Traditional Christianity vs the Bible: An Example of Traditions Over the Word

Christians are supposed to be consistent with their views and living out their faith.

However, the thing we are to be most consistent on is keeping to the Scriptures.

If your pastor or teacher says anything against the Scriptures, it’s time to find a new church.

Most Christians will have ideas of progressivism or conforming to certain agendas when I say this.

That’s also important, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about not staying consistent with what the Bible says within the text throughout the entire narrative.

All the way back in Deuteronomy, we are warned never to add or take away from God’s Torah.

His instructions, the commandments of the LORD. Many pastors today add things to the text that the text never says.

Here are some examples (some might be silly):

EXAMPLE I:

Pastor: “You can’t make out with your partner before marriage. It’s a sin.”

Reasonable Person: “That’s not what the text says. There’s no commandment against that and Song of Songs is about an unmarried couple that loves each other. Not to mention Solomon wrote it about one of the women he had joined himself to out of hundreds and yet it is still scripture.” [The Bible is not a Western book, and I’m not endorsing or condemning this practice. I must be objective.]

Pastor: “But sexual immorality! The Bible says not to commit sexual immorality.”

Reasonable Person: “Right, which is defined in Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20, and religious harlotry verses. Making out is not there.”

Pastor: “Jesus said, ‘Looking at a woman is adultery!’ I’ve got you!”

Reasonable Person: “Adultery is attempting to steal a married woman in the heart, or committing the act itself with a woman who belongs to another man. What does that have to do with what you said earlier? Stop misquoting Jesus.”

Pastor: “Jesus would have meant what I think. Thinking a woman is gorgeous is a sin.”

Reasonable Person: “God creates women and calls them good, but we are sinning by having a natural response He called good? How is that adultery? I can see how Satan would love to use that idea to keep people trapped, though.”

Pastor: “What we say goes, because of traditional thought. It’s always been this way.”

Reasonable Person: “Jesus called out traditions added to the Word of God. The Pharisees were famous for this.”

EXAMPLE II:

Pastor: “Drinking alcohol is forbidden. Repent of enjoying a glass of wine now and then.”

Reasonable Person: “There are commands in the Torah that allow strong drinks and wine for celebration, as long as you don’t get overly drunk.”

Pastor: “The Bible and the Apostle Paul are negative about alcohol. It’s a sin.”

Reasonable Person: “Jesus drank wine, and He was even accused of being a drunkard for it. If drinking is a sin, why is the Perfect Lamb of God who is without sin able to do this and still be our sacrifice for sin?”

Pastor: “….”

EXAMPLE III:

Pastor: “Enjoying art and entertainment in this world is evil.”

Reasonable Person: “God gave mankind the ability to create the different arts and even uses music in His worship in Israel.”

Pastor: “But that’s not secular. I meant listening to secular artists, watching secular shows, reading worldly books, and playing evil games.”

Reasonable Person: “The Gnostics were famous for saying everything in this physical world was evil and everything in the spiritual world was good. You’re repeating their mistakes, which Paul calls out (Colossians 2:20-21).”

Pastor: “But the spirit is separate from the physical, meaning this world is only bad.”

Reasonable Person: “Hebraic thought merges spirit and body as essential to each other, and God also called the world He made good. But you, as a pastor, are surely more righteous than God Himself. Somehow I don’t think so.”

Pastor: “But entertainment has witchcraft and lightsabers. These are evil. The Bible commands against witchcraft.”

Reasonable Person: “True, but real witchcraft is a definable belief system and an array of actions that follow it within a certain religious paradigm. Reading about fantastical magic is not practicing real witchcraft. Otherwise, we’d be sinning by reading about the Witch of Endor just for the fact she’s a (real) witch.”

Pastor: “You’re making things up and adding to the Bible! God would never say that.”

Reasonable Person: “Specks and planks, I wonder who said something about those….”

This satirical set of examples is from my extensive study of Scriptures for the past 18 years. I have found much of what Christianity thinks is a sin is not actually a sin, and vice versa for things that are sins. Isaiah said there would come a time (which started before he had even said it) when good would be called evil and evil called good.

It doesn’t matter what we think is good or bad. Only God gets to define what good and evil are.

God will not ask Bryan Rivera-Rivera what He should define His morals as. He will not define His morals by current society, future society, or any society. He will ask no one else about these things in what is the prerogative domain of Him alone.

If I fall short of man’s standards, I’m okay with that. But if I fall short of God’s standards, which include making up sins and adding traditions that aren’t biblical, I’m not ever going to be fine with that.

He whom the Son frees, is free indeed.

Or, like Paul said, “Don’t let yourself be ensnared again with a yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1).”