In Matthew 15, Jesus asks a question.
“And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Verse 3).
Even today, we wrestle with tradition becoming commandments in our minds.
As a young preacher, I took a group of teenagers to a nursing home where they monthly sang church songs to the audience of elderly patients. We always concluded our 25 minutes of singing with a prayer before leaving. That is a wonderful tradition, but I thought I would “shake things up.” I had the prayer in the middle of the singing and closed with a song. I turned to the young people to leave and they stood waiting for a “closing prayer.” I motioned for them to go, but they stood frozen in their spot. Finally I lead a prayer and they willingly left.
Here’s another example: I once observed a church leader walk into a teenage Bible class. He saw donuts the teacher had brought so he took them out. Was he enforcing a tradition or a commandment of God?
Tradition is doing things in a certain way so long that it become a law in our hearts.
Traditions cover whether women go to church in pants or dresses, the length of a man’s hair, or the style of worship we love. Young people, old people, white people, black people, and people in other lands all worship with a different style. These are just traditions.
In keeping with Jesus’ question, we must not let our traditions become a “thus saith the Lord.” Traditions are fine! I follow a lot of them, but I must see them for what they are and not judge another by my traditions. When God tells us what to do, that is not a tradition. When God has not spoken, it is a tradition.
I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.