No evangelical Christian that I know of has ever told me that they don’t believe in the Bible. No church that I know if has ever claimed that their goal in ministry was to invalidate or neglect the Bible or forget the Bible. In fact, the very opposite is true. Leaders at every church that I have visited or been part of claim to love the Bible. Pastors and preachers at these churches usually have a Bible up with them when they preach. Church members often own a copy of the Bible at home, or have one downloaded in their phones.
No church—and no true Christian—would ever claim that they want to neglect the Word of God. And yet, even the most well-meaning churches—and Christians—are often in danger of neglecting God’s Word in Scripture. But how? And for what? Answering this question is the aim of the next three articles. I want to expose the danger of neglecting God’s Word in the church while considering the ways we often do. None of us want to be guilty of neglecting God’s Word. But all of us, if we are not careful, may be in danger of doing just that.
In this first article, I want to consider how a church may, unwittingly, neglect the Scriptures due to tradition. I’m not talking about lawlessness or immorality or paganism. No, I am talking about the traditions of men. Yes, even Christian traditions of men. The things, both good and neutral, that we have done for generations that are not necessarily unbiblical but are also not in and of themselves mandated in the Bible. The Spirit warns us about this temptation through Jesus’ interaction with the Jewish religious leaders in Mark 7:1-13.
Exposing a Love for Tradition
In this passage, we see see both the reality and the rebuke of wrongly holding fast to traditions in the church at the expense of obedience to the Word of God. We are called to be honest about this reality in our own lives and churches, and repent in light of Christ’s rebuke.
In the first five verses, we see the importance of being honest about holding too tightly to traditions in our lives and churches. This honesty is something that the hypocritical Pharisees and the scribes didn’t possess. They insisted that they were being lawful and obedient toward God’s Word. But rather than holding fast to God’s Word, they were holding fast to their own traditions, some of which may not have been evil in and of themselves, but all of which God had never commanded.
Their tendency to neglect God’s Word for their tradition was exposed when they critically inquired of the reason why Christ and his disciples didn’t ceremonially wash their hands before eating. Back then, in an effort to symbolize their commitment to holiness, the Jewish religious leaders would fastidiously wash their hands, pots, and other vessels after going to the marketplace and interacting with Gentiles. Thus, to show that they were cleansing themselves of Gentile defilement, they would wash their hands ritualistically (rather than for hygienic purposes) before eating.
The Old Testament itself never mandated this hand-washing from God’s people. Rather, the Jewish leaders started this practice and passed it down as a way for the people to show their commitment to holiness. Their love for such a tradition and disdain for those who didn’t uphold the same tradition was exposed when Christ and his disciples decided to forego the hand washing.
Repenting from Neglecting God’s Word for Tradition
As Christians, it is easy for us to say that we don’t hold tightly to traditions and that we are very flexible people, only to become angry when someone comes along and joins our church who does things differently. We must regularly examine whether or not we are doing what we are doing because we know it to be consistent with God’s Word, or if we are doing what we’re doing simply because it has been done that way for generations. We need to be honest about where we are at.
In verses 6-13, we see the vital importance of being repentant in light Christ’s rebuke. In Jesus’ day, there was a tradition in the Jewish community where any person was allowed to call his possessions “Corban”, which means given to God. If an adult son did not want to financially support his parents, he could declare his money as “Corban”, meaning that his money would be used only for service to God and thus he didn’t have to financially assist his parents.
Calling your money and property “Corban” and declaring it fully dedicated to the service of God sounds noble. It certainly isn’t wicked in and of itself. But it also isn’t mandated in the Bible. Financially assisting your parents in their old age, however, is required by Scripture. The problem with the Pharisees and scribes is that they were neglecting what God actually did command (to financially support their parents) for what God never actually commanded. This practice garnered sharp rebuke from Jesus.
Assessing our Traditions
There many traditions that we have in our churches. Christmas Concerts, Thanksgiving Potlucks, Summer VBS programs, Monday Movie Nights, Harvest Festivals, and more. Some are good, and some are neutral. It’s not inherently wrong to engage in any of these activities. The danger is that a church can become so fastidious about carrying out their traditional practices that they end up neglecting the Scriptures themselves. Churches can become more concerned about their events calendar than their doctrinal statement. They can become more attentive to the announcements than the sermon. And whenever we neglect the actual commandments of God for a man-made tradition—no matter what that tradition is—we have begun to displease God.
Depending on the practice or activity, continuing a long-standing tradition can be good. But making sure that we walk in obedience to the Scriptures is far more important. Remember that Christ did not save us to be traditional. Christ saved us through his death on the cross and gave us life through his resurrection that we may become obedient—not merely busy with church traditions.
Let us be honest about the presence of an holding of traditions in our lives and churches, and let us respond in repentance to Jesus’ rebuke as we live out our salvation by obeying the very Word that God has given.