Tradition and Superstition

1 John 5:21

  • Happy New Year!

  • Today is a day, like several holidays, where you have certain things you are supposed to eat.

    • Hoppin’ Johns – black eye peas and rice, symbolize luck in the coming year.

    • Collard greens – symbolize wealth for that year.

    • Cornbread, ham.

  • These things are at best a tradition, at worst a superstition.

    • There is nothing wrong with doing things traditionally for the sake of tradition.

    • E.g. Going inside the bank instead of using the ATM.

    • Even in religion, there’s nothing wrong with it necessarily.

    • E.g. Meeting on Wednesday evening for a Bible study.

    • What’s wrong is if it counters another command or principle in Scripture—if we have no authority for it.

      And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Col. 3:17).

    • We can study Scripture, sing, and pray at any time, but the Bible only has the example of the LS and collection on the first day of the week.

    • So we should not use tradition to say we can do something the Bible does not give authority for.

    • We might eat these foods at this time for the sake of tradition—because we’ve always done it—but we should not think that we will have good luck or prosperity simply because we eat something on a particular day.

  • We often say that idolatry isn’t really much of a problem in our culture today.

    • And it isn’t, at least when it comes to carving a statue, bowing down to it, and pretending its talking to us.

    • Instead, we have people pretending the true God is talking to them.

    • But many also put things before God in their lives.

    • And we might even have faith in things besides our Lord—many are superstitions.

  • There are lots of superstitions that people cling to, whether jokingly or seriously.

    • Picking up a penny heads up.

    • Walking under a ladder.

    • Breaking a mirror.

    • A black cat crossing your path.

    • Spilling salt.

    • A horseshoe over your door.

    • The position of the sun among the constellations when you were born (sort of).

    • The position and motions of the sun, moon, and planets at any given time.

    • Putting something on top of your Bible.

    • Not fishing or mowing the lawn on Sundays.

  • There may be some legitimate origin to some of these modern superstitions, but ultimately they are baseless.

    • Not putting something on top of your Bible shows great respect for God’s Word, but the logic falls apart under scrutiny.

    • I don’t fish or mow the lawn on Sundays, but not because of anything the Bible said.

  • There are lots of things that we do (or don’t do) for the sake of tradition.

    • Ultimately our faith needs to be in God and in Him alone.

    • If He sees fit to have good things to happen to us, it isn’t because we ate black eye peas today.

    • If He sees fit to bless us monetarily, it isn’t because we ate some collards.

    • The converse is true, too.

    • Often traditions are fun and harmless, but let us make sure they never develop into superstitions.

    • This takes faith away from our Lord and misplaces it.

    • And if that’s the case, would it not then be idolatry?

      Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21).

  • A few days before Christmas, on Dec. 21, several members of a Catholic Church in Louisiana brought 100 gallons of water to an air field.

    • A priest blessed it, turning it into holy water.

    • The water was put into a crop duster, and sprayed all over their community.

    • This allegedly blessed the community.

    • I first saw this in a FB group, and commented, “Good thought but superstitious nonsense.”

    • And it was a good thought, they wanted to bless a community.

    • But their tradition, for which they have no Scriptural authority, has turned into a superstition.

    • It would be comical if it weren’t so sad, that people actually believe this will do more than rain would.

    • If they really wanted to help, why not donate money to a food bank or volunteer at a homeless shelter? They may already do that, but keep doing that rather than doing something costly but useless.

  • As we begin this new year, let us make sure we put our full faith and confidence in our Lord, not in superstitions.

  • If you want to really make a new start this year, why not become a Christian?