The Tyranny Of Tradition

Godliness is expressed through how we live. The manner in which we conduct ourselves reveals a great deal about who we are. We are not saved by how we live, but because we are twice-born, we will reveal our salvation through how we live. In the Ephesian Encyclical, Paul has instructed we who follow Christ, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” [EPHESIANS 4:1-3].

Later, in that same missive, we read, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” [EPHESIANS 4:17-27].

Thrift and productive lives in which we provide for ourselves and our families is a tradition to be cultivated among the faithful. You may recall how in the second letter to the saints in Salonica, Paul pointed to the traditions they were taught. Early in the brief missive, the Apostle wrote, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” [2 THESSALONIANS 2:15].

While we can’t say precisely what the traditions had been delivered to the congregation of Salonica through the spoken word of the missionaries, we do have the traditions that were included in these letters we would know as First and Second Thessalonians. Paul speaks of a tradition that some may find surprising when he writes, “We command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us” [2 THESSALONIANS 3:6]. It is obvious that the tradition to which the Apostle refers is the tradition of working to provide for oneself. We see that this was very important in Paul’s view elsewhere in his letters.

In the first letter to Timothy, we are provided with an example of the Apostle’s emphasis on diligence in providing for one’s own family. Paul wrote, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” [1 TIMOTHY 5:8]. Diligence, hard work, was at least at important as purity in speech, speaking truthfully, and avoiding unrestrained anger, if the context of this teaching has any meaning at all. In other words, sloth is as wicked as lying, filling your mouth with curses, or being someone ruled by anger.