TRADITION'S ROLE (18 OF 52)
Scripture: Mark 7:1-23
This content is part of a series.
Tradition's Role (18 of 52)
Series: Descipleship
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 7:1-23
Traditions are useful things. They help us organize our lives, understand how to interact with others, and give us a sense of security. They order our culture and expectations, helping us interpret the actions of others. Traditions help us know how to understand others and guide us in interpersonal relationships. They help us relate to social institutions and moderate definitions and actions we consider criminal. Traditions provide security and stability to a society. They can also cause problems. When they become problems, we are not always aware of it. It requires attention to their purposes more than to simply following them.
It is simply too easy for us to forget that traditions do not necessarily help us navigate new contexts and occurrences. We need the flexibility to adapt traditions as we are faced with new realities. Life around us changes, the people and cultures change, and technology changes with a changing workforce. Our understanding of the natural world changes, along with a need to respond to those changes in how the Bible answers the new questions raised by the shifting sands of life all around us. Are we prepared to evaluate the traditions we hold dear and reorient them to keep our lives on track in following God's purposes?
Changes were happening in Jesus's day, though not as rapidly as in the present. The realities of Roman occupation was a drastic change from the days of city states in Ancient Israel. The ability to travel freely throughout the Roman Empire in relative peace was a big difference from the uncertainties faced by nomadic peoples. There were also different cultural and religious changes which had transpired from pre-exilic days. Israel was no longer concerned with idolatry within Judaism. That question had been settled in the days of Babylonian exile. With that, many of the concerns over ritualistic purity were of lesser import. There ...
Series: Descipleship
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 7:1-23
Traditions are useful things. They help us organize our lives, understand how to interact with others, and give us a sense of security. They order our culture and expectations, helping us interpret the actions of others. Traditions help us know how to understand others and guide us in interpersonal relationships. They help us relate to social institutions and moderate definitions and actions we consider criminal. Traditions provide security and stability to a society. They can also cause problems. When they become problems, we are not always aware of it. It requires attention to their purposes more than to simply following them.
It is simply too easy for us to forget that traditions do not necessarily help us navigate new contexts and occurrences. We need the flexibility to adapt traditions as we are faced with new realities. Life around us changes, the people and cultures change, and technology changes with a changing workforce. Our understanding of the natural world changes, along with a need to respond to those changes in how the Bible answers the new questions raised by the shifting sands of life all around us. Are we prepared to evaluate the traditions we hold dear and reorient them to keep our lives on track in following God's purposes?
Changes were happening in Jesus's day, though not as rapidly as in the present. The realities of Roman occupation was a drastic change from the days of city states in Ancient Israel. The ability to travel freely throughout the Roman Empire in relative peace was a big difference from the uncertainties faced by nomadic peoples. There were also different cultural and religious changes which had transpired from pre-exilic days. Israel was no longer concerned with idolatry within Judaism. That question had been settled in the days of Babylonian exile. With that, many of the concerns over ritualistic purity were of lesser import. There ...
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