Traditions of Men – Series Opener

The question is often asked “What would Jesus do?” when faced with a problem in life. But how often do we ask that question when faced with non-biblical teachings in Church? Just as there are numerous denominations one can attend, each denomination it seems, comes with it’s own list of traditions created entirely by men, and not found in God’s word. So, do we stand up and confront the pastor concerning these non-biblical traditions as we know Jesus would do? Probably not, as we either trust the pastor that what is tradition is also ordained by God (since we never search out the truth ourselves) or we timidly look the other way, not wanting to be seen as a trouble maker.

I know I’ve faced this dilemma many times, but knowing what God’s Word says in 1st Cor. 1:10 determined my course of action. It says: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment,” This verse guides me in the path I must take. If your congregation is all of the “same mind” and you find fault, your only course of action would be to leave that church and seek out one that agrees with the plain teachings of the Bible. This is the path the Bible demands as it separates you from those who are in error and joins you to a congregation where you are biblically “one mind” with the others of that church.

Now how important is the matter of “Traditions of Men” in the House of God today? Can we assume that if it is not found in the Bible or is not spoken negatively of in God’s Holy Word, then it’s fine to participate in these traditions? I think not, for the simple reason that God has laid out exactly how we are to live and conduct our lives. It is a simple matter of prayer, study and discernment by which we come to the truth in God’s word. This is done on our time and not the pastor’s. When we sit in the pew and take in the pastors sermon without checking his sermon points with the Bible, we are leaving ourselves open to errors in our understanding. I’m not saying that your pastor would intentionally mislead you in any way. However, I’ve seen how pastors of every denomination follow the traditions of that denomination, whether it be Baptist, Presbyterian Catholic or other. So, in essence they all follow “Traditions of Men” to some degree or another.

What are Traditions of Men? They can be activities or teachings that are not found in God’s Holy Word. They can also be activities or teachings that are plainly spoken against in the Bible. The Catholic Church is full of these things which I believe border, if not cross over into the area of abominations. One such tradition is that of Idols and Idol worship. This is idolatry when one worships idols of Jesus and Mary. Mary worship is another tradition of the Catholic church which I’ll not get into in this article. But concerning idolatry, we find in Exodux 20:4 – 5 this commandment “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” Can it be any plainer then that? Yet the Catholic church not only condones this practice but encourages it as well.

Don’t think that I’m picking on the Catholics, as I’m not. The Catholics have a lot of dirty laundry but other denominations are under a cloud of sin as well. I’ll be looking at them also in following articles. This will be a series on the Traditions of Men in the Churches of today.