What is Traditionalism?

“The Lord said, “These people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach rules that men have made.   So see, I will once again do great things with these people, great and wonderful things.   And the wisdom of their wise men will be gone.  The understanding of their wise men will be hidden.”

It is bad for those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, and whose works are done in a dark place. They say, “Who sees us?” or, “Who knows us?”                    Isa. 29:13-15 NLV

The accusation made toward the people of Israel in Isaiah 29:13 is one of a number of accusations the Lord placed upon His people as they continued to disobey His commands and ignore His prophets.

As the prophet Isaiah describes, the problem with Israel at this time was not that they refused to come to worship.  It was not that they were going through the wrong ceremonies.   The problem was their hearts.

The people spoke true words of God with their lips but their hearts were far from Him.   They did not mean what they said.

This is a greater danger for people when they worship or pray using a prayer book because what they read can become so familiar that they do not think about what they are saying.   They are tempted to recite the words without believing the content.   They find themselves mouthing the words of morning prayers, for example, and realize their thoughts are miles away.

Because their conscience is pricked by such thoughtless prayer that they reason that the liturgy itself is to blame.  The point being that liturgy or form is not the problem.   The problem is with the hearts of men.  It is not the liturgy or rites of the Church that need to change but the heart of every man/woman who prays and worships.

King David said, “You do not want sacrifices,
or I would offer them;
you are not pleased with burnt offerings.
 My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God;
you will not reject a humble and repentant heart”.   Psalms 51:16-17 GNT

From these verses poor reasoning would allow some to conclude that God does not care about sacrifice in worship.   But to conclude this would be a failure to remember that sacrifice was God’s idea to begin with.  

It was God who specifically instructed what animal must be offered for what sin and what steps needed to be taken to make such a sacrifice.   King David does not state that God does not care or no longer wants a sacrifice in worship.  It is stated that He does not delight in such sacrifice.  His delight is not there because the heart of the people is not there.

King David recognizes this as he prays that God would create in him a pure heart, a clean heart.  An unclean heart has its attention upon matters of the flesh while the lips are pretending to be worshipping God.

God is looking for our undivided attention when we worship.   

God does not need us to care about Him as a person needs to be cared about.  God wants our undivided attention for our benefit, not His.   When we give Him undivided attention we hear living words.  When we give Him undivided attention we are equipped for good works in Christ.  When we give Him undivided attention our souls are renewed.

To pay lip service to God only when at worship and prayer is to go through the motions.  It is bowing to the idol of tradition!  It is ROTE!

There is great arrogance in man-made traditions.

Traditionalism is worshipping God without the heart of a worshipper attending to God.

Remember that you or your family members are not saved because of the traditions you follow but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!

“Then Samuel said to all the family of Israel, “Return to the Lord with all your heart.  Put away the strange gods and the false goddess Ashtaroth from among you. Turn your hearts to the Lord and worship Him alone….”  I Samuel 7:3 NLV