Traditions of Men

Between the Testaments, right after the Maccabean revolt, a group we've come to know as "the Pharisees" had a serious concern for their people. Hellenization--Greek culture--was pressing in. Foreign domination was alive. The world was changing. And these learned men wanted to make sure that their people still found their "Bible" applicable to their lives. You know ... like an early "Life Application Bible" thing. So they gathered the texts and the traditions and they started laying out how these should be observed. Mind you, Jesus said, "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:20). That is not "They're despicable people." It's "That's a high standard." Jesus said they "tithe mint and dill and cumin" (Matt 23:23). That's attention to detail. Jesus said they "search the Scriptures" (John 5:39). They had a lot to commend them. So, for instance, they took God's "No work on the Sabbath" command and created 39 categories of work forbidden and the concept of a "Sabbath day's journey" (2,000 cubits). Rules like these became religious law, causing Jesus to say they "have neglected the weightier provisions of the law" (Matt 23:23). He cited Isaiah (Isa 29:13) and told them, "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men" (Mark 7:8). And we wise Christians nod our heads and agree with Jesus about them ... and then duplicate their behavior.

Growing up, I was told that rock and roll music was a sin. I'm looking ... I'm looking ... nope! Nothing in there about that. I was told that smoking was a sin. Smoking ... smoking ... smoking ... not in there either. We have clergy where no such clergy existed in Scripture. We think of "church" as particular buildings when no such buildings were used in the New Testament. No drinking, no dancing, no tattoos. Bow your head and close your eyes to pray. Oh! How about altar calls? Did you know they didn't exist until the 1800's when Charles Finney invented them? The Sinner's Prayer, "never challenge a pastor" (the "Lord's anointed"), no instruments in church. We have a ton of rules that aren't biblical and, yet, we tote them around like we're the spiritual ones and those who don't follow them are ... less ... you know ... like the Pharisees did.

In the end, we all know how Jesus referred to the Pharisees as "hypocrites" who followed legalism but failed to follow God's instructions. Jesus pronounced "woe" to the Pharisees (Matt 23:1-36), and that's not just a "that's gonna hurt" statement. It was an expression of grief over them (Matt 23:37-39) and a warning of impending judgment. I would suggest that emulating the Pharisees in pursuing the traditions of men and ignoring the real heart of God's Word is not a good course of action. We do need to know what He says and what He means and then take it seriously (James 1:22). We don't need to make up our own rules (Deut 4:2).