flaws and all. We should understand that every person is on a different spiritual path and rather than passing judgment, we should continue to support one another through thick and thin. At the end of the day we will all be judged by our Creator based on the different circumstances we all were given.
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We all know people who have left the church or refuse to join, regardless we must continue to love these people and show Christ in our actions.
Simply attending church will not resolve all your problems, but continuing to develop a deep and meaningful relationship with Christ will ultimately lead to eternal joy. The relationship with Jesus is what’s important because as stated before, abiding by traditions alone cannot fulfill the will of God.
A lot of points were made in this post and I encourage everyone to reread so that it’s all understood. Again these are my opinions about what I’ve observed with the church and I’m open to discussion. The Coptic Church in America is less than 100 years old, making it vital for us to be open to a productive discourse on how to continue to improve the Coptic Church in America
“Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.”
― W. Somerset Maugham
Peace ✌️
