Articles
It Is A Big Deal ... Or Is It?
It Is A Big Deal ... Or Is It?
Corey Sawyers
It was somewhat of the perfect storm. Two weeks ago today was Cinco de Mayo, the annual celebration of the 1862 Mexican Army's defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla. Furthermore, it just so happened to fall upon a Taco Tuesday! We made homemade salsa. We made homemade taco shells with my Momma's recipe. It was all so good until Gannon asked me a question. "Why do we celebrate Cinco de Mayo?"
The truth is, the "Fifth of May" is not Mexican Independence Day as many presume; the equivalent of America's Fourth of July (that would be September 16th). Most do not consider it even a major holiday in Mexico. It is not a federal holiday, so banks and businesses are open. Even at that, our family is of Irish and English descent from Tennessee. Like most Americans, our family has made the holiday bigger than it is in the country from which it came.
In the church, we can sometimes be guilty of this as well. We take traditions from other cultures, other religions, other times, and make them doctrine. We sometimes take Bible verses out of context to "proof text" what we want scripture to say (the danger of topical teaching and preaching). We emphasize what others might think, or "the way we always have done it" to the detriment of truth.
We must be careful to let the word of the Almighty, in its intended context, be our guide in all matters. Perhaps the "20-20 Vision" He intends us to get out of this most unpredictable 2020 is "Why do we do this or that?" Do we value the building over the fellowship? Do we place emphasis on "corporate" side of worship rather than the spiritual side? Do we spend more time, money, and effort on fixing up the building or building up the Body? Have we spent so much time being busy we forgot to be disciplining our own family?
May we instead remember the words of Jesus as He quoted Isaiah, "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!" (Mark 7:6-9).
