"'You have let go of the commands of God
and are holding on to the traditions of men.'
And he said to them: 'You have a fine way
of setting aside the commands of God
in order to observe your own traditions!
For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother,
and
Anyone who curses his father or mother
must be put to death.
But you say that if a man says to his father or mother:
Whatever help you might otherwise
have received from me is Corban
(that is, a gift devoted to God),
Then you no longer let him do anything for his
father or mother.
Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition
that you have handed down.
And you do many things like that.'
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said,
'Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.
Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going
into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man
that makes him unclean.'"
I recently took a trip to the west coast to visit my parents. One thing that stood out to me was the fixation on fitness and nutrition that people seemed to carry. Living as I do in one of the fattest states in the Union, I'm not used to having these kinds of conversations. Even though I love exercise and have a mild interest in eating well, it is no longer what defines me. In the past, I obsessed over exercise and nutrition and there was a time when I would enthusiastically welcome such discussions. As I've grown in my walk with Jesus, however, I have found there are other things which are more important than physical health.
Jesus found the church people during His time on earth similarly fixated on things that were not important. In order to try to 'help' their fellow Jews please God, these thoughtful leaders came up with lists and lists of rules for people to follow. This set of man-made laws evolved into commandments that ended up overshadowing God's own decrees.
It's not so different now. I have been pressured to think I must dress a certain way in order to worship God on Sunday mornings, to believe that a "good" Christian only listens to certain music or watches specific movies, or that in order to please God I must live up to the standards which man has set. Thankfully, God judges me according to my heart. For this reason, its not what goes into my body that defines me, but its what comes out that matters.
Fruit
The vines grew to take over the entire hill and I began making plans to preserve pickles and add zucchini to every dish that I cooked during the summer months. It looked like the harvest would be abundant. Then the fruits began to form and, much to my dismay, they were rotten at one end. Disappointingly, the vines began to wither. I was another victim of the persistent Squash Vine Borer and the destructive Cucumber Beetle. All my hopes for a plentiful yield were dashed.
In the same way, if I walk with Jesus my life will produce good fruit. (Galatians 5:22-23) If, however, I follow my fleshly dreams and desires, my life will produce rotten fruit. (Galatians 5:19-21)
I am recognized by my fruit. If my life is filled with strife, unrest, jealousy, gossip, rage, bitterness, hatred and the drive to get ahead, then I am producing fruit that is of my own sinful flesh. But, if my life is filled with a compassion for others, the ability to suffer without complaint, the desire to live in harmony with others, and a calm and quiet spirit, then it is God's Spirit who is winning out and making His own fruit evident in my life.
Jesus said, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:8-9) Maybe I don't always feel good. I've been through some rough times and have fallen into sin on more than one occasion. I feel like a failure. But it is not up to my own ability to live a righteous life that produces this kind of fruit. That is impossible.
Instead, it is a life that is wholly devoted to God and devoid of any selfish desires that is able to produce the fruit that God calls good. As Oswald Chambers said, "Undress yourself morally before God of everything that might be a possession until you are a mere conscious human being and then give God that." God can do amazing things with a life that is surrendered to Him.
It's the quality of my fruit that matters to Him.
Cleanliness
I had the honor of visiting a Mosque and going on a tour of the facility. As the young women described their beliefs and walked me through their rituals for pre-prayer cleansing, it struck me that they were trying to make themselves pure by washing their outer selves. This, however, did nothing to address the real source of their uncleanness: their hearts.
God revealed His focus when He commanded Samuel to anoint a new king to replace the rebellious Saul. He cautioned the priest to, "not consider his appearance or height. . ." as Samuel's eyes were drawn to the older, more experienced and stronger brothers. Instead, He said, "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 17:7)
Even though he was a mere boy at the time, David later became known as a great king, and more importantly as a "man after God's own heart." (Acts 13:22) My purity comes from my heart. Do I have a desire to glorify God or follow a religion?. Do I mostly follow my own lead or God's? Do I consider my own needs as more important or am I dedicated to loving others?
My cleanliness does not come from taking a shower or going through a purification ritual. Rather, my heart betrays the motivation of my actions, and thus the purity of my faith. Either my heart is inclined toward God, or it's slanted toward myself. As David prayed when Nathan the prophet pointed out his sin and he realized his selfish motivations, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)
It is the tilt of my heart that matters to God.
Traditions
I remember reading about a young wife who began cooking her Thanksgiving turkey one year early in her marriage. She thawed it out in the sink, just as she'd seen her mother do so many times before. Finally, she placed the dish drainer upside down over the bird. When her husband asked her why she did this, the young woman replied, "I don't know. That's just how my mom always did it." Unbeknownst to her, her mother's cats had attempted to dine on the thawing poultry so her mom had come up with the strategy of protecting it with the dish drainer. Since the newlyweds owned no pets, there was not a need for this ritual.
There are many things I can do without understanding why I do them. Maybe it's something I've seen someone else I look up to doing. I think that if I follow suit, I'll end up with the same results as my idol.
Or it could be that I've read a lot of books, or listened to much advice from well-meaning believers and I want to do the things they've said to do.
It's easy for me to also get caught up following my own strategy that I've developed over the years. After all, no one knows myself better than me, right?
If I'm not following God directly out of obedience to Him, I have no business taking part in any tradition. No matter how long something has been carried out in my family, church or town, it will lead me away from God if the directive did not come from Him. My relationship with God is more important than fitting in with what everyone else is doing.
Getting caught up in following traditions is not peculiar to God's people in this day and age. The prophet Isaiah had to deliver a message to the Israelites that, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." (Isaiah 29:13)
How much of my worship of God, or the way I live my life, is made of stuff I do without meaning? How much of it is out of direct obedience to His calling on my life? The former cancels out the latter.
It is my obedience to God that matters to Him.
It is easy for me to think that either I'm a complete failure or that I'm doing pretty good. Both beliefs are fallacy. Rather, the truth is that I am a sinner who is saved by the grace of God through faith in my Savior Jesus Christ. As such, I am free to move forward from here and produce good fruit that comes directly from Him, to have a pure heart cleansed by His blood, and to cultivate an obedient relationship with my Father. It is then that what comes out of me will please God and lead to a blessed and fulfilled life.
As I begin this day it is my prayer that my life will be wholly devoted to pleasing God.
How do I let traditions overshadow God's direct Word in my life?
In what ways is my life producing rotten fruit?
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