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Where Did You Read That?

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I grew up in the Bible Belt of the South, with people that love God, but are steeped in religious tradition. When I began to study the Bible, I was amazed at what was not in it, and sometimes at what was written in there. This message will probably offend many good religious people, but then so did Jesus.

In my own life, it has taken years to weed through religious baggage, and I still find pieces that don’t belong now. For some reason it is easy for us to believe the lie that God is mean, or that He is mad at us. It is much more difficult to believe that He truly loves us, that we are forgiven, that we can now come boldly before Him, but this is the truth that scripture teaches.

Many things taught as the Bible are merely personal preferences. For example: Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” is not found in the Bible, but someone thought that it should be and started passing it down through the generations. Now many people believe that it is from the Bible.

This is not a new thing but as old as mankind. There has always been a tendency to add more requirements to serving God. Even in Genesis, it began:

(Genesis 2:16–17 NKJV) “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Later the serpent asked Eve about commandment and she said:

(Genesis 3:1–3 NKJV) “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

So now there were rules about touching, fondling and holding the fruit. Even though there was only one commandment, they managed to add “Do not touch” to that one.

When the Israelites were bitten by serpents, God had Moses make a bronze or copper serpent and place it on a pole. Anyone that was bitten could then look at the pole and live.

Num. 21:9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

When Hezekiah became king, he had to destroy the bronze serpent because the Israelites had named it and began a tradition of burning incense to it:

2Kings 18:4  He (Hezekiah) removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

What started as a good thing became an idol itself.

The Pharisees passed down an oral law called the “Talmud” that accompanied the written law recorded in the five books of Moses. It is huge and covers rituals, worship, God-man and interpersonal relationships, from dietary laws to Sabbath and festival observance to marital relations, agricultural practices, and civil claims and damages.

There is nothing quite as dry as institutionalized religion.

When Jesus was teaching the people, the Pharisees became angry because He did not teach His disciples their oral law.

(Mark 7:1–7 NKJV) “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.

Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

The Pharisees thought they were pleasing God, when in reality it was all in vain.

When the Holy Spirit descended and the first church got started, God did the unthinkable and started bringing in the Gentiles, us. This caused a serious stir among the Jews, who were amazed that Gentiles could be saved at all.

(Acts 11:4–18 NKJV) “But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying: “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’But I said, “Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered me again from heaven, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.’Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, “Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, “John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Even though God had accepted the Gentiles, and told Peter to not call them unclean, some Jews came in and started teaching them that they must be circumcised in order to be saved.

(Acts 15:1–2 NKJV) “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.”

So they had a meeting known as the Jerusalem Council and there they settled the matter. It is recorded in detail in Acts chapter 15, but here was the final verdict:

(Acts 15:23–29 NKJV) “They wrote this, letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

One key to spotting tradition is bondage. Religious tradition will always bring you into bondage but the Holy Spirit will bring freedom:

Paul wrote in (2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV) “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

How deep is this embedded in our culture? Here some examples of things being added to the Bible:

- God said “Don’t be drunk with wine” and we change it into “Can’t drink at all.” Then we try and make the Bible support the little tradition that we have created and it becomes a twisted work of man that when poked at all, falls apart because Jesus drank wine, the Jews love wine, and His first miracle was turning water into wine.

Matthew wrote: (Matthew 11:18–19 NKJV) “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.’The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

So then we try and say that it was “unfermented” grape juice. Now grapes ripen in September and Passover is a spring festival around April, so the grape juice at the last supper would have been at least seven months old. As a winemaker, I can tell you that they had no preservatives and in thirty days, fresh grape juice begins to ferment and becomes wine by itself. Open a bottle of Welch’s grape juice, set it on the counter and check it in thirty days if you do not believe me.

- Don’t eat “some kind of something.” Paul wrote: (1 Corinthians 10:25–27 NKJV) “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness.” If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake.”

Sylvia and I were vegans for a while until we started breaking out in boils from vitamin deficiencies like zinc and iron, which comes from meat. When we started eating meat again we found that some of our friends had turned a diet into a religion. Christians are free to eat and drink whatever is sold in the market place, including bacon and catfish. Eat what you like, and let others eat what they like.

Mark wrote us: (Mark 7:14–15 NKJV) “When He (Jesus) had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.”

Paul wrote Timothy: (1 Timothy 4:1–5 NKJV) “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

Paul wrote: (Romans 14:1–3 NKJV) “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.”

- Sabbath day disputes and holidays. Many want to worship God on Saturday, others on Sunday, some on other days. We are to let no one judge us or feel guilty over what day we choose:

Paul wrote us: (Colossians 2:16 NKJV) “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths”

And: (Romans 14:5–6 NKJV) “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.”

Jesus Christ is the bridge between the two testaments and everything goes through His resurrection. Before Jesus was resurrected, you needed to be circumcised. Afterwards you did not. All commandments must be passed through the cross of Jesus. Somethings passed through untouched, somethings changed, somethings were abolished.

Don’t let your personal preferences get mixed into God’s commandments.

More examples:
* Clothing, Ties, Pants, Jeans, Dress length
* Makeup, Jewelry
* Hair styles
* Dancing, Singing
* Musical instruments: Guitars, drums
* Styles of music, country, rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, fusion
* Political parties - He probably does not belong to yours
* Bible translations - He wrote it and does not need a translator

All of these things are personal preferences and should not be taught as if they were from the Bible. Of course you should dress modestly and not have your private parts exposed to the elements like a baboon, but even that is just one of mine. Peter probably fished naked because when Jesus called to them from the shore, he had to put on his loin cloth.

So why does this matter? How is this relevant to our life today?

When I was in my twenties, I attended a baptist church that was very energetic. Most people sit a few rows back because he was a hell fire and brimstone preacher and when he got rolling, he would be shouting and prancing back and forth, and may spit on the first couple of rows.

For several weeks I had been sharing my faith with a friend at work and finally he had agreed to come to church with me. As far as I know, he had never been to church before, and I was young and naive about the traditions of men at the time.

We were both musicians, but where I was clean cut, he actually looked like one. He had really long hair like most rock and roll drummers did in the 80s and a few tattoos, but he was a good hearted guy that would give you the shirt off his back.

The church had been having a revival meeting all week and the preacher brought a solid message every night about salvation and knowing Jesus, love and mercy, heaven and hell, the works, followed by a very effective altar call. He had a great conversion rate.

Wanting my friend to hear the message about Jesus uninterrupted, I got us seats on the front row and we settled in to listen. When the preacher walked onto the stage and saw my long-haired friend sitting on the front row, the message suddenly changed from how Jesus came to seek and save the lost, to how shameful it is for a man to have long hair. He yelled his way through the scriptures with a red face while staring directly at us.

I sank lower and lower in my seat as the service went on and my excitement gradually became disgust. I slowly realized that they only wanted to share the good news of Jesus amongst themselves, and they seemed to hold me in contempt for bringing a sinner into their temple. It was as if I had brought moist dung to their dinner table.

We crawled out of that building in shame. How could I have embarrassed my friend like this by bringing him to such a place. I never went back to that church, and I am not sure if my friend ever went to church again. He stopped talking to me and we finally lost touch.

(John 3:16–17 NKJV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Gods door is open, but once people get inside, they try and close it to keep others out, to make it into a private club. God is inclusive, we are exclusive.

Jesus said: (Matthew 23:13 NKJV) “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

Praise (Halal): Halal is a primary Hebrew root word for praise. Our word “hallelujah” comes from this base word. It means “to be clear, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish.” To make the Lord look good! Lord, you are Awesome!

But when we add our traditions to His word and make it more strict, we turn Him into a “Sky Bully.” The world looks on and laughs. There are so many people that will not come to the Lord because they are put off by the foolish traditions that are being taught there.

We take the Awesome God of Heaven and instead of making Him look good, we make Him look like a fool with our petty little traditions like “Don’t let Jesus catch you in the movie theatre.” Where did you read that one?

Jesus said “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 NKJV).

But we squabble over what someone wears or who they voted for, or their choice of music. Did we read any of Jesus’ words?

It is ok to not drink wine, or not eat something, or not go to the movies, but don't tell others that Jesus will be mad at them if they do for it is only your personal preference. Love God, Love others, and don’t make Him into a Sky Bully.