“Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. ‘Watch out!’ Jesus warned them. ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, ‘You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’’ Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
When I was a youth I attended Westside Church of Christ in Eugene, Oregon. Much of my understanding of what it meant to be and act like a Christian was learned in that fellowship. It took me many years to undo some of the lessons learned.
Example: What is the role of women in the church? I learned there that the place of women in the church was limited. Our organist was a woman. Because of that the organ console was moved from the stage to the floor at the foot of the stage, lest a woman be seen as a leader on the stage. Women could teach Sunday School, but only until the children reached school age. At that point a man had to teach. A woman could not teach an adult class, lest she be in leadership over a man. The place of service for the women was in the church kitchen, preparing the communion elements, and serving and cleaning up at our frequent potlucks. Women were to have no role in evangelism.
I loved that church. The people there were kind and loving to me and my sister, and they led us to the Lord. They loved the scripture and passed that love on to us. My first ministry position was in that congregation, as choir director.
But the yeast of their traditions and extreme social conservatism had a strong influence on my early attitudes and presuppositions about how ministry was to be done. Like many of them, I became a Christian Pharisee. Not until I was 30 or so did my life and attitudes begin to change. It was then that I learned that the scripture was to be taken whole, not just certain verses that supported my pre-established positions.
My experience was not dissimilar to that of a young Jewish person in the day of Jesus, growing up in a culture so ruled by traditions that the heart and soul of God’s voice in scripture was largely unheard. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the champions of the status quo, while Jesus was (and remains) the revolutionary voice of God calling us to deeper, better, stronger. Many of the traditional churches in America are in decline. That is so, I think, because they are the voice of a past culture—well-reasoned, moderate, calm, well-organized…and lacking in passion.
Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. He told him that the wind blows wherever it pleases. He said that we hear its sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. He then said that the unpredictability of the wind was like everyone who was born of the Spirit.
Our traditions are valuable. They can tell us where we have been and what our elders considered valuable. But in each age and in each life the Holy Spirit will assume a new and different voice so that we might continue to speak with newness into the hearts of contemporary people.
When Jesus and his disciples reached their destination, returning to Bethsaida, they were met immediately by people bringing a blind man to him. Jesus healed him completely, making his life new and completely changed. Can you imagine how powerful that man’s story was? In this age we play at faith. But when we give ourselves completely into the hands of our Christ we leave behind the traditions of men to follow the voice of our wild and powerful savior.
Prayer: “Jesus, I sometimes become so habit-bound that my soul becomes dry and dusty. Water me with your spirit. Blow through my life with gale force and drive my boredom away. Show me new truths and give me new people to love and care for. Help me to live in the center of your will so that my life is not wasted on things that matter little. I give myself into your care in this day. Amen.”