WHEN TRADITIONS DON’T WORK
Mark 7: 5-9 NKJ
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
This is the season for traditions. Christmas may be the most tradition-heavy time of the year. Real or artificial trees. The tradition of certain meals. Christmas decorations and when presents are opened. All of these things fall under the category of traditions. One of our family traditions is that I spend as little time as possible putting up lights. Many of my neighbors have the beautiful lights that outline their homes. But not me. I still use some fairly tacky laser lights, and the entirety of my lighting display takes me all of 30 minutes to install. And even less time to take down. Joy calls my laser lights lazy lights. They look pretty out of place in my neighborhood, but hey, it’s my tradition.
Outside of diminishing the appeal of my small Cul de sac, my lighting tradition is not doing any damage. But in our chapter for today, Mark moves away from the actions of Jesus to the teachings of Jesus. And in the first 23 verses of chapter seven, Jesus is teaching about dangerous traditions.
The danger Jesus called out was when man’s tradition hindered obedience to God’s Word. The Pharisees were all caught up with the fact that Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands before they ate. These Pharisees were bent out of shape because the disciples were eating with unclean hands. Jesus had something to say about their tradition. Because the Pharisees held to the teachings of men, they were missing it with their hearts. The basic premise of Jesus’ teaching was that it’s not what it is on the outside that matters nearly as much as the condition of the heart. The inside condition. When traditions emphasize the outward at the expense of God’s commandments, there is a problem. The tradition of the Pharisees was all about cleaning the outside. Cups, pots, and pitchers had to be clean. God is much more concerned with the heart. A clean heart is much better than a clean cup. Jesus was not making a case for filthy eating utensils and hands. He was pointing to the things that mattered most.
APPLICATION
The church has always had traditions. Just because the Pharisees do not exist as an organization, their spirit is still among us. When we started The Ark in 1996, we were a coat and tie church on Sundays. I grew up wearing a coat and tie to church and remember having Sunday clothes, school clothes, and play clothes. So, I wore a suit every Sunday. But the culture in America was changing in the 90s and business casual was catching on. In 1998, we went to casual Sunday in the summer, every third Sunday. In the summer of 1999, we started casual summer, and we wore casual clothes to church. We had people leave the church because I was no longer wearing a coat and tie on Sunday. That’s getting caught up in a tradition. By the way, we are still in casual summer mode. But my heart went out to single moms who had a hard time getting decent clothes for their kids, much less having a separate church wardrobe. By going casual, we made it easier for people to come to church without feeling self-conscious about their apparel.
Traditions can be great as long as they don’t create a barrier to living for God and obeying His word. God is more concerned about our heart condition than about what clothes we wear to a worship service. I am not a fan of becoming so casual that there is no reverence for God. Some preachers have adopted the cultural idea of cursing in the pulpit. I guess they feel it helps them relate. I think I will stay with my tradition of not cursing. After all, the scriptures say in Ephesians 4:29 to let no corrupt word come out of your mouth. Whenever in doubt about a tradition, look for God’s word and a tender heart. Above all, we want to be pleasing to Him.