June.21.01: Light For The Day - "What 's Wrong With Tradition?" -- Mark 7:7,8  ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s commands with their own man-made teachings.’ 8 For you ignore God’s specific laws and substitute your own traditions." ---------------------------------- We all have our traditions. My wife puts up the Christmas tree December 1. It comes down on January 1.  This is a simple, harmless tradition she has no intention  of imposing on anyone else. But other kinds of traditions  aren’t quite so harmless. Sue felt distinctly put down when told at a potluck by  the pastor-emeritus of the church we attend,  “We go around the table this way, not that!”  It bothered him terribly that she didn’t do what had been  done there for years. And it bothered her that she was  expected to be like everyone else! Traditions often are experienced like this. They’re not  only the comfortable “way we do things,” but are also  a demand that others do it our way too. And in religion,  tradition is especially unhealthy. Why? The passage  suggests four reasons. Our traditions can become a test of acceptability (Mk 7:1–5).  Whenever we find ourselves measuring others by certain  behaviors, rather than taking time to know them as persons,  we’ve fallen victim to this danger. Traditions can become a measure of spirituality if we’re not  careful (Mk 7:6–7). Whenever we’re more concerned with  fitting in with others’ expectations than with pleasing God,  we’ve fallen victim to a second danger. Traditions can be used to set aside the commands of God  (Mk 7:8–13). Whenever our group’s interpretation of  the Bible is more important to us than Scripture itself,  we’ve fallen victim to this danger. Tradition can shift our emphasis from personal piety and  holiness to externals. Whenever we are more concerned  with looking righteous than with being righteous,  we have fallen victim to perhaps the most serious danger  of tradition. What does Jesus call for in place of tradition?  He expects a radical reorientation of our perspective,  from a concern with how things look, to a concern  for what they really are. If your heart for God,  and my heart for God, are more important to us than  either of our traditions, then and only then will we be free. -- Lawrence O. Richards -------------------------- -- Mark 7:1-9 1 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to confront Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of Jesus’ disciples failed to  follow the usual ritual of hand washing before eating. .............. 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him,  "Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old customs?  For they eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony." 6 Jesus replied, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying  about you when he said, 7 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are  far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s  commands with their own man-made teachings.’ 8 For you ignore God’s specific laws and substitute your  own traditions." 9 Then he said, "You reject God’s laws in order to hold on  to your own traditions."