Tradition VS Truth

Did you know…?

• Scripture never demands that we worship on Sundays?
• The Sabbath is Saturday, not Sunday?
• Drinking is NOT banned by Scripture?
• The Bible says nothing about wearing our finest for weekly church meetings?
• Confession to a priest is not a command of God?
• Churches do NOT require steeples to be proper places of worship?
• A building itself isn’t required to worship?
• Worship can happen without bulletins and hymns?
• A set of drums can usher someone into the presence of God just as effectively as an organ?

How about….?

• Living with a boyfriend/girlfriend is NEVER God’s will? In fact, it’s blatant sin against Him?
• We’re stewards of everything and own NOTHING?
• Refusing to tithe is stealing from God?
• Not being a part of a community of believers stands in contrast to the very nature of our beings?

Traditions define the way we worship and live. Unfortunately, many Christians are blind to the vital distinction between church tradition and Gospel truth.

The apostle Peter struggled immensely with distinguishing tradition and truth. Before Christ, Jews thought they corned the God-market. They were, after all, God’s chosen people and they spared no expense letting others know of their status with Him.

What they didn’t realize, however, caused a spiritual heart disease far worse than any physical one—God cares far more about our hearts than He does our actions.

Jews figured out how to look marvelous on the outside. They strove to obey all 613 laws on the Torah, and to ensure their obedience, implemented hundreds of additional laws as safeguards! They thought of themselves as star pupils and were overconfident in their accomplishments.

Jesus in typical style turned their world upside-down. His message of truth shocked them not because they were acting blatantly wrong, but because in doing right they were wrong. In essence, they invested in their traditions to the extent of neglecting truth.

The Apostle Peter’s world flip-flopped many times in his faith journey, and one of particular note finds itself recorded in Acts 11. At this point, Jesus had died, been buried, resurrected, appeared to hundreds of people, and ascended back to His heavenly glory leaving His disciples with the commission to make disciples of all nations.

Peter and the rest of the Christian gang believed they were still Jews, Messianic Jews. They accepted their Messiah (Jesus) while the rest of their Jewish brethren had not. Because of this belief, they still worshiped as a Jew did—went to the Temple, read the same Scriptures, prayed the same way and identified themselves with the brethren.

In their minds, discipling other nations meant converting everyone to Judaism because that’s how it worked before. Prior to Christ, in order to enter a relationship with God, one would have to become a Jew—be fully immersed in everything Jew and be stripped of all else. But Jews rejected Him as a whole, so Christ shattered this requirement and opened salvation to any and all who would come.
Peter finds himself in this transition period—a Jewish Christian who’s embracing Jesus’ Gospel.

Acts 10 & 11 (paraphrased) talks about a Gentile (non-Jew) named Cornelius receiving a vision from God to travel to Joppa and send for Peter. While he was on his way, Peter had a vision as well. He saw the sky open up and something like a great sheet with four corners descending down. All kinds of “unclean” (non-kosher) animals filled the sheet and God told him to get up and eat. Peter refused because Jewish law fiercely forbade consuming unclean animals. God commanded him to eat three more times, then the sheet disappeared. While still perplexed, the Spirit told Peter to “go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” Peter obeyed and ate with the Gentiles, also a big no-no to Jews.

God slammed the tradition hammer down onto Peter’s heart that day.
“I (Peter) most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him”…all the circumcised (Jewish) believers were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 
Admittedly, God was changing the rules a bit (He doesn’t anymore by the way; Scripture is complete). But the shift in regulation would never have been so shocking if the Jews hadn’t contaminated the rules with their tradition.

The truth: surrender to God in faith; abide by His ordained Jewish law to reflect said faith.
The tradition: conform in every way, shape, and form to Jewish law and decree—even those outside the Torah; abandon all Gentile practices and ways, and hope to remain a second-class proselyte.
Tradition contaminated the truth, causing serious ramifications in the shift. Through the guidance of the Spirit, the apostles and early church leaders began realizing how vast the tradition contamination warped their views of truth. Though a painful process, they separated truth from tradition and grew more intimate with God than they ever thought possible.

Early church fathers and modern-day Christians share an impenetrable bond—we pursue truth, His truth, and nothing but the truth. At least, we should.

Truth must be our number one priority, and frequent internal examinations should be scheduled to keep us on track. Standing back and asking the age-old question, “Why?” is a good start. Why are we doing this? Why aren’t we doing this another way?

Questions purge truth from tradition. Research paves the way. We must never settle for tradition or ignore truth simply because it upsets the status quo. Christ paid the ultimate price to usher us into the radical truth of His gospel. Tradition has its place, but when it becomes a barrier rather than an amplifier, it’s time to part ways.
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In the tradition vs truth faceoff, truth always wins. We’re accountable to truth regardless of tradition, so make sure personal traditions align with God’s truth.