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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 23, JUNE 11, 2006 “TRADITION”, A “FOUR LETTER” WORD Once again, with parental pride, I present an article written by my son, Adam.
Tradition! The very word makes some Christians shudder and sets their teeth on edge. The mere mention of “ church of Christ tradition” is enough to make them fall out of their seats altogether. Yet what exactly do people mean when they talk about “ church of Christ tradition?” Does such an idea even exist in the New Testament? I would like to suggest to you that there is such a thing as church of Christ tradition and it is not only found in Scripture, but approved! Although its definition and the one you hear from disgruntled “change-agents” in the church today are far different. There are two types of traditions spoken of in the Scripture. Almost without fail those unhappy individuals who want nothing more than to change everything around will mention only one of them. These people, upon hearing the dreaded “T” word, like to immediately and loudly reference Matthew 15:2-9. In these verses the Lord is in the midst of a confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes. It begins with them questioning Him. “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat. He answered them, And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, If anyone tells his father or mother, what you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” These change-agents tell us that tradition makes void the word of God and must be avoided at all cost. And in the context of tradition in this passage, they are absolutely correct. However, Matthew 15:2-9 is not the only time we come across the word “tradition(s)” in the New Testament. And the meaning of the word tradition(s) in Matthew 15:2-9 is not the same meaning in other verses. Let us examine closely 1 Corinthians 11:2 and 2 Thessalonians 2:15. The verse in 1 Corinthians says, “Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.” The next verse we want to look at, 2 Thessalonians 2:15 , says, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” Uh-oh. Now the unsatisfied change-agent finds himself faced with quite a conundrum. Is the apostle Paul commending the very thing that Jesus condemned? The obvious answer is “no.” So what exactly are we to make of this? The words “tradition” and “delivered” in 1 Corinthians 11:2 come from Greek words that mean to “hand over” or “hand down, pass on.” Both of these words carry with them the same idea; that the doctrine of Jesus Christ – revealed by Jesus and the Holy Spirit – was to be handed down, without anything added, subtracted, substituted or altered. Because the teachings of Jesus are to be handed down than they are, in fact, traditions. 1 Corinthians 15:3 says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.” Who did Paul receive it from? Two verses will make it quite clear. First, 1 Corinthians 11:23, which says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread.” Secondly, 1 Corinthians 14:37-38, which says, “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.” That answers the question beyond any doubt. So, what is the difference between the traditions our Lord condemned and the traditions that Paul commends the brethren for keeping? Quite simple: one originated in the mind of man while the other originated in the mind of the Lord.” Paul was writing to those who comprise the church in his letter to the Corinthians and those in Thessalonica, and since he said, in Romans 16:16, “Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you,” if one wants to charge me with following “church of Christ tradition” I suppose I am guilty as charged and in the Lord’s debt for it. I would not have known what I needed to do to be saved, to worship, or how to live as a Christian if He had not passed/handed it down to the apostles who did the same for us. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” for tradition! Another point needs to be made. It is popular for many of these change-agents to claim that the first century Christians would not recognize our worship service today. Well, how about this; there is a McDonald’s on Saturn. Honestly, what is the difference between these two statements? Neither one of them offers anything at all in the way of proof so they are both equally worthless. What do we know for a fact? Acts 20:7 tells us “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, he prolonged his speech until midnight.” It is here that we learn that we are to partake of the Lord’s Supper upon the first day of the week and we see Paul preaching to the brethren while in this assembly. 1 Corinthians 16:2 says, “On the first day of the week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” Here we have instruction for the collection upon every first day of the week. Colossians 3:16 tells us “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Paul writes this letter to the church at Colossae. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 25, Paul says, “Pray without ceasing…Brothers, pray for us.” What’s the point? We do not need extra-biblical writing as evidence or as a crutch! Our “traditional” acts of worship certainly seem to be their “traditional” acts of worship. My question to the change-agents who love to make the “unrecognizable” objection is, “Why wouldn’t first century Christ recognize our worship?” What are we leaving out and what have we added? So far, we’ve gotten every answer but a scriptural one. Until then, you can find me and mine sticking with the “church of Christ traditions.” Quite simply, those are the ones that I know came from the Lord and I’ll take my Savior guiding me to heaven over some disgruntled man every time. Think about these things.
Adam Litmer (My son.)
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