Tradition

(Kent Heaton)

 

In the United States, the standard railroad gauge, or distance between the rails, is four feet-eight and one half inches. American track builders used that odd measurement because that is the way railroads are built in England. The English engineers used that measure because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways. Trams used that gauge because they were built on the same construction jigs and tooling used for building wagons. This odd wheel spacing of wagons was designed to fit the ruts of old English roads, which were carved out by Roman war chariots and transport wagons. The Romans derived their chariot designs from the Hittites who developed the use of the chariot in war. The Hittites found that four feet-eight and one half inches was the ideal width for chariot wheels to provide a stable platform for the three men who would occupy the chariot: the charioteer, the warrior, and the arms bearer. Modern railroad gauge today is based on the amount of space needed in a chariot by three soldiers fighting for a nation that fell over three thousand years ago.

 

So often in life the pattern of what we do or why we do what we do is not based upon an original idea but one that has been held for generations. Mom cut the end of the ham off because that is what she was taught growing up; not realizing that great-grandmother started cutting the ham off because she did not have a pot big enough to cook a whole ham. Traditions are good things we pass from generation to generation. Many of these are harmless until they begin to be a pattern of our worship to God.

 

“Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches” (Mark 7:4). Cleanliness is a very important part of hygiene. However, the Pharisees and scribes were following after a tradition that was handed down from their fathers and not from God. Jesus would rebuke them saying, “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).

 

The lesson we must learn here is that whatever we do in our service to God must be based upon what God says and not what has been the tradition of the past 500 years. Peter writes, “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11). It matters not what the church has practiced in the last one hundred years but it does matter what the church practiced in the New Testament. Our authority must come from the Bible; not traditions of men. So much of what we find in religion today cannot be found in the Bible but the pages of man’s tradition.

 

The faith of many is running on tracks invented by man centuries old. In order to be found faithful to God we must return to the Book and to establish every word upon the precepts of the original pattern. Holding to the religious traditions of men will make void the word of God. The word of God alone is truth (John 17:17) and the traditions of men will fail (Matthew 15:13-14).

 

Are You Sure You Are A Christian?

(Bobby K. Thompson)

 

It is the will of God that all accountable human beings living in this age become Christians. When one fails to be a Christian, he fails to be what God desires for him to be. “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch .” (Acts 11:26). In a congregation in Antioch , which was composed of both Jews and Gentiles, the prophecy of Isaiah 62:2 began to be fulfilled, “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” The name was not given in derision or mockery. It was a new name, “which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” King Agrippa heard Paul declare the glorious gospel and knew what he should be. His response was, “Almost, thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” (Acts 26:28).

 

By preaching the gospel of Christ, men endeavor to persuade men to become Christians. The third and last time we meet the word in the scriptures is in I Peter 4:16. “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” When one suffers for being a Christian, he glorifies God and should never be ashamed to do so. It is a wonderful privilege and blessing to be a Christian. No greater honor is bestowed upon a person in this life than the honor of becoming a Christian. We should never overlook this, and continually thank God for making it possible for us to be Christians. But, are we sure that we are Christians?

 

The scriptures do not speak of people hoping that they were Christians. They were told what to do and in so doing given the assurance that they had become children of God or Christians. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (I John 3:2). “The Spirit itself (Himself NKJV) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ;” (Romans 8:16-17). There is must deception in the world. We can be deceived by thinking we are Christians, when we have not complied with the will of God. We need to heed the words of Peter, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” (II Peter 1:10). He spoke of making things sure, and we need to dwell upon being sure that we are Christians.

 

It is possible for one to be religious and not be a Christian. The Jews, who were assembled for the Passover in Jerusalem , as recorded in Acts 2, were obviously religious. “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.” (Acts 2:5). Not only could they to be designated as religious, they were devout in what they believed. The word “Christian”, and what constituted becoming one, had not been preached at this time. When Paul was in Athens , he “stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said Ye men of Athens , I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitions.” (Acts 17:22).

 

The Athenians religiously worshipped their idols, but they were far from being Christians. Another version said of them, “I perceive that in every way you are very religious.” (ESV) A Christian is a religious person, but a person may be religious and not be a Christian. This is very definitely taught with numerous examples in the scriptures.

 

It is possible for one to be a good man and not be a Christian. Cornelius is an example of this. “There was a certain man in Caesaea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.” (Acts 10:2). Furthermore, his servants said of him, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews” (Acts 10:22).

 

While possessing these outstanding characteristics and engaging in these good works, he was told by an angel to send for Peter, “he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.” (Acts 10:6). He needed to hear the gospel and to know about Jesus Christ. When Peter came to Caesarea where Cornelius was, he preached faith in Christ, “And commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” (Acts 10:48). Christians are to be good men, but one can be a good man and not be a Christian. A Christian has put on Christ by being obedient to the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27).

 

It is possible for one to be a believer in Christ and not be a Christian. “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.” (Acts 26:27). Agrippa replied by saying, “Almost thou persuadest me, to be a Christian.” (Acts 26:28). He knew that becoming a Christian involved more than just believing. One must certainly believe in Christ to become a Christian, but one can believe in Christ and not obey Him to become a Christian. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou does well: the devils also believe, and tremble, But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19-20). Devils are mentioned in the gospels as believing, but certainly they were not obedient believers as Christians must be.

 

Family Happiness

(Gary Patton)

 

For a family to enjoy happiness in its relationship, it must have a deep respect for God's plan for the home. Happiness in the family begins with a proper relationship between husband and wife. This relationship must be based upon the principles revealed in Ephesians 5:22-23. This passage first indicates that there must be a standard of authority to be followed. Just as Christ is the head of the church, the husband is to be head of the wife, and therefore, the head of the family. This is not to be a relationship of cruel dominance by the husband or jealousy for not having more authority by the wife, but a relationship where the wife is respectful and loving in this subjection to her husband. The husband is told that he must love and cherish her, even to the point of giving his life for her. When God's plan is followed, happiness can be found in the family relationship that only God can give.

 

Most families are blessed with children and as they mature, once again God's plan needs to be followed by all concerned -- whether it is the parent or child. A feeling often heard expressed by young people is, "I can't seem to be able to please my parents." This is a genuine problem in the minds of many young people. Sometimes it is the fault of the parents because of a failure to fulfill their true responsibility to the children. Accomplishments go unnoticed, expressions of love and care go unspoken, always correcting, never praising. We as parents have a great two-fold responsibility in rearing our children.

 

First, we are to "provoke not your children to wrath" and secondly, "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." The idea conveyed in the words translated "provoke not" carries with it the idea not to break the spirit, or destroy one's will or desire. Parents must correct and punish, but it must be done in love. It must be done according to God's way.

 

Sometimes the problem of not being able to please one's parents is the fault of young people and not the parents. The important question a young person must find an answer to in order to please his parents is, "What makes one pleasing in the sight of his parents?" To find the answer to this question, we must go to the foundation of all truth -- the Bible. In Ephesians 6:1 we read, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord." The truth expressed here is that obedience is a must. Joseph was an obedient son and was loved by his father, Jacob. David was obedient to his father, thus demonstrating a trait that brings love from parents.

 

Jesus as a child was obedient to His parents in that He respected the authority of His earthly parents as well as that of His Heavenly Father. The proper motivation for obedience is respect for authority. If young people will demonstrate proper respect for authority by obeying their parents without arguing and complaining, and if that respect for parental authority is exercised when they are out of sight of their parents, then great joy is in the heart of a parent. The way to truly please one's parents is to show respect for authority in the home, at school, to the government, and most importantly, true respect for the authority of God and His word.

 

One's respect for authority is shown in whether or not obedience is present. Obey God, obey parents, "obey them that rule over you," as long as it doesn't conflict with God's law, and your family life will be happier and everybody will be a lot easier to get along with.

 

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you’” (Acts 17:22,23).

 

The Ultimate Paradigm

(Gary Henry)

 

The effectiveness of our life’s “journey” is largely determined by the “maps” of reality that are stored in our minds. If our maps are wrong — if they don’t accurately represent the “territory” as it really is — we’ll be misdirected and end up far from where we need to go as human beings. In the end, we’ll be disappointed with our “destination” if we’ve based our actions on erroneous ideas about what is true and real. Our perceptions of reality are very important. They need to be as accurate as possible.

 

But if we can see that our maps, our “paradigms,” are important in life generally, can we see how crucial they are when the specific subject is God? If by “theology” we mean the “study of God,” there could hardly be a study of more PRACTICAL importance. A. W. Tozer was right when he argued, “It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate. If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is.” To have maps of THIS territory that turn out to be wrong is to have a problem of eternal proportions.

 

None of us can say that we are entirely free of this problem. Even at our best, the tendency is for us to worship not the Creator, but creatures of our own desire. To some extent, all of us have involved ourselves in idolatry, which is the worship of something other than God as He truly is. So the question is not whether anyone presently has a full knowledge of God, but whether we are moving in that direction. Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Growing in our understanding of God requires honesty, humility, repentance, diligent study, and a host of other demanding requirements. But there can be no eternal life for us if we fail to set the knowledge of God as our highest goal and pursue it with wholehearted passion.

 

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” (A. W. Tozer).