If we replace the Scriptures with human ideas, whether handed down or self-developed, we relocate the centre of Christianity and begin to worship a different god, a god who, not surprisingly, looks very much like me. This is one of the reasons Christians dive so deeply into conspiracy theories and become enamoured with nearly everything except Jesus Christ.

Honour Your Parents

First, this passage tells us what God means in the fifth commandment when he requires that children honour parents. For children, Ephesians 6:1 says that the fifth commandment means obedience. Many Christians conclude that the fifth commandment means nothing once the child leaves his parents’ home. Jesus differs. Honour doesn’t look like ideological conformity. It does look like material support. The Pharisees had said the fifth commandment did not require certain individuals to support their parents financially in their old age, and Jesus excoriates them for laying aside the Word of God. Apparently, those who teach that the fifth commandment does not require that adult children support their parents financially in their old age are people who set aside the word of God. What would Jesus say about those who teach that the Fifth Commandment has nothing to say to adult children who have left their parents’ home?

Apply Scripture

Second, legitimate applications of Scripture are authoritative and binding. Jesus applies the fifth commandment to honour parents by including something that the commandment did not specify (material support), and he calls that inclusion “the Word of God.”

Repent of Idolatry

Third, this passage tells us that we must sharply differentiate between the Word of God and human tradition. We cannot confuse the two. The Pharisees had elevated human tradition to the level of Scripture, and where the elders’ tradition exempted certain individuals from supporting their parents, and the fifth commandment required it, God’s word was set aside in favour of the elders’ tradition. Jesus excoriates such people as hypocrites and idolaters.

Binding Others to Your Ideas

This shows up in our Christian world today when older generations of Christians insist that younger generations conform to the way we’ve always done it. Younger generations insist that they get to establish their own way and that older generations have nothing to say to them. Conservative Christians attack less conservative Christians because they don’t conform to all their ideas about how Christianity ought to work. Less conservative Christians attack more conservative Christians because their ideas are not considered valid. In each circumstance, the situation is the same. We are elevating our own ideas to the level of Scripture and making them binding for all people.

How can we avoid this danger? It’s a very prevalent danger. What will test and reveal whether we are elevating our own ideas to the level of Scripture or not? What will open our blind eyes to this tendency?

One Revealing Test

The best way to become aware of our blindness is to sit down and listen carefully to other Christians who differ from us. Usually, those who refuse to listen to other Christians who differ from them are aware that if they did sit down and listen, it would unveil the faulty foundation upon which their traditions stand. We would suddenly find out that other Christians have just as good, if not better, reasons for doing what they do. We may discover that they have more biblical reasons for what they do than I have for my traditions.

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