Traditions of God and Man?

            Our lesson this evening is about traditions. We are surrounded by traditions, and as Christians, it is important for us to recognize that there are some traditions that are binding upon us, and there are many that are not. There are some traditions that are man-made and there are traditions that God has put in place. If a tradition is from God and meant for Christians to observe, those traditions are binding upon us. However, if a tradition is from man, it may or may not be wrong, because it may or may not come into conflict with the word of God, but either way, it is not binding upon others. The point of this lesson is to make a distinction between the traditions of God and those of man.

Human Traditions Are Not Necessarily Sinful

            A tradition is simply something that is handed down. When Karla and I got married, there were many traditions that were involved in that. When we got engaged, I gave her an engagement ring. That wasn’t my idea. I didn’t sit down one day and wonder what I might give to her when I asked her to marry me, and then decide, “I know, I’ll go to the store and get a diamond ring.” It was something that was already expected; that’s just the traditional thing to do. I don’t know where the idea came from and I don’t know why we do it, just that that is the way it’s done. In other cultures, the parents might get some cattle and sheep; here we give a diamond ring to the bride to be.

            On our wedding day, we got married in a church building according to tradition; Karla wore a white wedding dress according to tradition; there was a maid of honor and  a best man, according to tradition; we exchanged wedding bands according to tradition; there was a reception after the wedding, according to tradition; we tossed the bouquet and the thing that goes around a woman’s thigh, because of tradition; we cut the first piece of our wedding cake according to tradition, which is also why we had a wedding cake; rice was thrown as we went out to the car, cans rattled behind us as we pulled out of the driveway to the church building, and we went off on our honeymoon, all according to tradition. Those are all things that have been handed down from generation to generation. Those are just our traditions. So by itself, is there anything wrong with a tradition? No.

            As we have just seen, there are many wedding traditions, but there are also Valentines Day traditions, Thanksgiving Day traditions, Christmas traditions, birthday traditions, dating traditions, funeral traditions, and so many other traditions that are just a part of our culture. Is there anything wrong with any of these? No. A tradition, just being a tradition is not wrong or right, it’s just a tradition.

            What if someone wanted to break one of these types of traditions would there be anything wrong with that? If a couple decides to save some money and get married without a reception, lots of decorations, or a church building, there would be nothing wrong with that. That’s up to them. If they want to get married at home with close family and friends and be married by a justice of the peace rather than a preacher, that’s their choice; they have as much right to do that as Karla and I did to do what we did. If you want to open your Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve so you can sleep in on Christmas Day and enjoy your day off, go right ahead and do that. Traditions are just a part of life, and as long as they don’t cause us to sin, we can choose to observe them or not to observe them.

            The same thing is true when it comes to the church. There is nothing wrong with a tradition as long as it does not cause me to sin and I don’t try to bind it upon others. We traditionally meet in a church building. What if a congregation does not have a church building and meets in a school cafeteria? That’s fine; there’s nothing in the Scriptures that say that we have to assemble in a church building. What if a congregation has a unique situation where its members can only meet once each Sunday, and in the evening? That’s fine; there’s nothing in the Scriptures that say we have to meet in the morning. As long as it is still the first day of the week, it’s scriptural. But if I were to accuse my brethren of sin, or worse, disfellowship myself from them because of something like this, I would be the one in the wrong because I am trying to bind a man-made tradition upon others. I would be guilty of binding where God has not bound, and I can’t do that.

For though I was free from all men, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak: I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the gospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof. (1 Cor. 9:19-23)

            Paul was not brought under bondage to the traditions, customs, or preferences of others by any person. He was not under bondage to the Jews because of their traditions, or the Greeks because of their traditions; Paul was bound by the law of Christ. He was not constrained by others to follow their traditions, but he brought himself under bondage to all “that he might gain the more.” He would follow the traditions of the Jewish law for the sake of converting some, but he was not bound by it and he did not bind others by it. If it helped him to convert the Jews by acting like a Jew, then he would do it, but if it ever came at the expense of the gospel, he was just as quick to reject the Jewish law. He had Timothy circumcised simply to make things easier for them in there efforts to preach the gospel, but he refused to have Titus circumcised because it was demanded as a matter of obedience to the Mosaic Law rather than an act of expedience (Gal. 2:3-5). There is nothing wrong with the tradition of circumcision by itself, but when it was bound upon a Christian as obedience to religious law, then it is wrong because as a Christian, the circumcision is to be of the heart, not of the flesh (Ro. 2:28-29). So he says, “And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.”

            To the Gentiles the same thing is true—he became as a Gentile. When around the Jews he acted like a Jew to convert the Jews, but when he was around Gentiles, he acted like a Gentile (without the law) so that he might convert the Gentiles. And, he makes it clear in verse 21 that he does not mean that he was without the law of Christ, but without the law of Moses.

In similar fashion, to the weak he became weak, and for the same reason. He says, “I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the gospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof.”

When a missionary goes into a foreign country, it is usually expedient for him to learn the traditions and customs of the place where he is going to be working. If he can learn the language, that would be a tremendous help. The more he becomes like them, and the more respectful and appreciative he is of their ways, the more influential he is going to be able to be there. As long as he does not compromise his faith, his conscience, or his obedience to God, he has done nothing wrong. If they like to worship under a tree someplace, fine.

            Here at home, if we’re not careful, division can come between brethren because of traditions that are neither bad nor good. I prefer using a baptistery for baptisms, but if someone else wants to be baptized in a pool, pond, ocean, or some other body of water, as long as the person is immersed in water, it’s a scriptural baptism. I prefer using hymnals to sing in worship, but if I go somewhere where the songs are put up on a screen in the front of the auditorium, there is nothing in the Scriptures that says that there is anything wrong with that. The Scriptures say sing. Whether I am singing out of a book, off of a screen, or for memory, I am still doing what the Bible says by singing. Some church buildings have steeples, but others don’t; some congregations have morning worship, then Bible study instead of Bible study and then worship; some meet at this time, some meet at that time; some have singing nights on the last Sunday of each month, some have it on the 4^th Wednesday night of each month, and some choose not to have a special song service. All of these things are fine. Each congregation is autonomous and as long as things are done according to the Scriptures, it’s okay if another congregation does that a little bit differently than we do.

            So, our lives are full of traditions, both inside and outside the church, and as long as they aren’t sinful, there’re fine. But, we have to recognize that they are just traditions and we can’t bind our traditions on others as if they were something bound by Scripture when they’re not. Paul became “all things to all people” by observing the traditions and costumes of other people, but he still did not do things that were contrary to the gospel; he was only under law to Christ, not the Mosaic Law or the people of whose traditions he was participating in. He was “free from all men,” and we are free from all men so far as being bound by any man-made traditions; we are bound by the law of Christ, not traditions of man, which brings us to our next point:

Human Traditions Taught as Divine Commandments Are Sinful

            A man-made tradition that would not otherwise be sinful, becomes sinful when it is bound on others as, and substituted for, Divine Commandments. The Pharisees had a lot of traditions that they considered necessary. If a person did not follow them, then he was sinning. We find an example of this in Mark 7:1-13:

Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

            If someone makes a habit of washing his hands before he eats, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is a good idea to wash our hands for sanitary reasons. But, to turn washings and bathings (also a good idea) and things of that nature into religious ritual, and bind it on others so that you say that they are in sin if they don’t wash their hands is not right. Here, these Pharisees had found fault in the disciples of Jesus for breaking their man-made (oral) traditions, when in reality, they were the ones who were in the wrong for binding where God had not bound. But, more than that, they actually left the commandments of God, so that they could follow their man-made traditions. According to the law, they should have helped their parents when they got older and needed to be cared for; that was the child’s responsibility, but instead, their traditions taught them to take the money that could have helped their parents and give it to God. They were going against the will of God in order to follow their own traditions!

            Does this same thing go on today? Sure it does. There are those using traditions to bind where God has not bound, and also, to loose where God has not loosed. Somehow we have to be willing to let go of traditions of men and follow the word of God, not going to the right hand or the left. If we can choose to follow a tradition, and it doesn’t cause us to go to the right hand or to the left, then that’s fine (the hymnal would be an example of that). The Bible does not tell us that we must pray in any certain posture, and that posture only; I can pray laying down, standing up, sitting, or kneeling. To pick one posture and tell people that if they pray in any other posture than that one or they are in sin, is wrong. As long as we pray with the proper attitude, and in the right way, it doesn’t matter what posture I take, we find examples of nearly every posture in the Bible.

            Unlike man-made traditions that may or may not be broken, are not binding, and cannot be taught as the commandments of God when they are simply things that man has made up and passed down, there are traditions handed down to us from God that are binding, that are to be taught as Divine command, and that do result in sin when they are not followed. This brings us to our next point:

Traditions Given to Us By God Must Be Followed

            “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (2 Thes. 2:15). (If you are using an NIV, “traditions” is in the margin or in a footnote.) Toward the beginning of this lesson, it was said that a tradition is something that is handed down. So far in our lesson, we have been discussing “traditions of men”, things that were begun by men and passed down. But, there are also traditions that are from God, but that are also passed down from generation to generation. The things that Jesus, the apostles, and other inspired writers teach us in the New Testament, are things that were revealed and inspired of the Holy Spirit, but have been handed down and are observed from generation to generation, which makes them traditions. The Lord’s Supper, for example, is not a “tradition of men”, it was instituted by Jesus, but it is something that was intended to be passed down from generation to generation. To love our fellow man, to pray without ceasing, to give every first day of the week, to not curse, not lie, not cheat, and so many of the other things that have been handed down to us through the Scriptures and from generation to generation, are the traditions which we have been taught to uphold, and that the apostle is talking about there in Second Thessalonians. If we don’t, then we are sinning by doing not doing them. Notice what he says a little bit later in the epistle: “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us” (2 Thes. 3:6).

            A big problem sometimes comes up when someone says, “well that is just a tradition, the church has been doing that for years.” So. Just because something has been done for years and years doesn’t mean that we have a right to change it. The question isn’t always, “Is it a tradition,” but “is it a tradition of God or man?” If it is a tradition of man, then it can be changed, but if it is a tradition of God, it cannot be changed. The church has been singing without instrumental music in worship for 2,000 years, but there is a reason for that, the Bible only says, “sing,” and that’s all the first century church did by way of example, being directly guided by the Holy Spirit, they sung. That is not optional just because that’s the way it has been for so long. That was put in place by God, and so it is good and right for us to pass that on to the next generation, showing them what the scriptures teach on the matter. On the other hand, if something is a tradition of man, just because it can be changed doesn’t mean that we ought to go around changing things just for the sake of change. There are some that just want to do things different for the sake of doing things different, but any time I’ve heard of that being done, all it has done is cause problems and division among members. If there is a reason to change something that we can change, and it is discussed and decided that it is in the best interest of the congregation, then there is nothing wrong with that. Or if we visit someplace else and they do things a little bit differently than we do it at Spring Dale, as long as it remains within scriptural boundaries, we should be able to fellowship with them and not cause a big fuss just because something is a little bit different; such as order of worship, power point, or times of service, etc. But, if someone just decided they were going to shake things up a little bit and remove all of the song books from our pews, just because they want to be different, that would not be a good thing to do; it would cause confusion, disorganization, hurt feelings, maybe even upset folks, and cause strife and division among members.

It is our responsibility to search the Scriptures to determine if a tradition is of God or man. If it is something that has been handed down from generation to generation because it is something that the Bible says “do” we must do it, we have no say in the matter, it is binding upon us by the authority of the Scriptures. It is something that God has told us we must do. But, if it is something that has been handed down from generation to generation, but has no Scripture that says that the thing is to be done, it is not binding upon us because it is a “tradition of men” and must not be taught as a divine command, because it is not. If a man-made tradition is sinful, or contradicts what is taught in the Bible, like church choirs and the worship of images, we cannot participate in those traditions because we sin when we do. However, if a tradition of man can be followed without resulting in sin, like birthdays, weddings, and hymnals, we may or may not follow it, it’s up to us. Let’s pray to God for the wisdom to know the difference, and search the Scriptures daily, to know what they teach and what they don’t teach.

What the Bible teaches us about baptism is not new. Sure, there are many man-made traditions around today, such as pouring, sprinkling, and infant baptism, but there is only one taught by God and that has been God’s way of washing away man’s sins from the very beginning of the church. The Bible teaches us that when a person hears the gospel, when he believes it, when that produces godly sorrow and a desire to change in a person’s heart, when he makes up his mind to make that change and live as a faithful child of God, when he has confessed his faith in Christ, there is still something he needs to do in order to have his sins washed away. “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” He needs to be baptized for the remission of his sins. If you are here this evening, and you have not done that yet. Are you ready, and will you come?