Raised in Tradition and Refusing Anything Else

When someone was raised with holidays and love those holidays more for the feelings they get than the truth, it is impossible to reason with them about the truth.

Most people will make excuses or change scripture, or worse, ignore scripture to justify their desired beliefs. It is the reason the church gatherings are such a mess. Traditions are more important because of the sense of safety in doing what one has already done.

When feeling safe, accepted by the group, and enjoying the pleasure of the belief becomes paramount in someone's life, then Christ is an add-on, in other words, only to make themselves believe they are honoring Christ when He is not really very important.

Mark 7:13 "13 Thus, you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

"Many such matters" is what we are encountering right now. Those who love the word of God and proclaim it among church members will be maligned, dismissed, and even rejected outright for their desire to actually follow Christ without traditions of men.

The traditions of men are very powerful because they manipulate feelings, which dominate our culture far more than truth does.

I remember a little boy who was chastised for his rude behavior. His response was, "You made my feelings cry." He was not ashamed of how he acted when confronted. He was blaming the one who corrected him for making his "feelings cry."

This is where we are now in our culture: feelings are more important than truth, the very reason most people never change or grow more mature in their responses to life. They remain angry, full of gossip against anyone who will correct them.

Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ."

1 Timothy 4:1-2 "Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron."
Never fear those who reject you because you do not fall into the deceptions of our age.

Matthew 10:27-28 "…27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."