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The incessant friction between God’s word and man’s traditions

Isn’t it revealing that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law never bother Jesus and his followers on not following the word of God but only when their traditions are not followed? Traditions make people judgmental. Since traditions are man made they tend to become more personal when broken, hence the natural judging reaction.

Traditions tend to deal with superficial things where God’s word (commands) goes to the heart of the matter.

Jesus warns us of the inherent danger in the traditions to pull us away from the commands of God (from that which is clear coming from God) – Mark 7:8-9. It is ultimately realizing what the gravitational center of each is. Traditions tend (by default) to center us on man and … well, commands of God on God. The commands are static, fixed. They represent God’s communication to us. Traditions are fluid, they are man’s attempt, at their best, to make sense and apply the commands of God. It is important, however, to keep the distinction clear and not let them mingle and blur the line. In our attempt to understand God’s word to us so we can apply, it there is an inherent tendency to equate our understanding and thus application with the command itself (huge temptation). When we give in to this temptation we inevitably set foot on the path to focusing on our tradition and forgetting where it all started (the command of God).