How should a Christian view tradition?

Answer

The term tradition can carry two meanings, one secular and one religious. In a secular context, tradition refers to a long-established ritual, custom, or belief passed down from one generation to the next. For instance, families observe specific traditions in how they mark holidays, birthdays, or vacations. These family customs can serve as a positive and healthy means to uphold family unity. Social traditions play a role in fostering a sense of community belonging. For example, a school might have a tradition where seniors accompany incoming freshmen to the first football game each year. Upholding such traditions fosters solidarity and helps reinforce social norms. However, in religious contexts, tradition can sometimes obscure the distinction between God’s truth and human innovation, leading to confusion for many. Christians are advised to approach religious traditions with caution.

During Jesus’ time on earth, religious traditions were prevalent. Jesus frequently rebuked the religious authorities, accusing them of “nullifying the word of God by their tradition that they have handed down” «making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. », (Mark 7:13). The scribes and Pharisees had added numerous of their own interpretations to God’s Law, causing confusion among the common people and making it challenging for them to comply with all the regulations. In Mark 7:6–8, Jesus cited Isaiah to criticize the religious leaders, stating, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; their worship is in vain, as they teach doctrines that are merely human rules.'” It is evident that these “human rules” were being taught as if they were divine doctrines, which was the core issue.

One of the many traditions upheld by the Pharisees during the time of Jesus

Involved in a ritualistic hand-washing before meals. The observance of this tradition had nothing to do with cleanliness; the Pharisees’ concern was ceremonial purity. Once, when a Pharisee invited Jesus to eat with him, Jesus bypassed the tradition: “His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom” «And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. », (Luke 11:38, NLT). Jesus had broken no law—nothing in the Mosaic commandments required such hand-washing—but the Pharisee expected conformity to the custom nonetheless. Jesus’ outright disregard of that manmade tradition sets up a clear distinction between what is binding (God’s commands) and what is not binding (human tradition).

Religious traditions that supersede or displace God’s law have been around since the earliest days. They are still in full force within every religion as well as most Christian denominations. The liturgical branches of Christianity have the most obvious traditions, but more relaxed worship venues can have them as well. Most of us have our favorite style of music, method of preaching, organizational structure, and serving routines that we accept without question. When faced with change, we might even feel a sense of moral outrage, as though changing the service format or adding a bass guitar were a direct violation of God’s commands. What we’re really doing, perhaps without even realizing it, is guarding our own pet traditions, just as the Pharisees did. We can even become offended at Jesus, as the Pharisees did, when He disrupts our traditional view of what we think Christianity should look like see John 9:16.

Scripture has layers of meaning. The more we delve into God’s Word, the more we learn about God, and it often upsets our own ideas. Just when we think we have things figured out and we are certain that weWhen we are theologically, morally, and socially correct, we discover another layer that challenges those certainties. By holding onto tradition—whether denominational, theological, or structural—as if it were God’s Word, we prevent God from revealing His truth to us. He desires to continually surprise us with His identity as we seek Him diligently «And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. », (Jeremiah 29:13). However, religious tradition often obstructs this process. “That’s not how we’ve always done it,” is the traditionalists’ battle cry. Challenging tradition can be unsettling for many, just as it was for the Pharisees (Matthew 5:33-34;Luke 6:26-27). Yet, when we can clearly distinguish between our traditions and God’s truth, we remain humble and adaptable as God continues to mold us into the likeness of His Son «For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. », (Romans 8:29).