Friday, January 30, 2009

Traditions...

Some say that the church today is trying to "remove the great traditions of the faith." To those I say this: read Mark 7 and see what Jesus had to say about this subject. I can guarantee you that we would never remove any tradition given to us by God in the Bible. So we don't do an altar call, don't wear suits, don't sing the doxology before the offering. But where did the church get those traditions? Men. Not God. And doesn't Jesus say here that we don't have to continue in the traditions of men. In fact, isn't He implying that it's dangerous to continue in the traditions of men, because we can easily allow them to supersede the word of God? And so, if a church is "non-traditional" doesn't it make that church more Biblical?

2 comments:

Sara said...

I suppose God referred to us as a "stiff-necked" people for a reason. It seems to be a part of our humanity to come up with traditions. Even Israel who saw the presence of God everyday and the miraculous signs and wonders that brought them out of Egypt were enticed by the "traditions" of the cultures with which they encountered along the way. I think of the traditions of the culture we live in today and how we celebrate traditional western things like Halloween (a pagan holiday)for example. Do we set ourselves apart from the world in any distinctive way? No, we tend to blend right in and cover up the bad traditions with good, "godly" ones. Its interesting. You've got me thinking!

Harley McCarville said...

Right on Matt! Nicely put.