The Idols We Turn To: Traditions

Last week we discussed the idol of the world and the allures that come with living in the world. Today I want to think about an idol that most people would never consider that they themselves have. This is the idol of tradition.

Let’s read together 2 Kings 17:34-41

When we think of tradition, we think of many different things whether it be traditions around holidays or your daily trip to get coffee. However, as we consider traditions this morning, I want us to think about the spiritual habits that we make. These habits may include things we do privately, specific beliefs we have about God, or even things we do as a church. I’m not here to tell you what specific traditions in your life are idolatry but for us to recognize that it is certainly a possibility. We will explore tradition as an idol by asking four questions. First,

Are traditions even idols?

I know that some may be asking if this is something that scripture even highlights. The answer to the question is that having a spiritual habit is not an idol by itself. Jumping back to our definition of an idol, a tradition is only an idol when we become loyal to it over God.

When we look at the interactions that Jesus had in the gospels with, they would often cling to their traditional ways over believing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. This obviously was a significant issue for them and they took issue with the claims that Jesus made.

The important thing to keep in mind when it comes to traditions is that they might be well intentioned in the beginning and have a great deal of spiritual value. However, over time we have a tendency to forget why it is that we do thing.

This is the case with many habits. For example, when I am backing up a vehicle, I always turn around to see if there is anything behind me even though all of our cars are equipped with backup cameras. It is something that I’ve always done.

Now, the difference in this case is that there are so many things that we do as followers of Christ that we should evaluate to determine whether or not we are just doing them for the right reasons. Your habit of praying before meals may have began for the right reasons but do you tend to go through the motions at each meal without any sort of sincerity?

Traditions are not idols by themselves but can certainly become that way.The next question that we should ask is

Why do we cling to traditions?

Most often, we tend to hold on to traditions because it is what is familiar to us and what is most comfortable. We’re told in v. 34 that the people of God did “according the the former manner”. We don’t have much context here as to how the former manner came about. However, if we look to a couple of verses above, we can see two places where we are taught our traditions.

First, there are times that they come from the world. I would say this sort of tradition overwhelmingly can be filed away in the area of idolatry. Verse 33 reads.

In other words, because God had exiled the people for their disobedience, they did not return to Him but instead began splitting time. At this point they feared God but also served their own Gods. I need to be clear here that any tradition that causes us to split time away from God is an idol and is absolutely sinful.

The other place that we see this is earlier in the chapter is in verse 19. Judah actually adopts the way of living that Israel had introduced. It is as if they didn’t know any better because there had never been an example given to them about what to do. Yet God rejects the people because of their sinfulness.

It is important to keep in mind when it comes to the things of God that we put him first in all things.

How do we avoid traditions becoming an idol?

Hear the words from the Lord in verses 34-39.

What is the danger?

Sin is generational and is difficult to turn away from. Verses 12 and 13 tell us that the Lord calls out to His people. And what was their response? Verse 14.

But look at the danger in verses 40 and 41.

We have a tendency to cling to what we know and what is comfortable rather than doing what it is that the Lord has called us to do!