Bible, Tradition and Cliches

Have you ever listened to someone voice their convictions using a string of Christian cliches or catchy quotes borrowed from a great preacher of the past? Has it every bothered you? It has me, in fact, I am almost always bothered by it. Some of the reasons I am bothered are not righteous. However, I think I have at least one very excellent reason to be troubled by a steady diet of such preaching. Frequently we have left Biblical reasoning for traditional or clicheic reasoning, and the new ones in the faith are the losers by it. Those who are mature, or at least set, in their faith, know why they have taken the stand they have. Frequently they know the Biblical and cultural reasons that led to their convictions, and so when a preacher states a time honored truism, they can say a hearty amen. However, the newer believer doesn’t have all the background, he doesn’t understand all the Biblical principles that have gone into the truisms. All he hears is a pithy quote. If the new convert has any Biblical wisdom or curiosity at all, he is not going to just accept a statement at face value, he is going to look in Scriptures to find its basis. What happens when a newly converted Christian fails to find the preachers quote in the Word? At times the new convert will listen to the preachers instruction and continue on his way, following the man rather than Christ. Far too often the new convert questions the pastor and receives for his trouble a harsh reply and no answers. Sometimes the believer decides either the preacher or the Word is mistaken and so he doesn’t have to follow either. No matter what the response is, far too often the result is a believer who no longer lives his life by the Word. For those of us in ministry leadership, we have to decide if we want Christians to do what is right because the preacher tells them to or because they have been convinced by the Word of what is right. The danger of following a “convictions by personal conviction” practice is you will probably not have a church full of people all following the same standards that the preacher follows. Then again, you probably won’t anyway.

Let me issue a simple, straightforward challenge. When you are in any teaching situation, whether it be teaching a church, a class, or a child, explicitly teach the Biblical truths. Open the Bible and point out the passages that teach the principles or commands on which you are basing a point. Don’t just look for the passages with short, pithy verses that seem to make your point. Draw out the passages in their whole, so that the learner can see the principles as they are laid out in the Word. Don’t just issue the edict of what must and must not be done, go to the Bible so the hearer can see God has issued the edicts and the reasons He has given for doing so. We also need to be very careful that we avoid the assumption that what is clear to me is obvious to everyone else. Have you ever had a conversation with someone in which they thought they were being perfectly clear and understandable while you had absolutely no clue what they were talking about or where they were coming from? Sometimes we do this with young Christians. While we have all the background, study and baggage that allows us to understand ourselves, and others who speak like us, most young converts do not. They have their own baggage, background and study. Our task in teaching new believers is to give them the Biblical background and foundation so that they can assimilate the truths of the Word into their particular life circumstances.

I see two great dangers in a teaching through traditions and cliches, the first is a tendency to follow men rather than God. Creating men followers has its advantages, and even some Biblical foundation. After all, Paul repeatedly told believers to be followers of him. Paul told the believers to mark them which walked as Paul did and follow them. The Bible clearly indicates that we can and should be imitators of men around us. In these passages, the emphasis is not on following a single individual and it is definitely not concerned with creating clones of a person. The Biblical point of following men is to help us in our imitation of Christ. We follow Godly men so that we may better follow Christ. The men are not the end in themselves, they are a means to the great end of being Christlike. As we teach others, if we fail to teach them Christ as the ultimate authority and final end, then we fail in giving to them the vision they need to grow in their Christian faith to the goal God intends for them. The other problem with teaching through tradition and cliche is we move away from the supreme Biblical standard to a standard that is well intentioned and probably Biblically based but does not have the same force or weight as the Word. The classic example of this is the Judaism of the Pharisees in Christ’s day. All of us would quickly proclaim we are not Pharisees, and I trust we are not hypocritically putting on a set of standards for attention and influence. Christ did not only address the Pharisees hypocriticism, He also addressed their departure from the Biblical commands to traditions of men. In departing to traditions, they left the force and intent of the law. We do the same when we teach traditions and catch phrases. We draw people’s minds away from the Word, and we place as the standard and authority something that is less than the Word. We must not do that. Only the Word has the power to pierce men’s hearts. We can use catchy statemetns and powerful quotes to impress the minds, but only Scriptures can convict the heart. Let us keep focused on what is most essential and most effective in the proclamation truth, the imitation of Christ through obedience to the Word.

That brings to mind the matter of our church traditions and the necessity for them to give way when they are no longer dictated by the Word or need of our time. Several of these great traditions were great tools to further the work of Christ and to protect the holiness of His church. These things may no longer be furthering the cause of Christ, and in some cases they are actually hindering. I am not for a moment suggesting that we drop all standards, tradition or respect for those who have fought before us. By all means we must build on the foundation that has been already laid. We must treat our predecessors with the utmost respect and dignity. We must not malign or scorn the standards and traditions of the previous generations. What we must do is learn from them and learn to accurately apply the timeless Biblical principles to the changing times in which we live. Let us not hinder future generations by only teaching them the standards we have developed. Let us push them further toward Christlikeness by teaching them the Biblical principles and the cultural issues that drove us to conclude for some things and against others. Let us exalt the Word by clearly defining what is Biblical mandate and what is cultural necessity. Let us not compromise the Word by raising our standards to the level of Divine Truth.