Homecoming

By On September 10, 2012 · 10 Comments · In God Moments

My Baptist church recently celebrated Homecoming. This concept can be added to the pile of “Southern Things I Don’t Understand.” I have a nice collection of them.

I posed my uncertainty to my Facebook friends and they (essentially) told me it’s an excuse to get together and eat.

I don’t want to bash the tradition because hey, I like food and I like traditions. (Ok, and my pastor reads this blog, hi). But I do want to question it, mostly because I don’t understand it or the theology behind it. (The Facebook poll essentially said there isn’t any, feel free to disagree).

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photo pin cc

Why do we need an excuse to get together and share a meal?

The early church did that on a regular basis (see Acts 2).

If church is our home, why have we left so much so that we need to celebrate coming back?

If we were some huge church and we wanted to invite all of our church plants, missionaries, and ordained ministers back to share about how they’ve seen the Lord work, I would be all in. In that case, I think the service would look very different from a typical service. It might even include some bongos or some simultaneous praying.

Tradition

Homecoming has also caused me to question what I do merely because it’s a tradition not because it’s Biblical.

I know it’s only September but I’ve got Christmas on the brain. Break out the carols and bring the snow! My family has some bizarre Christmas traditions. I bet yours does too.

Here’s the thing, Christmas with my family does include church but it does not include reading the Christmas story. No “Happy Birthday, Jesus” is sung in our house. Instead, we sing “O Tannenbaum.” Yup, a German tradition.

The biggest advantage to being a foreigner in Baptist Country is that I take the time to analyze why and how things are done–both my traditions and theirs.

It’s something we all need to do from time to time.

Make that time right now.

Why do you do what you do?
Do your traditions need to be examined and questioned?
Are you building excuses to eat or are you building a tradition of making a difference in Jesus’ name?

BufferShare via email
Tagged with: • • • • • •
 
  • Ron Helton

    Hey Katie

    • http://KatieAxelson.com/ Katie Axelson

      :)

  • http://www.hisgirl4life.blogspot.com/ Tara

    Hahaha! I just read through your Christmas post and I liked every minute!! In regards to this post I’m very much with you. I’ve been questioning a lot of why I do what I do, where it’s all coming from, what beliefs my church has and where they get them and so forth. I especially liked your last question and if I could I would write it in big, bold letters everywhere around my church, “Are you building excuses to eat or are you building a tradition of making a difference in Jesus’ name?” that’s awesome. Great post! Happy Monday to you! :)

    • http://KatieAxelson.com/ Katie Axelson

      I feel like we all, as Christians, need to plaster a reminder like that on our foreheads because we all forget all too easily.

      • http://www.hisgirl4life.blogspot.com/ Tara

        I agree! I know I for sure do.

  • http://denisedilley.blogspot.com/ Denise Dilley

    Wanna hear something funny? When I got home from work today I started singing “O Christmas tree, o Christmas…” I’m thinking your bizarre love of Christmas music wore off on me. And that was before I ever read your blog today. :)

    • http://KatieAxelson.com/ Katie Axelson

      Ladies and gentlemen, my work here is done :)

      • http://denisedilley.blogspot.com/ Denise Dilley

        LOL

  • Mara

    Not just a Southern thing. My XH’s rural Wisconsin Catholic church had “homecoming”. I’m not sure if it was combined with the traditional church festivals that many Catholic churches have, but it was a time when people who have moved away from the area (typically those who have moved away to the “big city” AKA LaCrosse or Madison or…) were encouraged to come back and visit friends/family and the parish of their youth.

    • http://KatieAxelson.com/ Katie Axelson

      Interesting!