Erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross
Paul to the Colossians 2: 14, Concordant New Testament
I've often wondered just how useful all of the traditions which we adhere to are to the mainstream church. Or, how useful they are to those in the church itself. I witnessed this first-hand with the recent death Pope Francis of the Catholic church. Now, I've long been critical of the Catholic church for the very reason of the vast number of traditions which they seem to follow. This was on full display in the process of burying the old Pope and choosing his successor. How the deceased needed to be laid out for public view for a given number of days. How his successor could not be chosen until the previous traditions had been undertaken. This all seemed too choreographed a process to me. To the outside observer, it might have seemed like the entire Catholic church was one large production. That description isn't too far from the mark I'm guessing. But this process isn't reserved solely for the Catholic church, not at all. For in the halls of the mainstream non-denominational churches there are traditions which have been practiced for thousands of years. Even in the days of Jesus' ministry, the Jewish religion had rituals which those who practiced it needed to follow. From traditions of cleanliness to when and where their worship took place, the Jews of Jesus' time were pretty adherent to their long-held traditions. It was partly because of their stiff necked reliance upon tradition that Jesus called them out in His woes to the Pharisees {Matthews Account 23:23-33}. Jesus understood all too well that these long practiced traditions were of no use to the people the Pharisees proclaimed to be helping. That they were indeed whitewashed sepulchers, appearing beautiful on the outside yet inside were full of all uncleanliness {Matthews Account 23:27}. It is no wonder that the religious leaders of Jesus' time worked so hard to have Him silenced. For Jesus was proclaiming His radical new gospel unto the world.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God, for many false prophets have come out into the world
First Epistle of John 4: 1, Concordant New Testament
I've often wondered what Jesus would say concerning our modern day pastors of the traditional mainstream church. Would we see Him calling them out in a modern day "Woe to you pastors?" I would say that there are a good number of church leaders who would be in dire need of being called out by Jesus. For they speak against the evangel of Christ spoken by the apostle Paul. They speak to the false reality of the sin condition which Jesus Himself has died to {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. The church also speaks to the lie that we are separated from God on the basis of our long dead sin condition. This is contrary to the union life in the Father which Jesus proclaims {Johns Account 14:20, Johns Account 17:21}. But false teachings aside, the church also maintains its own share of traditions which it has followed for centuries. Walk into any Christian church service and you will notice this first hand. The invocation welcoming God into their presence (Hint, He's always been there). The traditional offering held at some point during the service Now, the church has long referred to the scripture found in the book of Malachi to justify our need to "Bring the tithe into the storehouse" {Malachi 3:10}. But this was never the intent of the tithe. The intent of the tithe was that the people of ancient Israel would bring a tithe to the storehouse in order to support the Jewish priesthood who were, by tradition, required not to work but to devote their time to their religion. Of course, you'd never hear a pastor mention that. I never did. What you will hear is that these traditions are maintained to honor the Lord. I have a difficult time buying into that.
~Scott~
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