Traditions
the good and bad
Scripture Reading: Mark 7:1-16
Tradition is tricky. It seems our feelings about tradition swing on a pendulum. We either transform tradition into law, or we treat it as if it were a case of leprosy. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus responds to the Pharisaical complaint about the disciples not following tradition related to hand washing by chastising them for “making void the word of God by [their] tradition…”
Some have taken what Jesus said here as permission to show contempt for any form of tradition. I think that is a mistake and a misreading of the text. Jesus isn’t condemning tradition per se. What he condemns is a tradition that nullifies the commandments of God.
How do we know when we have crossed this line? First, when we treat tradition like it is a commandment from God. If we act like our tradition was chiseled in stone by Moses on the Mountain of God, we have a problem.
Then, if our tradition ends up causing us to cancel out the clear teaching of Scripture or lulls us into a false sense that we are living a righteous life, we have a problem. The danger of tradition is it can become a false standard of doing right. We can meet external standards and fail at what matters most, holiness of heart.
Having said that, this doesn’t mean tradition in itself is bad. Tradition can help to root us in our past. It can give us a form and structure that calms the otherwise chaotic nature of life.
As Gerard Kelly said, “The challenge is to provide roots and wings – to bring young people into a sense of connectedness with the past that doesn’t rob them of their vision of the future.”
We need both roots and wings. The traditions handed down to us are not law, but they can give us a rooted connectedness to our past that we need.
