Dear Student of the Word,
Greetings and may the blessing of this Easter resurrection season be with you! I know it's a holiday weekend, but I still thought I would send along the latest installment from Mark's gospel. We are steadily moving through this study and I also took steps this week to publish my first study, The Faith Files, in ebook format. Eventually, every one of my studies will be published, a copy of which will be found in many libraries all over the world! How's that for a goal!
At any rate, this week I wrote:
7:11-13 -- The tradition of the elders concerning care for parents conveniently circumvented the Law that Moses had decreed. All one had to do was devote what he had to God and then that possession could not be used to help a needy parent. For example, "Mom and Dad, I would like to help you, but I dedicated and devoted my savings account to God and I can't use it to help you. Sorry!" This must have been commonplace for Jesus to use it as an example of the tradition of man trumpint the word of God.
It is a priority with God for families to help their members and for children to honor their parents, with practical financial help if necessary. It is important that we stay aligned with God's priorities. For instance, God puts a high priority on helping the poor. The Western church puts a high priority on facilities. We will pay the utility company whatever they say we owe them for air conditioning, but we won't always help the poor. That is an example of man's traditions overriding God's priorities. Am I against buildings? Absolutely not! I just don't think they should be built or maintained at the expense of God's clearly-stated priorities.
Jesus said there were many such inconsistencies like the example He gave. Can you think of any other examples from modern church life or society? How about missions work? We collectively spend millions of dollars on pizza for youth gatherings to babysit young people, but don't spend nearly that much on missions work. If you can't think of any other examples, then you may be so much a part of your culture that you aren't aware of where it has dulled your senses and lulled you to sleep.
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