In 1938, W. Somerset Maugham, an English physician and writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories wrote: “Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.”
In 1984, Jaroslav Pelikan, an American scholar of the history of Christianity, theology, and medieval intellectual history at Yale University wrote: “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”
I find it interesting that most people think it is a modern or even post-modern phenomenon that we question, reject and adapt traditions. Many people think it is brave and rebellious, and perhaps even something belonging exclusively to the arts or highly intellectual philosophers.
It is, however, a very ancient tradition (pun intended). It is also something we all are supposed to do every day, in mundane and normal ways.
Thousands of years ago already, God’s faithful children were encouraged to have a healthy disdain for traditions. The prophets, for example, preached that the faithful should weigh them and reject them when they were obscuring the truth about Who God is and how He works in the lives of people.
Even though their religion was built on customs and rituals, Isaiah warned that God was tired of burnt offerings (Isaiah 1:11-14). Amos condemned his people for their noisy festivals and prayers (Amos 5:23).
Such condemnations focused on the hypocritical behaviour of believers. Their traditional ways and religious actions made them seem obedient on the outside, but on the inside they were still hard of heart and disobeyed God’s commands of love.
They would sacrifice a sheep but cheat their neighbour out of his whole herd of sheep. They would bring grain to the temple but refuse to give an orphan a loaf of bread. They would sing the Lord’s praises but bear false witness in court for their own profit.
So many people look at Christians in the same way today. They say we lack inner devotion, whilst we are focusing on making ourselves look good. They say we cling to our customs to prove how we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, but exhibit very little integrity and almost no love for our neighbour.
They say we reject so much and so many, whilst having so little compassion for people, simply because we disagree with some aspect of their lifestyle. They view us as judgemental about who we will and will not share our resources with.
They describe us as demanding that people adhere to our standards before we show them mercy. They say we need to read Mark 7 properly and keep the words of Jesus in our hearts:
“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites;
as it is written:
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
You have let go of the commands of God
and are holding on to human traditions”
(Mark 7:6-8).
What traditions and customs are you letting go of in obedience to God? Which ones are you cultivating and growing out of love for God, His Word and your neighbour?
