The danger of tradition…
Nov 14th, 2009 by ljkim
I think people assume that we strip away religious traditions because people don’t like them… That’s not true. There’s something in us that really likes traditions… We like crossing ourselves or kissing things or saying specific prayers. It makes us feel holy. It makes us feel like we belong. Then why do we have to be careful with traditions?
The danger with traditions is, we too easily confuse them with God’s laws. “You leave the commandment of God and hold on to the tradition of men” (Mk 7:8)
So it’s possible for someone to go to church or synagogue, read the prayers, kneel, and fulfill all the traditions – and do this for years, and yet know nothing of what it means to follow God. Jesus’ disciples and the early church did not kneel and cross themselves and pray traditional prayers… even though they had a rich history of traditions that other people observed. It was not that there was anything wrong with the traditions – at one time they were good – but they become dangerous when instead of helping people follow Jesus they help us ignore him instead.
So what should we do with traditions? Use them… carefully. Knowingly. Use what works, and lay them aside when they don’t. But whatever you do, never ever put the traditions before the real things of God. Loving God matters. Loving people matters. The rest is up for grabs.
[About the pic - someone has a Royal Enfield motorcycle in our neighborhood. Talk about tradition! It doesn't really "go" but we like it nonetheless.]
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