A dedicated Hindu has found Christ, the only One who can free Him from the bonds of sin and death. Upon his turning to Christ, he has become aware that the Hindu idols he has worshipped in the past represent all that is opposite of Christ. His spiritual eyes are opened and he sees them for what they are—evil and demonic.
As he and his converted relatives seek to rid their home of these idols, gathering them for a fire in their backyard, there is quite a stir among their Hindu relatives and neighbors. As this family that God providentially saved out of such wretched manmade religion sought to please the God who led them from all-encompassing darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2:9), they encountered much hatred and opposition.
The young man says the following as he describes this particular time in his life:
“At first neighbors and relatives steadfastly refused to accept the forgiveness God offers through Christ. I understood exactly how they felt. Nothing could persuade them until truth meant more to them than tradition.”
Let’s read that again—
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
I was struck profoundly and immediately upon reading this sentence with how relevant this sentence is to us all! How tempting is it to place TRADITION over TRUTH? None of us is immune from this temptation.
This is not just a temptation to those who are in foreign false religions, such as Hinduism or Buddhism. This is why so many stay in “Christian” religions and churches that are clearly far from true, biblical Christianity. It is generally why Catholics who claim to be born again stay Catholic. It is why people stay in “worship” services that have become mockeries of all that is sacred. It is why legalists stay in their legalistic churches that add works to salvation. It is why those who profess Christ continue going to churches that ignore and neglect the Bible.
Tradition and familiarity are painfully difficult to leave.
They are. There is no question about it.
This profound insight was a great reminder to me that we can never let tradition or familiarity be our driving factor when making any decision, particularly decisions about our spiritual health.
We must instead be guided by TRUTH. The truth we find in God’s Word alone.
The young Hindu from the story above (true story) sought TRUTH over his tradition. The cost was great, but the reward was so much greater.
There is nothing wrong with tradition or familiarity. These things can be quite good and helpful and sometimes they travel in a parallel path with truth.
But when there is a fork in the road and we are forced to choose tradition or truth, may we be sure to follow hard after TRUTH. For that is the only thing that will lead us towards Christ and eternal life.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥; 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦. (John 8:31-32)
AMEN