Why Do We Do That?
THE PROBLEM WITH TRADITIONS
The snow falls outside the frosted windowpane. Glowing lights from the Christmas tree are visible a block away. The table setting glitters, and the family gathers. Out comes the Christmas ham, split in two, resting on a silver serving tray, and smothered in pineapples.As home-cooked scents fill the air, the youngest child at the table inquisitively asks her mother, “Why is the ham cut in half like that?” Puzzled, her mother thinks to herself and responds, “We always cut the ham in half at Christmas.”
As children often ask, “Why?” was the follow-up to her mother’s answer. She looks to her husband for support. He shrugs his shoulders. The mother leans down at eye level with her child.
“Pumpkin, when I was your age, grandma used to cook the ham and always cut it in half. And her grandma before her, and her grandma before her. It’s just tradition.”Not satisfied with her mother’s argument, she looked up, brown eyes wide, and responded again, “But why?”
IT’S ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY
This scene has played out many times. The response we would hear when we were kids was often the same: “It’s tradition.” Have you ever stopped to wonder where these traditions come from? We do many things in our everyday decision-making without examining the reason why as well. If you’re honest with yourself, many of the things you hold dear may be simply tradition at this point.
Jesus is after our heart and motivations, not aimless actions and empty traditions.
TRADITIONS AND GOD
Traditions are no new thing to Scripture. The Israelites issued 613 rules regarding performing offerings, practicing ceremonies, and carrying on traditions. You name it, they had a reason for it. The problem with humans is that we tend to morph what is good, holy, and commanded by God into something heartless, dry, and routine. “Hypocrites!…These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:7-8 NLT).
We go through the motions in everyday living in our relationships with God, church, family, friends, and co-workers. Do you pray before meals? Or read the Bible every day? Do you tip the server after a meal, but according to their performance? When you give gifts at holidays, is it just to the people who have loved you back this year? None of these are bad things, but as humans, we are very adept at forming habits and forgetting the reason behind them.
Like a childhood game of Telephone, the practices we perform today are handed down from generation to generation, mentor to mentor, church friend to church friend, with original intentions disappearing along the way. Praying before a meal is good, but not if it’s used as a way to seem holy to your family or friends. Tipping at a restaurant in America is practically non-negotiable, but we’re so quick to do it on a graded scale instead of as a way of making a stranger’s day regardless of credit.
Jesus is after our heart and motivations, not aimless actions and empty traditions. “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices? says the LORD. I am sick of your burnt offerings…I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats…Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts” (Isaiah 1:11-13 NLT).God wasn’t changing His mind about the system of sacrifices He initiated with Moses. Instead, He was calling them to sincere faith and devotion. He takes no pleasure in outward expression if inward faith is missing.
DO IT FOR HIM
God loves us too much to let us sit in meaningless traditions. Each of us needs to determine whether a tradition is distracting us and needs to be tossed, or is drawing us to God and is worth keeping. So, how do you know? It’s all about joy. If the tradition is bringing you joy in Christ, and spreading it to others, then that’s a beautiful one worth keeping. By contrast, if it’s draining you because you’re caught up in pleasing others, society, or even yourself, then maybe it’s time to give it up. It’s not always easy, especially when it’s something that your family holds dear, but God promises one thing, and that’s Himself. Choosing to trust Jesus instead of traditions, is true joy. Rather than being chained by customs, you can be free to love others.
Oh, and you want to know the reason the ham was cut in two? It was so it could fit in such a small oven all those years ago.