Things You Never See In The Bible
Good Morning,
I was thinking of the “religious” activities that seem to be accepted around the world, yet they never appear in the Bible.
In many third-world nations, you can find people tied to a cross and paraded around town. In some situations, they are actually nailed to the cross; this is done for some religious purpose, maybe to find favor with God or to atone for their sins. This ritual is one of many things we will find in churches yet never find in the Bible (some thing are even common in Baptist churches).
Paul calls some rituals “doctrines of devils.” That sounds serious, yet Paul defines these “doctrines of devils” as forbidding to marry and forbidding to eat meat (1 Timothy 4:3). Those two alone include half the world’s religions!
Most Baptist churches use voting for various situations: voting in a budget, voting for a new pastor, and (my ridiculous favorite) voting in new members. Sorry, but voting cannot be found in the New Testament. Perhaps in the selecting of men to care for widows in Acts 6, some might consider that voting in deacons. (It may be correct, but that seems to be a bit of a stretch.) Paul told Timothy and Titus to “appoint” deacons and pastors.
Calling a religious leader “father” is common around the world, yet it is not only never done in the Bible, but it was forbidden by the Lord.
Matthew 23:9 “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.”
There are many such things practiced in religion that we never see in the Bible. Seriously, if something was important, do we think it would not have been taught and practiced by the first century church? Do you think that maybe God would have recorded instruction about certain practices if He wanted them to be a part of the church?
Consider the practice of confession of sins to a man - this is certainly never taught in the Scripture. The baptism of babies is also never mentioned in the Bible. How about a church budget? (Gasp! This is a Baptist practice.) A church budget is not a matter of religion; countless Baptists around the world do not have a budget; it is simply a practice in America. We must be careful to not allow this tradition to turn it into a mandatory doctrine.
In religion, Mary is adored and worshipped and held in the highest esteem, yet in the New Testament, no one ever prayed to Mary or offered her any respect at all; in fact, Jesus simply called her “woman.”
The practice of women preachers is accepted in most denominations, yet it is clearly forbidden in the Bible. In addition, we should include women in leadership over men (1 Timothy 2:11-12). Paul tells Timothy that a woman is not to have authority over a man, but to be subject. Similarly, long hair on men and short hair on women is taught against in Paul’s writings (1 Corinthians 11), yet that topic is certainly avoided in many churches.
Air conditioning, church buses, and church nurseries are not in our New Testament either, but we do not call those things important to religion, just comfort. Many great churches around the world do not even have seating or walls; these are not religious mandates, but cultural conveniences.
It is vital that we guard our faith and protect it from corruption. The devil will be constantly searching for ways to destroy the church and its impact on the world.
May we be Bible believers and build our religious practices upon what the Bible teaches, not on the religious traditions of men.
Pastor