Traditions - Supreme to Scripture?

Matthew 15 & Mark 7

As I read this morning's reading I was cut to the heart with the teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples.

Jesus had been questioned by the Pharisees as to why he disregarded the tradition of the elders by not washing his hands before eating a meal.  Jesus responded with a question (how often Jesus did that!), asking why they would break the command of God for the sake of maintaining their tradition!

I attended a very traditional secondary school. This school was renowned for its keeping of traditions - and for boys like me who were a little non conforming and rebellious, they were just silly rules! Yet try and break just one of the traditions - and there was hell to pay! Now we can argue about whether I was right or wrong - but what I have to point out is the sheer power of tradition. Yes, there are wonderful aspects to keeping traditions. But in the case of the Pharisees, they were lording their man made traditions over the commands of God!

Across the world wide church today I wonder how often tradition (man made rules) are hindering the work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Have you ever sat through a church meeting and wondered why certain rituals and ceremonies, none of which are mentioned in the Bible, are observed? But the sheer power of those traditions are manifested when challenged. And I think that it is then that we may see that traditions have become supreme to scripture.  We need to constantly evaluate what we are doing as a local church and ask 'Why?' We may just find that some rituals and traditions are holding us back - and what is needed is a fresh wind of the Spirit to bring to life what may once have been a good idea, but have now have become lifeless!

Jesus quickly denounced the Pharisees hypocrisy, and quoted Isaiah who prophesied of those in Israel who would honour God with their lips, but whose hearts would be far from God; they worship in vain because their teachings are merely rules taught by men.

I had to smile when I read that the disciples then came to Jesus to tell him that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this. Should we be surprised that they were offended? After all, their hearts were far from God. Isn't it true that sometimes in the church we seem so cautious of offending the very people whose hearts are actually far from God, and perhaps spend more time trying to appease them! Jesus did not apologise for what he said, and did not mind that they were offended.

But for me, what Jesus said about their worship merely being lip service while their hearts were far from him was hugely provoking. I think that there is a potential danger in the church - the longer you have been in the church (the Pharisees had 'been around the block' themselves) the easier it is to fake your way through. When we first come to Christ we come as we are - few of us know the 'do's and don'ts' of church culture. But as we grow in sanctification, the real danger is that we start to learn the 'do's and don'ts'. We learn to perform and pretend. In that precarious place, our hearts can drift from God, particularly when we find ourselves leading a ministry, where we can feel that we can no longer be vulnerable. It's no wonder then, that sometimes the people who get most offended in church are not the new members - it's often the longest serving members and those in ministry!

This morning was a fresh reminder to me that the next time I sing a song, or say a prayer - it should truly come from my heart in adoration for my King. Perhaps thats why the Bible speaks of singing a new song - nothing traditional about that! Anything less than heart-felt and intimate worship will see me drift towards the company of the Pharisees and their hypocrisy - and we all know how Jesus felt about that lot!