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#31 Don’t replace God’s commands with your traditions
Read Matthew 15:1-20
“3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honour your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honour their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.”
Human beings have a strong tendency to assert themselves above God. One of our sneakiest and most harmful strategies is to add our own take on God’s commands. This disregards the purity of God’s commands, adds contrived burdens to the lives of those around us and, cruelly, promises them that if they meet the demands, God will reward them. Jesus notes that the religious leaders of the day have taken this to an extreme, by creating [religious] traditions that actually encourage people to “violate the direct commandments of God”. He uses one example of this to drive home not only the violation at play but also the importance of the original command to, “Honour your father and mother”.
As a religious Jew, Jesus and his community were bound by God’s command to ‘honour your father and mother’, which included financial provision in their old age. However, a religious practice called corban evolved to provide a financial loophole for people who wanted to appear religious but keep their wealth to themselves. Corban allowed voluntary pledges of money or materials to the temple. While technically “given” to the temple treasury, donors were still able to access those funds provided they were used exclusively for their own personal needs. Rather than “honouring” their parents as God had commanded, adult children could declare to their parents, “I’d love to meet your financial needs, but I’ve pledged all my savings to God and I couldn’t possibly break my promise to him!” Corban enabled people to be honoured in the community as “generous” while living in direct rebellion to God. This enabled greed to masquerade as generosity.
Jesus’ warning should cause us to consider our own life. Do we practice any accepted religious or cultural traditions that fly in the face of God’s commands? It could be going into debt to fund a church project instead of meeting the needs of family, friends or neighbours. It could be a full week of church activities instead of sharing even one meal with a spouse, parent, sibling, child or relative who is isolated. It could be endless availability to mentor or pray with other Christians, but a lack of interest in those God holds us responsible for. While participating in traditions that give us a reputation or applause is tempting, it can easily masquerade as an unwillingness to obey God’s commands.
So, are there any “Christian” practices that have limited you from honouring the family God has placed you in? Have your family’s imperfections given you an excuse for not honouring them?