Tradition or Truth?

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Sunday morning, we had a rousing and somewhat uncomfortable conversation in Sunday School. Before we even started our lesson, the topic of the Southern Baptists and women pastors came up. As a reminder, I grew up Southern Baptist. I went to a Southern Baptist university. We currently attend a Southern Baptist church. I am, by no means, anti-Southern Baptist! I am very thankful for my roots, for the strong foundation I have in the Word of God.

As you may know, the Southern Baptist Convention recently removed two churches who had female pastors. I wasn’t prepared for this topic to come up, but we ended up spending quite a bit of time on it. As I stated, I haven’t studied the topic in depth and I’m not ready to say where I stand. I do know, however, that God placed a calling on my life. I do know a number of my dear, godly, female friends who have left the denomination so they could be ministers.

As I have grown and matured and sought the Lord’s face, I have come to the conclusion that I have held to many traditions, elevating them to a place of truth. God has really worked in my heart, opening my eyes to His Word. I have learned to study the Word carefully and seek the Holy Spirit’s direction and discernment.

My daughter is currently attending a Christian university associated with another denomination, a denomination that holds to baptism as necessary for salvation. This summer, she has been traveling with a band from the school, and her c0-vocalist ascribes to this theology. They have had a number of conversations discussing their differing beliefs.

Cassie recently texted me to ask my opinions. She gave me 1 Peter 3:21 as the verse this denomination holds to as evidence that baptism is a necessary part of salvation. I loved it when she sent me some notes and scriptures she had typed up as she dug into scripture to determine where she falls on the topic! I love that her beliefs are being challenged and she is looking to scripture to determine what the Bible actually teaches rather than simply defending her view or quickly switching her beliefs based on someone else’s interpretation of scripture!

She will emerge with a stronger faith because it has been challenged!

There are so many areas of life where we seem to hold to traditions instead of truth–or at least areas where we need to take a deeper dive into scripture.  As we’ve mentioned, there’s the topics of women in ministry and baptism. But what other areas? I have discussed on this blog many, many times how God has changed my thoughts on divorce and remarriage. What about the  gift of speaking in tongues? Or the baptism of the Holy Spirit? What about the “once saved, always saved” theology?

Here’s my point: each of these topics has many different viewpoints, all with a firm foundation in scripture. The Baptists use scripture to support their stance against women pastors just as the Methodists use scripture to support the opposing viewpoint. There are at least three perspectives on divorce and remarriage, with all sects using scripture to justify their stance. No matter the topic, there are multiple experts using scripture to back up their belief.

But the different viewpoints cannot all be correct.

My question is: Have you really gotten alone with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to determine what you believe or are you simply taking what someone else has told you all your life? Are you holding onto tradition or truth?

As you contemplate that question, here’s a view things to consider.

Read the scripture carefully. Can I let you in on a little secret? the Bible was not written in English! The original Greek and Hebrew texts have been translated, and sometimes words lose meaning in that translation. There are many great tools available that allow you to go deeper by looking into the original language.

It’s not just about translation thought. You have to look at the context. What is the purpose of the book? Who was the book written by? Written to? Was there something going on in the culture that prompted these words?

The conversations I have with my oldest child differ from the ones I have with my other children because they are all unique, with different strengths and different struggles and different lives. It’s the same with the Bible. The authors were writing to different people and different churches. The content and the purpose is different. It must be taken into consideration.

Compare your thoughts to the whole of scripture. We cannot divorce any part of scripture from the greater whole. Scripture will never contradict itself, so we must take the known truths and weigh our interpretation next to those. Some people would consider divorce unforgivable, but to make that decision is to go against the truths of God’s complete forgiveness.

Another thing to consider is how often is this topic discussed. If there is only one or two verses in the entire scripture, we need to be very cautious about building an entire theology around those verses. The more a topic is mentioned, the more complete a picture we get of how God really feels about that topic.

Does your interpretation mesh with the character of God? Remember, all of scripture is about God. We must know God and His character before we can interpret anything. God is loving and forgiving, good and kind. He is also just.

I always go back to divorce and remarriage on this one. Without going into great depth, we must remember that God loves us as His children. His heart is one of compassion toward us. Scripture is full of examples where He clearly stand for the oppressed. If He repeatedly talks about providing for the oppressed, why would He expect anyone to stay in an abusive marriage or pine away until death because his/her spouse left Him? His perfect plan is one man, one woman, for life, but He would never elevate and institution above an individual.

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you discernment. God gave us the Holy Spirit to be our companion on this journey called life. The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict us of our sin, be our helper, guide us to closer to God. But the Holy Spirit also pours out wisdom and discernment.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 says it this way:

These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Is it essential to the Gospel? And maybe another thing we need to consider is why are we as Christians so divided over topics that are really not that important? Why can’t we unite over the essentials of the faith and let the non-essentials such as whether we should use instruments in worship go by the wayside?

When Jesus Christ prayed for believers in John 17, He prayed for unity! We have strayed so far from His ideal condition for us. You see, the enemy doesn’t need us to fight against the world; he only needs us to be divided against one another. Our disagreements do more damage to the name of God than anything else.

I end with this one primary question: Are you holding to truth or tradition?

If you are holding to truth, I applaud you! Your faith must be strong, your foundation immovable!

If you are holding to tradition, for the glory of God, please get alone with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit!

If you aren’t sure, good for you! You are in a place where God can really begin a mighty work in you so He can do a mighty work through you!