The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his101/traditon.arj/TRADITON.TXT

Text File | 1988-06-29 | 17KB | 301 lines

                                 TRADITION



Almost every Sunday School class will at one time or another play a little
game to show the dangers of gossip.  They will get the members in a circle
and then tell one person a certain fact, then that person tells the one next
to him, and so forth on it goes around the circle.  Of course by the time
the fact or story gets "back around" to the originator it usually is quite
different than what was originally stated.  Of course that is the inherent
danger in gossip, but it also could illustrate the danger of traditions.

Tradition is defined as the passing down of elements from one generation to
another, especially by oral communication.  In the Church, traditions are a
body of unwritten religious precepts.  I would add that most of the
traditions of the Church are unwritten, at least at first, but given enough
time they are often adopted and written into the Church Constitution and By-
Laws.

Traditions can be either good or bad for the Church.  For example, the
traditional Church picnic is good for the fellowship of the saints.  The
traditional "caroling" of Christmas songs in the community is another
welcomed tradition.  But there are times when traditions can be destructive
to the mission of the Church.  This was true for God's people of the Old
Testament, who by their traditions had "nullified the Word of God." (Mark
7:13).  Satan's number one target is the Church because it is God's selected
vehicle for the reaching of the lost.  He is always trying to "nullify"
God's Word.  For example, in the Garden of Eden, man is given his first
command from God, "do not eat from the tree. . .or you will surely die."
Soon after God spoke the command we find the serpent with his lie that
sought to negate God's Word, "Did God say. . .you will not surely die. .
you will become like God." (Genesis 3:1-5).

God's people have always come under attack by the evil spirits to rob them
of the power of God in their lives and ministries.  The Church has continued
to be affected by the neutralizing effect of man's false traditions.  As one
travels across this nation there is an alarming fact discovered in most
evangelical Churches, which is that the majority of them seem to be without
power and influence in their communities.  Many fundamental churches are
having problems with unity, finances, attendance and the "winning" of the
lost.  The Church presented in the New Testament started out very powerful
with a tremendous impact on the surrounding peoples.  But in time the
process begins of nullifying God's Word through man's traditions.

I did not "grow up" in the fundamental church, rather I was in a false
religion for the first 34 years of my life.  Therefore, after my salvation I
had only the Bible to refer to as the source for the doctrines and practices
of the Church.  I began to see some conflicts between what the Bible
declared and some of the accepted church practices, but decided that my
"newness" to the faith might have caused a lack of understanding.  About a
year after salvation, I found myself in a theological seminary and again
faced with some church practices that seemed to contradict the Word of God.
This time I had the opportunity to study in detail the problem areas.  It
was obvious that in many areas the Scriptures declared one thing and many
churches were saying something else that nullified the intent of Scripture.
Note the following observations:

#1 OBSERVATION:

GOD'S TRUTH - If someone is sick, he should call the Elders of the Church
to pray over them and anoint with oil in the Name of the Lord. (James 5:14).

GOD'S INTENT -  To increase the faith of the Church, to heal some of the
sick people, and to ultimately bring Glory upon Himself.

MAN'S TRADITION - Do not anoint with oil, nor bring the Elders to him,
rather have the Church pray for the sick person during "prayer meetings."

MAN'S INTENT - To avoid any semblance of rituals.  To keep from having
"little bottles" of oil that might be considered "holy."

RESULT - Faith is not increased, for man does not do it God's way and
therefore many are sick who could have been healed if it was done in the
manner God prescribed.  Elders do not go to the sick and have the
opportunity to discover what may be the reason God has allowed the illness,
(i.e., sin problem, means of "bringing the person home," to reveal the Glory
of God when He heals them, etc).

#2 OBSERVATION:

GOD'S TRUTH -  New Testament practice of celebrating the Lord's Supper on a
regular basis, at least once per week. (Acts 2:42,46;20:7).

GOD'S INTENT - To remind His Church of the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ on a continuing basis.  It also provides for serious confession of
sin on a regular basis because of the admonition of "examination" prior to
taking the supper in an unworthy manner.

MAN'S TRADITION - Celebrate the Lord's Supper once per month.  In some
churches they do it only once per quarter.

MAN'S INTENT - To keep the Lord's Supper "special."  If it occurs as often
as once per week then it will become "old hat" and lose it's "specialness."

RESULT - The remembrance of the Lord's death, resurrection, and Second
Coming are not accomplished on a regular basis.  The calling for serious
examination of heart with its accompanying consequences is also not
available.  Often times people are unable to attend the monthly service
(usually Sunday night) to receive the Lord's Supper.  For example, those who
are in the military, or work service industry jobs (nurses, fireman,
policemen, etc) are called upon to work weekends or nights on a routine
basis.  If they happen to have to work on "Communion Night" then they must
wait another month before celebrating the Supper.

#3 OBSERVATION:

GOD'S TRUTH - Have man "count the cost" prior to accepting Jesus as their
Savior and Lord.  In other words, preach a "Repent and be Baptized" gospel
message. (Acts 2:38;Luke 14:28).

GOD'S INTENT - To insure that man makes a true profession of faith, and not
be deceived into believing that he is a Christian when he is not.  A
commitment to Christ without a known cost to the seeker is easily a false
commitment.  It also ensures that the new believer is taken into a local
church due to the fact that he must be Baptized in a Church.  This is
especially true in a witnessing situation to a person who does not attend
any church.

MAN'S TRADITION - Not to emphasize the "costs" of following Jesus to the
perspective believer.  In fact often times, there is no mention of the "cost
of following Jesus" in the preaching of the Gospel.  It appears that only
the "benefits" of being a Christian is presented.  The words "be Baptized"
are often never spoken in the same context with the gospel, even though
Peter proclaimed, "Repent and be Baptized."

MAN'S INTENT - To keep people from thinking that the requirement for Baptism
somehow saves them.  Also ensures that only the truly saved are baptized, in
that they will not be Baptized until they have demonstrated a changed life
and been to the "Newcomer's Class."

RESULT - Allows people to make professions of faith that would have never
done so if they knew that there were costs involved.  Keeps the "seeker"
from really examining his own heart.  Allows many to think that they are
Christians when in fact they are not.

#4 OBSERVATION:

GOD'S TRUTH - To have the Word of God available to all people in the
language of the people.  God desires that all people hear the gospel in
their own tongues. (Acts 2:6-11 plus an obvious conclusion as one realizes
that throughout the Bible God speaks to man in the "common language" of the
people.)

GOD'S INTENT - To remove any stumbling block from the path of those who are
lost in their sins.  God wants His word clearly presented to the unsaved and
the saved in simple clear terms.  In that way all can be edified and
strengthened as they clearly delineate the commands of God.

MAN'S TRADITION - To venerate a "translation" of the Bible that is no longer
in the language of the people.  The King James Version of the Bible was
written 375 years ago in a dialect of the English language which is no
longer spoken today.  In addition, discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls have
produced more accurate translations.  Yet many churches claim that the KJV
is somehow more holy than the newer translations, and therefore use it in
their worship services and teach their children Bible verses from it.

RESULT - The letters on the printed page and the book itself is venerated
rather than the truths that were intended to be presented.  Many are held
back in their understanding because they "stumble" over words that are
archaic and without meaning in our society.  Overall the Word of God is not
being clearly presented, and rather becomes a "religious language" in a
society without God, rather than being the "Word of Hope" in their own
language.

#5 OBSERVATION:

GOD'S TRUTH - The Church is to discipline her sinning members in order to
keep herself a pure chaste virgin to Christ.  Also, the discipline is to be
part of the discipling process to help erring Christians to become more
Christlike. (Matthew 18:15-20).

GOD'S INTENT - To continually bring all His children in a close walk with
Him.  He is a perfect Father who disciplines a child when that child gets
caught up in a pattern of disobedience.  He desires that those who are
disciplined will respond with confession and restoration by the Church.
Also for those who have become members of a Church but have never been truly
saved, when their obvious unholy lifestyle becomes known, then the
discipline of the Church will hopefully cause the deceived person to realize
that he is not a child of God.

MAN'S TRADITION - Avoid Discipline in the Church.  Pray about the sinning
members and if necessary preach sermons that are addressed to the problems
of the erring Christians in the Church.  Avoid any public confrontation with
the persons who are in need of discipline, as it would appear unloving and
judgmental.

MAN'S INTENT - To avoid any direct confrontation with anyone inside or out
of the Church.  Man does not want to correct anyone but to appear loving to
all, even at the expense of God's commands.  Man intends not to "get
involved" in another's life, rather let each one do their own thing.  Avoid
any issues that might become controversial.

RESULT -  A Church without power and impact in the community.  It becomes a
"family" without discipline with the resulting misbehavior.  In my own home
church there are some who have not spoken to each others for years due to
some past disagreement.  The pastoral staff keeps preaching sermons on
forgiveness and love but has not taken any action against the sinning
brothers and sisters involved.  To hold grudges is just as much a sin as
committing adultery, fornication or any other open sins.

#6 OBSERVATION:

GOD'S TRUTH - That when a person is "saved" he is totally forgiven with no
stain of sin left.  All his sins are removed to the person of Jesus Christ
who lived an earthly life without sin, yet bears our sins.  The saved person
is not charged with his sins, rather Jesus is held accountable.  The sins
are no longer the sinners but rather they have totally become Jesus' sins.
(Romans 4:8, 1Corinthians 6:9-11, Hebrews 8:12;9:14, Revelation 1:5).

GOD'S INTENT - To demonstrate His love for man by totally forgiving his sins
and truly creating a new person.  God's forgiveness serves as an example for
Christians in the type of forgiveness they are to have for one another.
This total forgiveness stands as an example for the entire unbelieving
world, in that, regardless of the type or the amount of sin a person has
committed that they can receive total forgiveness and be used in the
ministry of the Church as if they had never committed one sin!

MAN'S TRADITION - To preach a Gospel of total forgiveness but do not allow
all Christians to be treated equally in regards to availability of Church
ministry.  For example, in many Churches a divorced person (prior to
salvation) is not allowed the same opportunities to minister as does a
believer who had not been divorced in their lives prior to salvation.

MAN'S INTENT - To maintain a very pure Church by keeping those who had
committed any major sins in their lives (divorce, abortion, murder,
homosexuality, drunkenness, etc) from holding any position of prominence or
leadership thereby maintaining a very pure example to the flock.

RESULT - The unbelieving world is confused.  On one hand they hear a gospel
of total forgiveness yet in actual practice certain Christians are treated
in a restrictive manner due to some "past sin."  They see God's forgiveness
being somewhat limited since the Church remembers the sins of some
believers.  Christians are likewise confused and held back from the
blessings that accompany the use of their spiritual gifts.  The Church is
robbed of much Power due to a large number of Spiritual Gifts not being
allowed to be used for the Body.  Many Christians are made to feel second
classed as they see others who have unrestricted ministry because their sins
were not so public as divorce.

#7 OBSERVATION:

GOD'S TRUTH - That the Church Leadership is to be made up of "redeemed
sinners," to include a variety of backgrounds (i.e., public sins and non-
public ones!).  (Moses, David, Paul, Stephen, Timothy, 1Timothy 5:21).

GOD'S INTENT - To demonstrate His glory to all in that He can take sinful
man and use him for His glory.  He can take a mass murderer like Saul of
Tarsus and sovereignly change his life and use him as the Greatest Apostle
of the New Testament.  God also intends that the Church be a testimony of
the saving power of God in that even some of it's very leaders were once
evildoers, but who have been washed by the Blood of Jesus!

MAN'S TRADITION - The leadership of the Church should not only be holy and
godly men in the present life but also should come from a "pure background."
Ideally they will have become Christians at an early age (5yrs of age
ideal!) and have attended all the "right" Christian schools and never have
committed any "gross public sin" (i.e., murder, abortion, divorce, theft,
homosexuality, adultery, drunkenness, etc.).  Given a choice between two
equally qualified applicants for Church Leadership, then chose the one who
has the "purer background" to include pre-salvation life, even if both are
spiritually qualified.

MAN'S INTENT - To mandate a pure leadership, even making it more restrictive
than God has declared.  Having holy pure men in leadership that can serve as
examples both to the saved and to the unsaved as to what a Christian should
be.

RESULT - A Church that is unable to select the man that God has "picked" for
leadership positions.  By removing from consideration all those who had
wicked pasts, then God can no longer provide the Church a "Paul" (former
mass murderer) or a "Moses" (committed murder after salvation), or a "David"
(committed adultery and murder as a believer).  The unbelievers see a Church
ruled by those who have little or no understanding of their sin or
lifestyle.  The "lost" also see a very limited Gospel message that says, "if
you give your life to Jesus, then He will wash away all your sins, except
for the gross ones which will be remembered and cause disqualification to
Christian Service."

My dear friends, the above listing was only a brief summary of the areas in
the Church that need to be revamped.  It was a very slow process changing
from the Truths of the Scriptures to the Traditions of Man.  Satan was there
deceiving the Church into believing that God did "not go far enough" and
that man could add to God's commands by making up some of their own.

I have had the privilege of "seeing" Churches that were not "steeped" into
man's traditions and can say that they were very powerful church bodies with
a dynamic impact in their communities.  Nothing burdens my heart more than
to see Christian Churches that are weak and powerless in their communities.
The answer to most is to return to the Power of the Word of God, by heeding
the words of Jesus Christ, "You nullify the Word of God for the sake of your
tradition."

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 130
Shreveport, LA 71110
MODEM (318)-949-1456
300/1200/2400/9600 Baud