Questioning some Christian Traditions
For Moses said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.'
But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother.
Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
(Mark 7:9-13)
The first time I met this Bible verse, it got me thinking: how many things have been handed down to me that nullify the word of God?
To nullify means to make of no use or no value; to cancel out.
To nullify means to make of no use or no value; to cancel out.
This simply means that there are traditions, actions that we have grown up doing and our parents grew up doing that disrespect or undermine the word of God. As children of God, our success, safety, growth and prosperity is in doing/respecting the word of God.
"Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:29
" For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
When we knowingly or unknowingly disrespect the word of God, we miss out on the amazing power that it holds not mentioning disrespecting God Himself as we disrespect His word, challenge is some of these actions or traditions are so finely handed down to us that we would hardly know that/how they disrespect God.
A few points to note:
1. It is done in a fine way. Jesus says "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God..." Meaning they do it so well that it becomes very hard for us to tell its true side.
2. It is done by reputable men. In the verse Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and some teachers of the law. Until the coming of Jesus, these were some of the most respected men in matters of faith.
These are men of influence, they were believed to understand the scriptures better than everybody else, yet some of them took that advantage to set aside God's commands and teach the people to observe what was comfortable to them.
3. Hand them down. They are passed on to their children. So the children do not really know what they are doing, but that is their tradition; that is how their culture does things.
As children of God, I believe it is okay to question some of our traditional practices, those that are directly against God and those that seem okay.
In the example Jesus gives us above, the teachers of the law taught people that if you had gifts to give to your parents but you decide to give them to God, then it is okay not to do anything for your parents. There seems not to be any problem with this tradition (fine way) but the problem is, it nullifies the word of God that came through Moses: God expected us to very much honor our parents and take care of them.
How many of our cultural and church traditions have been finely handed down to us that nullify the word of God?
The issue is not our cultural or church traditions, the issue is whether or not they nullify the word of God.
How to tell traditions that nullify the word of God.
We need to define what traditions really are and also what Christian traditions are:
A tradition is a belief, a principle, or way of acting that people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time (Cambridge online dictionary).
Christian traditions are a way a certain group or society of Christians live or act.
These days almost every church has its own traditions (which is okay), you can tell which church a certain Christian congregates with without asking, but just by looking at their actions and behavior.
How to tell traditions that nullify the word of God:
By reading God's word. When we know God's word, we can tell when a certain habbit or tradition is not in one accord with the word of God.
Ensure that our dependence on the Holy Spirit is higher than our dependence on spiritual men. Even when we know the word, certain spiritual men may claim to have higher revelations of the word of God. Therefore, if our dependence on the Holy Spirit is higher than our dependence on men, He will remind and reveal to us everything Christ desires of us.
Is it okay to ask questions about that practice?
When people have their own motivates of asking others to do something, they rarely entertain questions, they rarely give room for people to understand the why or to ask questions.
Does that practice depict the character of God? Our God is not a selfish God, He doesn't want us to give to Him at the expense of others, at the expense of our families.
Have you heard of those stories where Christians give their tuition, their rent, their children's lunch money as a seed? I highly doubt God needs that one million at the expense of your education, I don't think He loves it when your children sleep hungry. However, still that doesn't mean we don't give to God, we need to honor God with our tithes, first fruits and offerings but not with our tuition.
May the Lord give us the discernment to respect and honor His word for what it is, for His word is the very foundation of the Earth.
Until next week.
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