Posted on May 17, 2009 - by rfrank

Tradition breeds loyalty

I spent a good part of the day Saturday with my family at Purdue University. It was my sister-in-law’s graduation. It was the longest ceremony  I’ve ever sat through but was also the best I’ve attended. Two things have really impressed me about Purdue – tradition and loyalty.

First, tradition. The school was founded in 1869 and is packed with tradition. It is probably best known for the Purdue University College of Engineering (my soon-to-be brother-in-law is part of this program). It’s also cool that 22 of Purdue’s graduates are astronauts, including Gus Grissom (one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts), Neil Armstrong (the first person to walk on the moon), and Eugene Cernan (the last person to walk on the moon).

Second, I was impressed with the loyalty of Purdue grads. They love their Alma Mater and are gold and black through and through.

I’ve been thinking about these 2 words this weekend: tradition and loyalty. Tradition breeds loyalty. Purdue alumni are loyal to their their Alma Mater in part due to deep traditions.

Apply this to children’s ministry. My goal as a children’s pastor is to help parents raise Godly kids – kids that are loyal and true to Jesus Christ. Does tradition factor into the equation? I think it does.

Many of us get scared by the word tradition because it sounds cold and irrelevant. But is it? If tradition breeds loyalty, what traditions do we need to make sure we are teaching the kids in our church? What traditions do we need remind parents to pass on to their kids?