As we continue the God’s Image study, our examination of the first commandment brings us to the authority we give religious teaching.
In the previous post, we considered receiving someone whom God sends. That raises another question:
What happens when someone’s teaching leads us away from the command God gave?
Jesus addresses a situation where people carefully preserved a tradition while setting aside God’s instruction.
Holding One While Leaving Another
Jesus says:
“Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
— Mark 7:8, LSB
Notice the two actions: leaving and holding.
The people addressed were holding firmly to something. Their commitment, however, did not establish that what they preserved was faithful to God.
The passage asks us to examine what receives priority when a tradition and God’s command come into conflict.
That question belongs within our study of putting God first.
A Specific Example: Father and Mother
Jesus gives a concrete example involving the command to honor father and mother.
He describes a practice in which someone could designate as Corban—a gift devoted to God—something that otherwise could have benefited a parent. The tradition then prevented that person from doing anything further for father or mother. Jesus identifies this as invalidating God’s word through the tradition handed down. Mark 7:9–13.
The religious designation did not remove the conflict.
Something could be presented as devoted to God while the practice surrounding it undermined what God commanded.
We will return to the Father-and-Mother command in its own study. Here, I want to preserve both named roles and the particular problem Jesus exposes: human teaching was being used to set aside an obligation established by God.
Religious Language Can Conceal the Conflict
This example makes me pause over the explanations I accept.
A practice may sound reverent. It may have an established name, a long history, and respected people defending it.
But I still need to ask what it does to the command itself.
Does the explanation help me follow what God said? Or does it give me a way around it?
I cannot answer that simply by asking whether the teaching is familiar or widely accepted. I need to place the teaching beside the passage and examine the relationship between them.
The concern is specific: Does this instruction preserve God’s word or override it?
“We Must Obey God”
Acts gives another account in which religious authority and obedience to God come into conflict.
When challenged over continuing to teach in Jesus’ name, Peter and the apostles answer:
“We must obey God rather than men.”
— Acts 5:29, LSB
That statement identifies the higher obligation.
The position held by those giving an instruction does not place their demand above God.
For me, this is an essential distinction when considering the first commandment. Respect for a person cannot require giving that person the final word over what God commands.
But I must identify the actual conflict. Personal disagreement alone does not establish that someone has contradicted God.
I need to show what God says, what the person teaches, and where the two differ.
Drawing Disciples After Themselves
Paul warns the elders in Acts 20 that danger can arise from within their own company. He describes people speaking distorted things in order to draw disciples after themselves. Acts 20:28–30.
The direction of the influence matters.
Are people being helped to remain faithful to God, or drawn into loyalty to the speaker?
This warning gives me a reason to examine how authority is exercised, including by someone I already trust.
Does the teacher welcome careful examination of the passages? Is correction possible? Does belonging depend upon faithfulness to God or upon protecting the teacher’s position?
These are questions I draw from Paul’s warning. They also apply to me when I share a study.
What Happens When the Teaching Is Mine?
It is easier to examine another person’s tradition than my own explanation.
But an understanding does not become God’s command because I developed it, defended it, or repeated it for years.
If I ask others to remain open to correction, I must remain open too.
Can I show the steps between the passage and my conclusion? Can I acknowledge a detail that requires further examination? Am I helping readers follow Scripture, or asking them to trust my certainty?
The first commandment reaches into that responsibility.
I do not want my own teaching to occupy the place I say belongs to YHWH (יהוה).
Obedience and Love Belong Together
Jesus connects wholehearted love for God with love for our neighbor. Matthew 22:37–40.
Mark 7 shows why those concerns must remain together. A religious explanation affected what someone would do for another person.
Our understanding has consequences.
When a teaching permits neglect, excuses dishonesty, or demands loyalty that overrides God’s instruction, we need to examine it carefully.
For me, putting God first includes refusing to let religious language conceal disobedience.
When what I have been taught conflicts with what God has commanded, which one will I hold—and which one will I release?
Threads to Follow
Leaving and holding: Examining what receives priority.
The Corban example: Religious dedication and the command concerning father and mother.
Obeying God: Recognizing the limits of human authority.
Followers drawn to a speaker: Testing the direction of religious influence.
Our own teaching: Remaining accountable to the standard we ask others to follow.
Love in practice: Considering how an explanation affects our treatment of people.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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