Tag: church tradition

Additional Requirements

Old Testament: Genesis 45 & 46

Poetry: Psalm 20

*New Testament: Matthew 15

I have been involved in many food service jobs over the years, including food delivery. There was one particular food delivery job that I will never forget because of the absurdity involved with my employer. I had signed up to simply deliver food from restaurants for a company that was like a local GrubHub or UberEats. Things went along smoothly for the first month, until my employer got a wild idea: he wanted to deliver the local newspaper as well (he was nervous about losing business because of larger companies coming into town). For the second month, I was taking on a newspaper delivery route, as well as taking food orders when I could (sometimes working 12-hour days). It didn’t take long before I left that job because it wasn’t what I signed up for: my employer was adding requirements to the job that were not agreed upon from the beginning.


Does this happen in church too? When it comes to eternal life and being saved, do we add requirements that were not originally stated by Jesus or the apostles? Jesus encountered this in our passage today with the Pharisees and scribes. They were teaching that one must wash their hands before eating in order to be “pure” before God, something that is called the tradition of the elders. While washing your hands is still a good practice, there was nothing in the Old
Testament that ever stated this as a requirement: God was not requiring this to be in His presence, but men were. They were seeking control over the people and adding requirements that were not original.


Unfortunately, the Church today oftentimes does the same thing: adding requirements for salvation that were not original. For example, the Nicene Creed (325 AD) that is recited at many churches today states that Christians must believe that Jesus is “true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father…” There isn’t a single verse in Scripture that
describes Jesus in this way, but it is a required belief for salvation in many churches today. Not only that, but there are usually cultural expectations in many churches that are required for fellowship, such as the clothing you wear or the way you have your hair put up.


What does Scripture say about salvation? “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Many might call me a minimalist, but I don’t believe Jesus intended salvation to be complicated: it’s difficult to make him the Lord of our lives and do what he says, but it’s not complicated. It is supposed to be simple enough for a child to understand (Matthew 18:3).

Reflection Questions

  1. What church traditions are alive around you that are beyond Scripture?
  2. What have you been taught is required, even if it’s not found on the lips of Jesus or the apostles?


Talon Paul

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Merely Human Rules

Old Testament: Amos 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 129

New Testament: Matthew 15

Jesus is on a bit of a tirade at the start of this chapter.  He has got to be pretty sick of the Pharisees!  But when he quotes from Isaiah to them in verses 8 and 9, I wonder if we fall into this trap too, and how frustrated he might feel with us at times. 

8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’”

I have been doing some reading on church history earlier this year, and it seems this was some of the problem that started the reformation back in the 1500s.  Some brave individuals stood up to the churches that led culture at the time and said that people were no longer following the word of God, but rather they were just following the church’s rules which were made by people, often for political reasons.

Are we still doing this?  Teaching things that are merely human rules rather than focusing on God?

While we are to follow the laws of the land that were created by people (as long as they don’t contradict God’s laws), we should not be so focused in our churches on following a set of rules of how a worship service should be set up, or the exact number of times per year you should have communion that we miss out on looking at the heart.  There is a difference between Jesus’ teachings and a tradition set up in a church.

Traditions can be good, but when we focus so much on them that we don’t pay attention to the results of what is being done or said, they have no purpose.  If someone new comes in from another church and they ask “why are you doing things this way?” people tend to get defensive even when the question is asked with a genuine desire to understand rather than to criticize.  The truth is, we should be able to answer that question, or if we can’t, consider the practice to determine if what we are doing does still make sense, or if it has become an outdated tradition that could be changed to better serve people.

After Jesus speaks, the disciples come out like “hey, did you know what you said upset the Pharisees?”  Jesus doesn’t care if they were offended by what he said.  He spoke the truth and wants people to realize the meaning and intent of things.  Yes, washing your hands before you eat is a good practice.  You are less likely to consume bacteria that way.  But not doing that doesn’t defile you spiritually.  The things that come out of your mouth (which come from your heart) do – evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What is something in your life that needs to be examined to ensure your heart is in the right place?
  2. What instances can you think of in which the church is following mere human rules and not the word of God and teachings of Jesus?

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Deaths of the Apostles

Free Theme Days – Evidence for the Risen Jesus

Acts 2 24

Earlier in the week (two days ago, in fact) we talked about how the apostles were telling the truth about Jesus’ life and death and resurrection. We noted how, out of their many faults, they weren’t all crazy. We also noted how along with Paul, they weren’t gaining much from teaching this tale.
But COULD they have been lying? I assume, knowing their other faults, there is always the possibility that they COULD have been lying, enjoying the privilege of being leaders in a new religious movement. Some people just like power, after all. But there is a large difference between “they could have been lying” and “they lied”. What does the record of their lives show?
Church tradition is normally frowned upon in the Church of God. There are some very valid points to be made for why that is the case. Revelation and tradition have conflicted in the past, and even in many churches today, and we think that what God said is correct and a person’s interpretation of God’s words are not on the same playing field. But there are places where Church Tradition doesn’t conflict with scripture, and it is at least interesting to think about what a majority of Christians have said about the 12 men who followed the founder.
Twelve men followed Jesus from the get-go, and they were called disciples in the gospels and apostles in Acts. We’ve talked about them already, but today I want to touch briefly on how each one of them died. Each of these stories come from church tradition. There is little evidence for some, and undeniable evidence for others. Let’s see their deaths and then comment on them all together.
  1. Peter was crucified upside down, saying that he did not die in a way similar to his Lord.
  2. Andrew, like his brother Peter, was also crucified.
  3. James, the Son of Zebedee, was put to death with the sword by King Herod in Judea. (Acts 12:1-2)
  4. John, the Son of Zebedee, dies in exile, but of natural causes at an older age.
  5. Philip was put to death by a Roman Proconsul in Asia Minor after converting the Proconsul’s wife.
  6. Thomas traveled to India and was killed by four soldiers with spears.
  7. Matthew was stabbed to death in Ethiopia after bringing the faith to the people.
  8. James of Alphaeus was crucified while preaching in the southern parts of Egypt.
  9. Jude/Thaddeus was beheaded in Beirut.
  10. Simon the Zealot was killed after refusing to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Beirut.
  11. Bartholomew was flayed alive and beheaded.
  12. Matthias was burned to death.
  13. Paul, (this is a bit of a cheat, as he wasn’t one of “the Twelve,” but go with me) after appealing to Caesar and traveling to Rome, was killed by the Emperor by beheading.
That’s a pretty grim and dire list. Why bring it up? With the exception of John, every other Apostle of Jesus died in faith, and usually because they were preaching faith, after living a harsh life. Peter was crucified upside down. Do you believe that a man who stole a body would have allowed himself to be crucified upside down if he could produce a body and say “I MADE IT ALL UP! It was a hoax!”? No! Peter didn’t downplay his testimony because he was speaking the truth. Considering that Bartholomew and Matthias both died in places outside of Israel, only one of the twelve apostles died in their homeland.
They didn’t live high on the hog, off the fat of the land. They traveled to places they didn’t know, to people to whom they were sent (apostle means “one who was sent”) because they believed Jesus was alive and that message was important enough to seek out the lost.
John was in exile because he believed Jesus was alive. James, Philip, Thomas, Matthew, Jude, Simon the Zealot, Bartholomew, Matthias and Paul were all killed in various ways because they believed Jesus was alive. Andrew, James the Lesser and Peter were all CRUCIFIED because they believed… no, they KNEW… Jesus is alive. 
So, do you believe Jesus is alive?
-Jake Ballard