Millions of hardworking Americans were most likely drinking more coffee
than normal this Monday morning because, well, the summer Olympics only comes
around every four years.
It’s also fair to assume that a decent percentage of these sleepy-eyed laborers are like my father: They aren’t really sports fans, but feel a profound tug on their heartstrings when it’s the USA against the world. Traditions have a way of causing the heart to override the better judgment of the head.
The love of and commitment to traditions have also led the people of
God to develop a long history of casting aside His commands for the sake of
our traditions. Whether it is the syncretism of pagan religious practices merging
with the Church, or slavery, theft, wars and imperialism
being justified in the name of manifest destiny, worldly traditions have had an
uncanny way of worming their way onto God’s rightful place on the throne of our
hearts.
Such was
the inner condition of a group of Pharisees that Jesus encountered in Matthew
15.
“Why do
you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your
tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks
evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I
have that would help you has been given to
God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of
God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy
of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away
from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of
men.’” – Matthew
15:3-9
Evidently, the Jewish people of that day had developed a tradition that
enabled them to legally break the fifth commandment. If one didn’t want to take
care of his parents when they were older, one could simply declare some of his
estate “Corban”, or a gift devoted to God. The money was supposed to be used
for the upkeep of the temple, but no one ever collected on what was owed. The
children kept the money and the parents died in need.
The Gospel writer, Matthew, displays Jesus using a
few choice words in His rebuke of these greedy Pharisees. However, Cyprian, the 4th
century bishop of Carthage helps pull the curtain back a little further
regarding the emotional state of the Lord in that situation.
What
obstinacy is that ... to prefer human tradition to divine
ordinance, and not to observe that God is indignant and angry as often as human
tradition relaxes and passes by the divine precepts, as He cries out, and says
by Isaiah the prophet, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me. In vain do they worship Me, teaching the doctrines and
commandments of men.” Also the Lord in the Gospel, similarly rebuking and reproving, utters
and says, “You reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own
tradition.” – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 685 [CD-ROM]
Jesus has a particular hatred of hypocrisy.
And in Matthew 15 the Pharisees are
labeled hypocrites for honoring God with their lips while their hearts belong
to the perks their traditions provide.
Recently, Michael Phelps has been receiving a lot
of press about his faith. A few years ago, Phelps had a crisis of sorts, and
ended up going to rehab. While there, ex-Football player Ray Lewis gave Phelps
a copy of A Purpose Driven Life by
Rick Warren.
Evidently, the
book made an impact on Phelps, for in an interview he stated that it, “turned me into believing there is a power
greater than myself and there is a purpose for me on this planet.”
When I was 20, I attended a few AA classes. Unfortunately, Phelps’
comment sounds much more like what you’d hear at a typical AA meeting than a
public profession of one’s Christian faith. So, did Phelps become a Christian
there in rehab while reading Purpose Driven Life? I don’t know, but I do know
that shortly after coming out of rehab, he proposed to his girlfriend, and they
had a kid together.
Even though Phelps
had a son out of wedlock immediately after coming out of rehab, and never
actually publically professed Jesus as Lord of his life, it didn’t stop a large
portion of American Christianity from claiming him as one of our own. Why is
that?
America has a storied tradition of
exploiting others while feigning faithfulness to God.
The torture and enslavement of Africans, and denial
of African American Equal rights. Natives being raped, pillaged, murdered,
deceived and forced into virtual concentration camps. Women being denied the
right to vote until 1920. Child labor laws not being enacted until 1938. I’m
only scratching the surface.
Donald Trump has said and done some of the most
egregious things one can fathom for a person running for office. Then
self-proclaimed prophetess Paula White alleged that she led him to the Lord, and
suddenly James Dobson, Wayne Grudem and a host of other leading evangelical leaders
are endorsing him?
Never mind that after his supposed conversion, Trump
supported his wife’s previous nude picture shoot. Never mind his sly
insinuation that gun owners could take care of Clinton should she win. Never mind that he
hasn’t repented of his greed or the way he verbally abuses others. As Dobson
has said, we need to cut Trump some slack because he is a ‘baby Christian’.
Did you notice the worldly tradition? The ways of the world trumping the
commands of God in Dobson's statement? Where is the idea of ‘baby Christians’ being
cut slack in areas of sin found in the Scriptures? Nowhere.
The thought is found all over American Christian culture,
though; just like the idea that if you’re recognized as a famous or influential
contributor to society you don’t need to be repentant as a Christian.
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