Which Traditions?

by Stephen Bastin

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Every religion has its traditions.  “Tradition” is simply the customary way in which something is done.  The question is not whether people are following traditions in their religion, but whose traditions are they following?

There are several ways in which traditions may be established.  Traditions may be established by law or they may be established by long accustomed usage.

When the pilgrims came to America they spoke English.  There was no law demanding that they speak English.  Later as immigrants came from other countries they learned English and so English became the language of the United States by tradition.

Other traditions have begun with the passing of a law.  In one country people had been driving for years on the left side of the roads.  A law was passed and in one day everyone had to begin driving on the right.  Tradition was suddenly and abruptly changed by law.

Traditions such as the above have a definite beginning point.  Other traditions’ origins are shrouded in the distant past and no one can recall just how or when they began.  For example, our traditional way of speaking English is quite different from the English that the Pilgrims spoke.  It is a language that has evolved over hundreds of years of usage.  It is still called English, but it has changed.  There is no “standard” English that we need to know and to which we need to adjust our speech.

Paul speaks of the traditions he delivered to the Christians at Thessalonica in his second letter to them, third chapter.

The word Paul used refers to a practice that is handed down with authority.  In this case the authority is Jesus.  In that sense all the commands in the New Testament are traditions, commands handed down by the authority of Jesus.  Paul does not use tradition to refer to something established by long usage, but rather to practices established in heaven by the King of kings and handed down to his subjects by the apostles whom He chose.

We may learn from the experiences related in the Old Testament.  Again, there were traditions that were established by God through Moses at Mt. Sinai.  We usually refer to this legislation as the Ten Commandments.  Besides the ten rules there were many other regulations governing everything from how to build a tabernacle to what might be eaten for dinner.

When Jesus came along some 1500 years later, there were traditions that had been added by the elders in addition to the traditions handed down from Moses.  The fifteenth chapter of Matthew gives Jesus’ views concerning these later traditions.

One of these first century traditions involved the washing of hands after coming from the market place.  Many of the Jews felt that in the market place they might have been defiled by contact with a Gentile.  A ritual washing was therefore prescribed.

When Jesus’ disciples came from the market place they did  not observe this ritual washing.  Jesus was challenged by the Jews for not making his disciples wash in the proper way.

Jesus’ response was to point out a practice that they observed as a tradition in conflict with the law.  The law in question said, “Honor your father and mother.”  The practice that Jesus opposed was that of declaring one’s property dedicated to God in order to avoid supporting one’s parents.  Jesus asked, “And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?”

Jesus went on to accuse them of hypocrisy.  He quoted the words of Isaiah, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.  But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.”

When a tradition handed down with authority from God is set aside for the sake of a tradition established by religious leaders who came later, the religious leaders are labeled “hypocrites.”  Their worship is useless.  They are only giving “lip service.”   They are not serving God.

Jesus also made the point that religious leaders who follow the traditions not established by God are blind guides.  He said “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.  And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

For the nation of Israel, their traditions were established through Moses at Mt. Sinai and revealed in the first five books of the Bible.  For Christians, the traditions were established by the apostles of Jesus and revealed in the New Testament.  All later traditions do not have divine authority to back them.  They are simply the traditions of men and suffer from the same deficiency as the traditions that Jesus opposed in his day.

It is not just the leaders who are in trouble.  It is all who follow such blind leadership that are also in trouble.

There are traditions that are innocent.  They do not contradict any law of God.  There are others that are spiritually devastating because they lead to disobedience to a law of God.  The only way to know the difference is to know the law of God.

When Paul came to Berea and preached the gospel of Jesus, the people did not simply take his word for what he said.  “They received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.”

In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, last chapter he commanded them:  “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!  Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

In Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica, last chapter he commanded:  “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

We believe in serious Bible study.  It is not our practice to skip from verse to verse, stringing passages together to prove that we are right.  It is rather our practice to examine the scriptures carefully, looking at entire passages in their context in order to understand the mind of the one whom God has chosen to reveal truth to the world.

Our search to find the will of God for our own lives has led us to reject the traditions of men.  Sometimes that search led to painful discoveries, but it always led us closer to God.  We invite you to join us in searching the scriptures.