Mark 7:8-13 (BBE)
8 For, turning away from the law of God, you keep the rules of men.
9 And he said to them, Truly you put on one side the law of God, so that you may keep the rules which have been handed down to you.
10 For Moses said, Give honour to your father and mother, and, He who says evil of father or mother, let him have the punishment of death:
11 But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God,
12 You no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of no effect by your rule, which you have given: and a number of other such things you do.
Traditions are the specific practice of long-standing rituals handed down in families, ministries, and organisations. It is often used to speak of denominations or distinct theological viewpoints, such as the Baptist tradition, Pentecostal movement, Anglican or the Catholic tradition and many others or the historical traditions of the church.
The word of God is powerful and effective, and once pronounced, it doesn’t return empty to God according to Isaiah 55:11. The tragedy of our day, however, is that many people have turned away from what Hebrews 4:12 calls the gospel of truth.
Have you ever considered your traditions?
Many of us were born into traditions that we’re unable to shake off. We have adopted and accepted the traditions of the society where we operate and have no desire to grow out of it or change it.
Our traditions sometimes are what defines us, but they keep our lives normal and mundane.
They may be things that break up the monotony of life and bring us happiness.
Traditions in themselves are not bad but when it begins to fight and clash with the doctrines of God, it becomes a problem.
Because religion is good, it’s not necessarily right. Some traditions are necessitated by the scripture such as tithing in Leviticus 27:30, your first fruit in proverbs 3:9, and giving in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, these traditions are to be observed as part of the Christian walk because they are stipulated by the scripture and count towards an eternal reward.
Consider the practice of our Christmas holiday traditions? Decorating the house, buying the presents, putting up the Christmas tree and the Christmas meal menu and preparations. What do these have to do with the scriptures? With Jesus as Messiah? Do any passage of the bible mention Christmas and how it’s to be celebrated? No! These are all traditions of men used to symbolise a scriptural occurrence.
Another mandated tradition of God in Hebrew 10:25 is in service and fellowship, but many worships, celebrate, and praise God only on Sunday mornings because “it is the holy day” and Monday to Saturday belongs to them to do as they please.
Christians hardly analyse the traditions that they partake in. So, what does God say about our traditions? Colossians 2:8 says to not allow anyone to captivate you with traditions that are deceitful but generally accepted.
Many present practices in the body of Christ can’t be backed by the scriptures, they are simply perversions of the true gospel but many are practices that have worked overtime and have become the tradition of a church or ministry.
Sadly, according to Matthew 15:2-9, 16 these doctrines and principles are merely the traditions of man.
The Bible warns against any traditions, customs, precepts, or laws that are in opposition to, contradictory to, that nullify God’s commands as written in the scriptures. These customs, rituals, practices are inventions and traditions of men — alone, apart from God. We must be cautious of the emptiness of the traditions of men passed down through time … even those from our forefathers or elders.
According to 1 Peter 1:18-19, believers are delivered from a life of futility and meaninglessness of the traditions of men.
Shalom