As the definition suggests, any tradition can easily be misinterpreted
as an edict of the church and may be interpreted as having the same authority
as any written law.
It really doesn’t matter how any non-biblical tradition is introduced;
once it is established, it is virtually impossible to remove and is one of the
most dangerous entities that can be woven into the fiber of the church and
Christian worship. We are warned of this through the dialogue of Jesus with the
Jews of His day. Matthew 15: 2-3
records that after being questioned by the Pharisees as to why His disciples
did not keep the traditions of the elders. Jesus answered, “Why
do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition”? In verse 6 of the same chapter, after deriding them for changing the
law of honoring father and mother, He says these words; “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition”.
Yet, even with this warning, most Christian belief systems in place
today are still rooted in man’s traditions and ideologies rather than being based
upon biblical evidence. Of course this did not happen overnight, but over a
period of generations. Now, this is not an attack on any specific denomination
or belief, but simply an observation of the obvious and it must be taken into
consideration that all of us are affected in one way or another by traditions.
Even in the early apostolic church we find that the Apostles were
already dealing with the issues of man interjecting his own precepts into God’s
perfect plan of salvation. In the Acts of the Apostles we find where certain
Jews came down from Judaea to Antioch, teaching that salvation was not by grace
alone but by the works of man, i.e. that man must be circumcised and keep the
Law of Moses in order to be saved Acts
15:1. Keep in mind that at this
time, the Apostles did not have the written scriptures which could be used for
persuasion or comparison. The only proof they could offer was the testimony
that they had walked with Christ and were now presenting their listeners with
His great teachings. Ironically it would be these same men who, through the
moving of the Holy Spirit, would put pen to parchment to record those things
they had heard with their ears, witnessed with their eyes and experienced in
their lives. These sacred writs are what we now call the Scriptures of the New
Testament.
As we fast forward a few hundred years we find that the Church now had
in its possession the “written word” as earlier mentioned. After the
reformation, most all the newly constituted “protestant” churches (even though
their orders of service may have contained some noticeable nuances) held to the
same doctrine of the apostles; that salvation was of and by God’s grace alone,
and not by any works of man. However, there were still those who were inching
away from these original teachings and much like the early church, were
introducing their own idealisms. Each
generation built upon these and flavored them with more and more personal
views. New traditions were being born with almost every generation that passed.
Taking these things into consideration, we must understand that we are never to
accept the words of others as truth without consulting the Holy Scriptures. If
so, we are doomed to live in error.
I think it is evidenced that Satan does not brazenly “invade” our churches,
taking everyone hostage, but rather calmly steps in or in many cases is invited
in, offering enticements that are hard for most to refuse; enticements such as personal
praise, power, notoriety, or self worth, to name only a few. He presents
humanism in its purest form but one thing he will never promise or even offer
and that is the TRUTH. When put before
certain persons, these fascinations are like candy held in the face of the
child. It only takes some of the most simple of trappings to move minds away
from Jesus Christ and on to self,
which is all in his plan. He knows that “I” is the greatest idol in our
lives. Let us not forget the words of
Jesus as he tell us, “If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” Luke
9:23.
Earlier I mentioned some of the errors of our
forefathers that grew into traditions over a period of generations, but it is
much different today. Deviant church behavior is now being introduced and accepted
by the masses with little, if any resistance.
Even in my brief span upon this earth, I have seen many biblically
errant seeds that have been sown to become deep rooted traditions within a few
short years. Unlike our forefathers, who may have ignorantly misinterpreted the
word, men and women today are purposely disregarding and even changing the
scriptures to meet their own agendas. Satan is hard at work and is hurrying the
process of deceit along at a much faster pace. He knows his time is drawing
close to an end.
Those who may consider themselves to be senior citizens need only look
back to their childhood and compare the church then to the church of today. The
neo-modern church traditions that have arisen are almost too many to mention,
but there are a few that are very noticeable; one of which is the “new” song
service in which the congregation barely participates, and has now become the
audience; another is the “new” dress code for the clergy. Faded jeans with golf
shirt or a button up casual with shirttail always out, and sneakers have become
today’s “traditional” dress for the “pastor”, which, in my opinion, shows
little respect to his calling (if that is indeed the case), to God who called him or to the worshippers who
are gathered. Another is fully accepting anyone into the church with no
repentance necessary. And as not to lose any numbers (for that is most
important today), we find many churches are now offering both “traditional” and
“contemporary” services. But don’t be fooled by the play of words. Traditional
as used here is actually to be interpreted as “old timey” or “old fogey” and is
only offered in order to appease the older generation and to keep them from
wandering away to one of those churches that still only have the “old timey” services.
At these statements the pragmatist will cry: “Alas, it matters not how
we may dress or conduct ourselves in the church building as long as we obtain the
results we seek!” “Just as long as we can fill the pews and get verbal professions
in Christ from those who attend (commitment not required)”. To this I must reply with a question; “Did it
matter to Jesus how His temple was being defiled?”
I have personally spoken with long-time church members, some of whom
have been born and raised under a specific church doctrine or order. When “presented”
with the traditions and teaching under which they were raised vs. the biblical
truth of scripture; not surprisingly, in almost every case their first response
was to choose the traditions of their church. This just goes to show what strong
influences traditions can have on an individual or groups of individuals.
Some may venture to say that I am being much too harsh toward the church
of today; to which I answer; “I feel that I am actually being very kind”. If one wants to find what harshness really is,
they should read the Bible and take it for what it says and not what some have
interpreted it to mean!
Let me say in closing that even
though we find The New Testament admonishing us many times to be wary of man’s traditions, we must also keep in
mind that not all traditions are in error. There are those traditions, which
were established by the Apostles that we are to keep to the best of our
ability; as we see Apostle Paul instructing us to keep those that are biblical
in origin, which edify the church and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;
“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught,
whether by word (the Apostles gospel and doctrine), or our epistle (the words they had written regarding those
things to which they were eye witnesses) ” (2 Thessalonians 2:15).
God
bless and always remember; “Let God be true, but every man a liar”
Sam
Everett
