Holy WarsTraditionTags: Church Growth, Church Growth Movement, Christian Traditions, traditions of men, Old Testament Kings, Amon, Manasseh, Ahab, Jezebel, Nimrod, Israel. American traditions, National Anthem. Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Western Society, Sir Walter Raleigh, Counterculture Church, Contemporary Church, Ron Rhodes, Culting of America, abortion on demand, Chuck Colson
In His admonishment with regard to the
traditions of men Jesus was not indicating that true religion ended in the Book of Acts to
be reestablished in the ‘60s. He was not commanding that we turn our backs on the
customs of the church that have underpinned and supported the Christian faith throughout
the centuries. He was not charging that individual churches abandon the traditions that
have long defined their congregations. Jesus was not saying that we should shut down our
sanctuaries in favor of meeting in store fronts, throw out our stained glass, dismantle
our pipe organs, discontinue meeting on Sundays as has been the tradition of the church
from the beginning (Mk 16:2; Mk 16:9; Jn 20:1,19; Acts 20:7; I Cor 16:2), dispense of the
notion of setting Sunday aside as a day of rest, discontinue hymn singing, throw out the
doxology, disband our choirs, shut down our Christmas and Easter cantatas, discontinue
placing flowers in front of the sanctuary in the memory of others, get rid of the Easter
lilies and poinsettias during the holidays, throw out our ties and Easter dresses, stop
involving ourselves in influencing our culture and on-and-on. Jesus was talking about those traditions
that stand in the way of God rather than those that affirm Him. Therefore when the Apostle
Paul admonished the church, he was warning us with regard to taking on the ways of
unbelieving and deceitful men. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and
vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after
Christ.” ( Christian traditions give us our identity.
They are symbolic of our faith and the symbolism that they contain brings the Scripture
and God close to our hearts in a tangible way. They give us memories that when enjoyed
through the years hold us together and bind us to God. Jesus affirmed tradition when he
commanded us to take the Lord’s supper in remembrance of Him. (Luke 22:19) In so
doing we are reminded of our salvation and the suffering that He went through two thousand
years ago for us. Communion is a link back into history that we can perceive with all of
our senses. In the same way the traditions that
develop around the Christian faith continue to remind us of various aspects of our faith
and connect us with our history. Christmas programs filled with traditional melodies
create the season and remind us of Christ’s birth. Meeting in historical church
buildings reminds us of the faith of past generations and the sacrifices that they made so
that we can have a place to call our home. Hymn singing tells of our marvelous God and
reveals the Scriptures to us in song. They hold us tight to our Christian roots. Setting
aside a day of rest honors God and reminds us that we need to enter into the rest of God
in every aspect of our lives. Dressing up for church is a display of our respect for God
just as dressing up to go to court to stand before a judge demonstrates the same. Meeting
on Sunday reminds us of the resurrection of Christ and His appearance to His followers.
You can fill in the blanks from here. Our culture speaks about who we are.
Society reflects the religious belief system that lies below it. The law, heritage and
social mores that come out of society will demonstrate the nature of the faith that drives
it. If a Christian society takes on the social traditions of a society of another
religious persuasion, the Christian belief system itself will be defiled and the faith of
its followers will stagger. That is why God admonished the Jewish nation to separate
themselves from the pagan cultures that surrounded them. This is the danger that lies
behind opening the door of the church to those who promise that if we conform to the
modern world we will find success. But God instructed the ancient Hebrew nation to hold
tightly to the customs of old that He had established among them. Therefore, the Old Testament Jewish kings
who did evil in the sight of the Lord did so because they rejected the ways of the godly
Kings before him. They turned against those who followed God only to adopt the ways of
pagan culture. For example, with regard to King Amon the Bible states: “And he did
that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did. And he walked in
all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and
worshipped them: And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of
the Lord.” (II Kings 20-22 KJV) God put together a blueprint for the
children of In reality the “traditions of
men” that we are to avoid are those that come from the very anti-Christian belief
system that the counterculturalists adopted. “Beware lest anyone cheat you through
philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic
principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” (
Such American traditions as singing the
national anthem remind us not only of our past and the courage of those who died for our
freedom but they extol the Christian virtues of honor and courage. The Christian quality
of respect can be found every time we say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag even as it
is deemed important to handle the Stars and Stripes in a particular fashion. When we look
at the Declaration of Independence we see that our rights are based upon God’s nature
as demonstrated in the Word. Our Constitution was founded deep in the Christian belief
system through created institutions such as the system of checks and balances that reminds
us that men are basically depraved and need checks in their lives to keep them from
committing evil. Non-Christian societies generally have
very little respect for women. They put their women’s faces behind veils, demand that
they walk behind men or burn them alive with their deceased husbands. But because the
Bible teaches Christians to honor women (Eph 5: 25-33) Western Society followed the
tradition of Sir Walter Raleigh as men stood when a woman arrived on the scene, opened
their doors for them and helped them into their chairs. However, as Western Society has
adopted the social mores of unbelieving cultures, in the light of modern feminism many of
these customs are no longer being passed along to our children. It is no wonder,
therefore, why spousal abuse is on the rise and the institution of marriage as established
in the Bible is eroding. In deference to biblical teaching the aged
have always been held in high respect. (Lev Pagan cultures sacrifice their children
and even as we continue to take on their social mores millions of babies are being
slaughtered. Abortion ushers from a pagan source that has nothing to do with Christian
teaching. Nimrod, the father of all pagan religions, was regarded as the great
child-devourer. As the father of the gods he was called Kronos. The classic story of this
god tells us that “He devoured his sons as soon as they were born.” It’s no
wonder, therefore that as the region of the East that followed in Nimrod’s footsteps
was adopted by In Jewish history, every time an evil King
would turn from God, he would reject those precepts God has established in order to adopt
the way of the heathens. The most glaring example was when Ahab married the heathen
Jezebel who turned the king’s heart away from God to adopt the ways of pagans. (I
King 16: 31-33) The ultimate destination was idolatry.
Ron Rhodes wrote in The Culting of America,
“. . . It would seem today that many people take a ‘social club’ attitude
toward church participation. They seek a lively institution that allows them to foster
convivial relationships but avoids influencing how they live and behave. The result: there
is little moral difference between people inside and outside the church.” Indeed, Chuck Colson agreed when he told
the Christian Research Institute, “A Gallup poll found that there was no difference
in the ethical behavior of people who go to church and people who don’t go to church.
And so, one has to conclude – painful though it is – that over the past decade
in American life, churches have made little difference in the lives of people.” It is
no wonder therefore that the divorce rate is as high or even higher among Christians as it
is with unbelievers. 1. However, it must be emphasized that as many in the
Counterculture Church have matured their churches have swung more to the middle ground as
many church traditions have been reestablished among them. This body of believers has
turned a political about face and now has become very involved in speaking out against sin
in the culture just the historical church has done. There have been profound changes in
their music as well. Their artists have produced hymn recordings played in a contemporary
fashion in order to facilitate the growth of that tradition in the If you liked this CLICK HERE or call Author House @ 888.280.7715 to purchase a soft or hard cover copy of Don Wigton's book "Holy Wars" upon which this blog is based.Click Here to purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
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