Testaments and Traditions

So I have been reading the epistles in the New Testament lately (mostly because they are short) and through reading the words of the apostles and saints I realized a few things (ok, a lot of things, but I will try not to ramble).

First, I realized the necessity of the Old Testament being part of the bible. The Old Testament is really the original holy book and you cannot read just the New Testament and understand the references that early Christians include without reading the original scripture. Besides Genesis, what comes up in sermons I have not read any of the Old Testament. In going through a few letters from apostles and early saints I realize that they quote these scriptures just as we modern day Christians quote the new testament in our own lives and writings (my past posts being a good example). In Jude alone there is a reference to the Lord saving the Jews from Egypt (something I need to read about in the Old testament, as I do not remember the full story), Sodom and Gomorrah (I know that one!), something about the archangel Michael and the body of Moses (another one I need to read about), someone named Cain (don’t remember), and the list goes on, but you get my point; there are many old testament references that I do not know. I am beginning to see the importance of understanding the way the Jews live/lived in order to understand my own religious traditions and beliefs.

The issue I have with traditions, however, is that sometimes they are taken for granted. God doesn’t care if you are catholic and go to confession on a regular basis or if you pray at certain times of day every day, but what he truly cares about is that you worship him whole-heartedly.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5

In the end it is where your heart is at, not where your traditions lead you. God should be the reason you are praying, not tradition.

At Christmas dinner with my extended family yesterday, my father passed on the responsibility of saying grace to me. I thanked God for family and for the food, though I could have prayed for so much more because God is just that good in our lives. It may have been tradition for my father to say grace at meals with our extended family, but the tradition was broken this year because he knows I worship whole-heartedly. I see my dad not going to church and living a worldly life and I know that when I look upon the prayer I said, though not the best and most formal prayer, I know that God blesses my family just the same and He knows that my heart is truly focused on Him, maybe even more so than my father.

Traditions are nice for those who already have a strong heart for God, like the tradition of confession. Yes, we all must confess our sins and repent, but to those Christians who just go through the motions to follow the tradition of it and dislike the practice of it, then they do not truly connect with God in the way He deserves.

Some traditions at my parent’s church I dislike because they are so set in stone, word for word. We read the same confession of faith every week and sing the same hymn just before communion etc. For the longest time I was resentful of church because the guidelines were so structured. When I truly accepted God into my life, I started to feel that connection and realized that once that connection is already established, then the traditions add to worshiping Him. Unfortunately those same traditions are what held me back from truly loving God in the first place.

[also read Mark 7:1-23 for further scripture on the subject of traditions]

God gave us free will so that we humans can choose to love him instead of being forced to do so. Traditions do not lead to that love and only worshiping God and accepting Jesus for our individual sins will lead us to the kingdom of heaven and even a better life on earth.

Maybe you have many worldly possessions, but if you know that God comes before those worldly things, then your heart is in the right place (and if you give up those possessions you have no true need of, then God will love you all the more for truly living for Him!).

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God…. Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age… and in the age to come, eternal life.” Matthew 10:25, 29-30

Live for God, forget about world and live for Him. Such a simple thing, but also the hardest to do, especially in America: the largest consumer nation in the world.

My mother is a very materialistic person. Today we were going through the good china, putting it away since we used it for the party the day before and I mentioned that she has a lot of material possessions and a lot of things she rarely uses, such as the multiple sets of china (4 or 5 sets of differing china, crystal and glass wares). I mentioned the biblical quote about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven. She actually started arguing with me that the possessions she has all hold memories (her deceased parents, wedding gifts, dishes from when she was a kid, etc). I admit objects hold memories, but what really matters are those long ago memories, not the objects that go along with them.

She basically admitted that she was a materialistic person with many possessions, though she acts more as though we are not considered rich and therefore do not have to worry about falling in the rich man category. I tried to point out that in the eyes of God, holding on to those worldly things are what shows that we are not living for God, and yet she refuses to walk with Him because of her ‘riches’.

I love my mother and I pray for her salvation, and even my father’s, as neither of them truly live for God even though they call themselves Christian. My brother is completely against religion and God and many of my friends live in sinful lifestyles and either deny God and Jesus or live in sin anyways. I pray for those who need saving and to those who are saved, I pray you continue to walk with God and love Jesus, our savior. I hope God blesses you and that you live your live for him; not material things, earthly relationships, or even feeble traditions.

Peace ~ Pyung Ahn