“Tradition”The very first Labor Day in America was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York. It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation was hastily created making Labor Day a national holiday , and it was rushed through Congress, unanimously voted in and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. If you are like me and most other Americans, I imagine, you were completely unaware of this fact. The story behind this holiday has long since ceased to be relevant; has long since been relegated to trivial piece of ancient history, but it continues to be celebrated. Why is this so? We observe a commemoration of something long-forgotten. Why do we do it? The short answer is this: tradition. We do it because we can’t remember a time when we didn’t do it. We do it because our parents did it. We do it because their parents did it. We do it because we’ve always done it this way. As Christians we need to be aware, really aware, of the influence that tradition plays in our spiritual lives and ways of worship. Tradition can be a comfort, it’s true, and a helpful tool in establishing positive behavioral patterns; but it can also be a stumbling block if we can’t differentiate between what is God’s Word, and what is man’s institutions (whether those institutions conflict with scripture or no). We all like to think we know, we all like to believe that we can tell the difference. But oftentimes we confuse scripture for what’s scripted, don’t we? Why is this, you ask? It all has to do with what source we choose to put our trust in. There are many brothers and sisters whose opinion I value; people who I look up to as good examples of strong Christian men and women. But whenever we begin to look at our fellow Christians as patterns for us to follow; reliable sources for instruction that we are to place faith in, we put ourselves in a dangerous spiritual position, just as some Corinthians did during the infancy of the early church. “My brothers
and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that
there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says,
“I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”;
another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow
Christ.”. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were
you baptized in the name of Paul?” Paul warns of the divisions that happen when we look to follow men rather than God. Again in the first Corinthian letter we see Paul entreating the brethren in Corinth to follow the example of Christ, and put their faith in God and his word: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” [1 Corinthians 2:4-5] So how are we to know the difference between what God wants and what man espouses? Study. We must be like the noble Bereans that we read of in Acts. They were not taking any man’s word for what to believe in, even the apostle Paul's: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” [Acts 17:11] There is nothing inherently wrong with keeping man-made traditions; there is nothing universally sinful in the maintaining of established observances. But when God’s Word and man’s “wisdom” come into conflict, we had better know which side we need to be on. But don’t take MY word for it. — Paul Seely, September 4, 2011 |