The Devil's Favorite Saying

The great offense

"Billy, do you know it's better to leave the ends of the brisket on when you BBQ them? You are wasting the best parts".

"My daddy did it that way and so will I"!

"But there is a better way to do it".

"I don't care about how you do it, you don't know my family".

"Why are you getting so offended? No, I don't know your family. But why don't you ask them why they do it the way they do"?

Billy asks Daddy

"Daddy, why do you cut the ends off the brisket before you put it on the BBQ"?
"Because, son, that's the way my father used to do it and his briskets were the best".

"Grandpa, why do you cut the ends off the brisket before you put it on the BBQ"?
"Because, grandson, that's the way my father used to do it and his briskets were the best".

"Great Grandpa, why do you cut the ends off the brisket before you put it on the BBQ"?
"Because, great grandson, my grill was too small for a whole brisket".

The Devil's favorite saying

Do you know what the devil loves to hear from Christians?
"That's the way we've always done it".
He loves it, because often what that means, particularly to later generations is, "We don't want to think, we just want to repeat what was handed down to us from our ancestors".
Thinking takes work. Changing what your ancestors did means they were wrong.

If there is one thing I hope my kids learn from me, it's that we are always learning and improving. I hope they will take what I have taught them, compare it with scripture, and improve where I have erred. Because I do err.
I will roll over in my grave if I ever hear one of my kids say, "That's just the way I was raised". or "That's just the way my daddy did it".
I'm a non-conformist. The good part of that is that I challenge everything. The bad part of that is that I challenge everything.
Do you know what a non-conformist hates the most? It's another non-conformist who doesn't conform to his standard of non-conformity.
Get it? Yeah...

Seriously though. I'm not a non-conformist just to be difficult. I conform to some traditions, but I refuse to conform to anything that I don't understand. I refuse to walk in blind faith.
I'm the "why" guy.

Why did you punch my grandma in the face?

I am so comfortable challenging traditions that it got me into a little bit of hot water when I first moved to Alabama. There is a lot of tradition in Alabama!

Innocent me opens his mouth and begins asking, "why". Well, it took me about two years before I realized you don't go around challenging traditions in Alabama!
I call it the, "Why did you punch my grandma in the face" syndrome.
It goes like this.
I ask, "Why don't you homeschool"? Thinking they have thought through all the options and decided to do what they do.
They hear, "Your grandma who didn't homeschool is an idiot and you should do things differently than her".
I ask, "Why do you still sing hymns"?
They hear, "Why do you hate my grandma's favorite music"?

It was a tough first few years.
They really should require passports to come down here!

It wasn't really as bad as I'm making it sound, but the struggle is real. Not my struggle, but those who struggle against the power of tradition. It is crippling. When you think that any new thing you do is going to offend your parents or ancestors, then you are living to please people and not God.

Notice I said, "ancestors", grandma doesn't even have to still be alive? The power of tradition doesn't require life. It has a life of its own.

An example

The most extreme example I can think of is over two thousand years old and yet it still wields power over many in the church.

Questions:
Is the building the church meets in "God's house"?
If you have problems, do you need to seek out a preacher, a holy man, to pray for you?
If you have sinned, do you feel the need to offer a sacrifice(more money) to God to feel better?

Many of you will say no to all of these questions, but let me tell you, there are many-many-many who see no problem with it.
God's house is the temple.
A preacher is a priest.
A sacrifice is our works.

And we wonder why there is no power in the church!

Many of us are in bondage to a two thousand year old tradition called the Old Covenant. We follow these traditional beliefs and fail to realize that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us!

We are the temple of God.

We are priests to God.

Jesus is our final sacrifice.

I don't want to overstate my case, but I really believe that traditional, "the way we've always done it" mentality is killing people. Jesus came to set the captives free.

Where is the freedom?!

Have you ever read church history? It ain't pretty. It ain't even average. It's down right disgusting. The things we will do in the name of tradition is--well--it's down right disgusting.

That's why you should all conform to my non-conformity! :)

Jesus and the Pharisees

Who did Jesus condemn the most? The traditionalists or the adaptable ones? The cry of the Pharisees was, "Our fathers"!
The cry of the new covenant people of God needs to be, "Holy Spirit, teach me your ways".

Break free from foolish traditions and understand the power that lives within you! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead!

"The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."


The thought that the Creator of the universe would deign to come down and dwell among us, even within us, and we would rather follow men! Oh, the misery. Let's not let it be so!

Be free...

Song:

Psalm 8