Christian Living

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November 29, 2011 – Sacred Traditions

6 So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect]. 7 You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said: 8 These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me. 9 Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men. – Matthew 15:6-9 AMP

Jesus had his hands full during His earthly ministry. He was confronted daily with a religious system run by very legalistic men. These men were telling people to live one way, but not living it themselves. They were not only requiring adherence to the Jewish laws as laid out in the first five books of our Bible, called the Torah, but also wanted all Jews to live up to the traditions laid out in the Mishnah. The Mishnah contains so many traditions passed down over the years that it is easy to get lost in its reading. Like the Jews of past generations, Christians today are setting aside God’s Word for the traditions of man.

I remember as a child seeing tradition in church. I grew up in a rural community, in a small Presbyterian church. Every Sunday service had the same order. We sang three hymns at the same time each week. The offering was at the same time. The choir always sang at the same time. The preacher almost always gave the same benediction. It was a well-oiled machine and there was never any confusion. It was traditional to do things that way.

But what happened if the order of service changed? What happened if there were no hymns, or maybe four instead of three? What if the offering came at the end of service instead of the middle? And the biggest of all, what happened if the preacher got long winded and dismissed after twelve o’clock? The complaints would fly, that’s what would happen! There is always someone upset when things are mixed up. Look at Jesus. He upset the world of the religious leaders so much that they conspired together and had Him killed. Likewise, in the small church of my childhood, there was always someone who would complain about breaking tradition. Whether it was the gossiping church lady calling everyone she knew or the foul-mouthed farmer throwing explicative language at the local country store, there would be someone who did not approve of bending the sacred traditions.

Sacred traditions, however, are not limited to a church service. Society has passed down traditions over generations that have not only impacted the lives of Christians, but also changed the very existence of churches. Phrases such as “don’t offend anyone” and “everyone should feel like they belong” have taught us to always be kind to others. These phrases are great to put into practice in our own life, and even godly qualities to possess. But when they are applied and used to distort God’s Word, i.e. allowing a homosexual to preach, Jesus calls it hypocrisy. When things like that happen, man’s tradition is given more authority than God.

Maybe your church does not hold to sacred traditions like the church from my childhood. Maybe your church doesn’t have a homosexual pastor. Great! What about programs? Does your church have a youth ministry? Does your church have separate ministries for men and women? There is no Biblical basis for either. Fathers are supposed to train their children (Ephesians 6:4), not a youth or children’s pastor. In the early church, the child heard the same message as the parents (Acts 20). And absolutely nowhere in Scripture can I find a justification for teaching the Word to husbands and wives separately. After all, husbands and wives complement each other perfectly (Genesis 2:18). Such ministries and programs are nothing but sacred traditions.

Okay, maybe your church is perfect and has no sacred traditions. What about you? Do you stop at the same place every morning on the way to work for a cup of coffee? Do you watch the same television shows night after night filled with profanity and sexual innuendo because you need a laugh (1 Peter 2:1)? Do you drink a six pack of beer every night after work because you need to relax (Proverbs 23:20-21)? Would you get angry if you couldn’t have your television or alcohol? Are they sacred traditions to you?

You can make just about anything a sacred tradition in your life. However, you must be careful to check those traditions with the Word. Stopping for a cup of coffee at the same place every day doesn’t deprive God of anything, unless there are ungodly motives for stopping. When you blatantly disobey God and what is written in the Word, hypocrisy renders its ugly head. I know. I lived it for years. I didn’t fear God nor respect any of the Bible’s instructions, especially if I disagreed with them. To make matters worse, I surrounded myself with people who were just as willing to compromise God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:5). Some of them were even pastors. Why? I did it because my sacred tradition was doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. It was another one of those great lessons from society.

What about you? You may say you are a Christian, but is the Bible alive to you? Are you depriving the Word of God of its power? Are you steeped in the traditions and ways of an immoral society? Do you justify things the Bible says are wrong (they’re called sins by the way) because you saw another Christian justify them as well? Is a hypocritical life enough for you? If it is, remember Jesus’ words: you may say you follow Him, but your heart does not, and your worship is useless. The choice is all yours.

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