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| Good and Bad Traditions |
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9:9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. 9:10 And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 9:11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 9:12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 9:13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." 9:14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 9:15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 9:16 And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 9:17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
What do you think of church traditions - good, bad or both? In Matthew 9 we read how Jesus broke several religious traditions. He chose a seemingly inappropriate individual to become one of his leading disciples. Matthew was a tax collector for the hated Roman occupation. Jesus also ate with immoral and crooked people. Moreover, Jesus did not demand that his disciples practice the religious discipline of fasting while he was still on earth. Why did Jesus disregard these standards of conduct? The Bible reveals two kinds of traditions, good and bad, the good tradition of the elders and bad traditions which only serve to imprison us and detract from the message of Christ. Traditions which enhance the Gospel can be good. However, Jesus came to do away with narrow formal religion and careful ritual5 which often does more harm than good. Christianity is about faith not ceremony, hope not rules of men, and love not religious exclusivism. 5Wenham, Motyer, Carson and France (1997). New Bible Commentary (916). IVP. |
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| To add a comment to "Good and Bad Traditions" |
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| October 09, 2007 |
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| A tradition that is a ritual way of remembering some "God principle" is handy and can be very useful if used as a tool and if we are willing to exchange one tool for a better one should it come along. The problem with traditions is that they can stop being traditions and become laws and doctrine; dogma that begins to supplant God's word with human rules. We have a tradition at church of doing a Tenebrae service on Good Friday; dramatizing the blotting out of the sun and the spiritual darkness that filled the earth . That's good as long as something better doesn't come along. |
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| October 09, 2007 |
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Traditions should not be endorsed merely b/c "it's always been that way". God expects our heart and mind to be in the things we do for him. Traditions should likewise not be attacked merely b/c they are established tradition, if they are meaningful and useful in refocusing the church on the gospel of Christ.
I believe traditions should be reevaluated often. To love God w/all our heart, mind, and soul is to be passionate about what we do for God, consumed in thought about God, and consciously decide to engage in what we do for God. I don't see tradition necessarily excluded from this. Good blog! |
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| October 09, 2007 |
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| Good comments guys! I remember a story of a family that always cut off the shank bone on their Christmas roast. When granddaughter asked why, her mother said that it was always that way, tradition or something like that. Finally mom asked grandma, and grandma simply replied that when her mother made the roast she didn't have a pot big enough to fit it, so had to cut the bone to make it fit. Logical once upon a time! No longer necessary with a larger pot! Church traditions can become that way too. |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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| Pastor is in the Bible. The Bible nowhere forbids the use of the word Reverend, meaning someone who reveres God. If you ain't gonna go along with man-made rules it's perhaps good not to make any up yourself. Tithing is not wrong as a principle, just not mandated. To say that tithing is wrong is to make a rule up that the Bible also does not do. Let's just call it an option. It is neither forbidden, nor mandated in the NT. If my offering just happens to be 10% that's great. If not, who cares! Tradition ain't forbidden in the Bible, even tradition outside the Bible. What Jesdus criticized was the tradition of the Pharisees. But then Paul encourages us to follow the traditions of the elders. Dare we to forbid everything that others do by faith? To nit pick about other people's faith choices is to become like a Pharisee ourselves. How do I know this? I am that way myself. |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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Yes, I agree that there are traditions that are good and some that are bad. I like your definition of bad tradition is one that detracts or gets in the way of the gospel. I would say that even "good" traditions can be a hinderance at times. Are we worshiping our Lord and Savior or the tradition? Reminds me of the Fiddler on the Roof play where he wonders why we do something and he responds with "Tradition!" *grin* I guess some of these good traditions could be called preferences. Do you stand or sit when singing? Do you serve communion every week or once a month? Very good thoughts. Jesus stretched people in His day with hitting them with their traditions. I hope and pray we would not put our traditions in front of allowing the Word of Truth to lead us and guide us into all Truth despite the traditions we know or grew up with. Grace and Peace. |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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| Thank you for such a kind way of saying it, stretching people. That is good! We certainly do not want to put people down, condemn the faith choices of others, or even condemn those who make wonderfully legitimate decisions regarding which traditions they prefer or find helpful to their journey. As you so well said, it is when tradition is given a higher priority than the logia, the sayings of Christ, that we are in trouble. |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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| Brent, you beat me to the Fiddler on the Roof analogy. One of my new traditions (non-Biblical) is taken from the story. I use it when there is a difficult person that is still in need of love: As the rabbi said: "May the Lord bless and keep the Czar. . . . far, far away." |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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Great Blog Grant,
I was thinking about the same story about the woman and the Ham shank.
Pastor Aminata |
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