The Re-Thinking Series: An Introduction

I have often been exhorted to be a Berean Christian because they searched the scriptures daily. But a few years back as I worked my way through the book of Acts I was surprised to realise that the Berean Christians aren’t what I’d always been taught. Because, the Bereans who searched the scriptures weren’t Christians, they were actually unsaved Jews (Acts 17:10-12). At this point in history, the only scripture available was the Old Testament, and this is what they checked against Paul’s preaching. Only after checking did they believe, and the Bible actually gives us very little indication of what kind of Christians they became.

Now this is an example of just how easy it is to accept a Christian tradition over what the Bible explicitly says, whilst also offering a reminder that we always need to be checking what we are taught against God’s word.

Traditions are defined as, a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting; a cultural practise; or a customary or characteristic method or manner (dictionary.com). Now, traditions aren’t necessarily good or bad, they can be a time to celebrate and give a sense of belonging, but they can also be distractions and cause friction between generations. In our culture, we often refer to “the unwritten rules” as our social conventions or traditional way of doing things. And all churches whether they realise it or not, also have a set of traditions or unwritten rules about a whole range of behaviours which vary from church to church. For example, whether we sit or stand to sing and pray, the order or service, how often communion is taken, appropriate attire for church meetings, what instruments are used for worship and more. Of course in these examples there isn't one right way of doing things.

Anyone who has truly stepped out of their own culture will have a new insight into the traditions of their own. Ministering and teaching the Bible in another language, and in another culture has allowed me to more clearly see the traditions of Western culture that have commonly been grouped in with our church culture. We spent much of our first term in Niugini unpacking Western culture from true Biblical doctrine. For example, what does the Bible actually teach about clothing, giving, and the day we have church? And then there were a range of traditions uncommon to us that likewise had to be dealt with Biblically. Like, what does the Bible teach about blood letting, strangulation of livestock, cultural piercings, bride prices and men who have multiple wives and then get saved? You might be surprised at how little or how much the Bible teaches on certain topics.

We hold to sola scriptura: that the Bible is the infallible word of God, and the sole authority. That belief means God’s doctrines are all written down in his word, for everyone to freely read. It means God’s doctrines transcend traditions and culture because they all come with a chapter and verse.

In Matthew 13, Jesus gives a series of parables that picture the Kingdom of Heaven including the parable of the tares and its interpretation (Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43). The Son of Man sows the wheat or the children of the kingdom, but the devil plants tares or his own children amongst the wheat. At the end of the world the angels will separate the two. We often think of tares as just another word for weeds. But a tare is actually a particular poisonous plant that closely resembles wheat. When they are young you can’t tell the difference between the two. It is only when the ear of the wheat and tare is grown that the difference is seen. In the parable it is only when the grain bears fruit (v26) that the workers see the deed of the enemy.

Jesus also includes another parable with the same meaning, dough with leaven hidden inside (Matthew 13:33), sandwiched between the parable of the tares and its interpretation. The Bible never has anything good to say about leaven. We are repeatedly warned about leaven that will corrupt the whole lump (Galatians 5:9), we are told to purge out the leaven from the church (1 Corinthians 5:5-7), and Jesus warns about the leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:11-12). Jesus even clearly names the leaven of the Pharisees:

Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (Matthew 16:12)

Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1b)

The leaven of the Pharisees was their doctrine and hypocrisy. Jesus said that the doctrine of the Pharisees was lade as weights hard to bear on their converts (Luke 11:46). The word ‘lade’ means to overburden with ceremony or spiritual anxiety, or to load with rituals. The Pharisees loaded people with a never ending religious to-do-list that lead to a state of spiritual anxiety, because the doctrine of the Pharisees included their oral additions to the law, called the Tradition of the Elders (Matthew 15:2). Later these were written down as the Misnah, but they literally started as the unwritten rules, or the Oral Torah.

Sometimes these traditions conflicted with God’s law and when they did the Pharisees followed their traditions over the law (Mark 7:10-13). Jesus undoes many of these traditions when dealing with the Pharisees, and he condemns the Pharisees’ claim they no longer have to follow God’s law in certain areas because their extra rules or traditions make them void (Matthew 23). He repeatedly calls them hypocrites for following their traditions instead of the law.

Of course, traditions aren’t in and of themselves an issue, and the problem with the traditions of the Pharisees was two-fold: first, they used their traditions to cancel out the word of God, and secondly they elevated their traditions to the level of doctrine. And sometimes, churches also have traditions that are in conflict with God’s word, and sadly some churches will chose to follow their traditions over the Bible. And some churches will also elevate their traditions to the level of doctrine and teach others to do the same. Since returning to Australia, I have attempted to discuss with other Christians some of the traditions I realise have been added to our church culture. But I have found many will fight for their tradition, they will simply ignore God’s word and follow their tradition anyway. But why are some Christians so opposed to Biblical truth on certain issues?

In the article Doctrine vs Indoctrination, I spoke about another picture Jesus gives in Matthew 13: the mustard tree with a flock of birds roosting in it, and how the birds have a starting point and can’t be traced back to Christ and the apostles. Traditions follow a similar pattern because they were added into Christianity at some point in time. But when traditions are elevated to doctrine or used over God’s word, it actually leads to a really dangerous position, because we can no longer turn to the Bible as our sole source of authority.

Teaching traditions as doctrine or following them in preference to God’s instructions, leads to people thinking the Bible can’t quite be trusted. If God’s doctrines don’t come with a chapter and verse, then where do they come from? Who decides what is and isn’t doctrine? God’s instructions must then be ambivalent, unclear or hidden; or only revealed to some people. And we are left with a God who isn’t entirely truthful, just and righteous. God wrote every single Law down for the Israelites, he didn’t leave them guessing. He then judged them based on that written Law. But how can God be a just judge if he never gives us all the rules? How can Jesus be the way, the truth and the life, if God has hidden part of the way and truth from us? How can God be light if his doctrines exist in the shadows?

We are instructed to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). My church can’t work it out for me. My denomination can’t work it out for me. My pastors can’t work it out for me. I need to. Christianity is a seriously divided religion, but not everyone can be right. Just like the Pharisees, everyone is blind to their own hypocrisy. And that’s a scary thought. Because, what if the thing that sets your church or denomination apart is really just leaven? What if that special ‘doctrine’ is really a tradition?

But you can’t ignore the leaven and then act surprised that it has spread. So, the Lord willing, over the next few months we will periodically be publishing articles dealing with some of the traditions that have been added to Western Christianity. Traditions we had to unpack when we ministered cross-culturally.

So, are you ready to re-think?

All Glory to God,