The Religious Spirit: When Christian Traditions Become Bondage

I will never forget one comment. It showed me how Christian traditions can take hold of our lives.

Years ago, a sister said every Christian should attend a crossover service on December 31. In her mind, the Bible commanded it. She also felt that churches that did not do it were wrong or less spiritual.

I grew up in Cameroon. Like many Christians in Africa, we went to church every December 31. We prayed our way out of the old year and into the new one. It was beautiful. It is still a wise and helpful practice.

But that was not the problem.

The problem was that this sister had turned a good practice into a command from God. She also used that practice to judge other Christians.

This is a clear picture of the religious spirit among us.

Today, I want us to look at one part of the religious spirit. It can bring us into bondage. Sin is not the only thing that can hold people captive. Human rules can also bind us when we treat them as commands from God.

Tradition Is Not the Enemy

The Greek word paradosis means something handed down. The New Testament speaks of tradition in both good and bad ways. Paul told believers to hold firmly to the traditions they received from him:

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”

— 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (KJV)

So tradition itself is not bad. We will always have traditions. They can pass on truth, bring order, and build Christian community (1 Corinthians 11:2; Acts 2:42).

Tradition was meant to serve truth. Truth must never be made to serve tradition.

When a Practice Becomes a Command

Jesus showed us where the danger begins:

“For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.”

— Mark 7:8 (KJV)

“And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

— Mark 7:9 (KJV)

“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”

— Mark 7:13 (KJV)

Look at what happens. First, people hold tightly to a tradition. Then the tradition begins to carry the weight of God's voice. Soon, God's true command is pushed aside so the tradition can stay.

The religious spirit does not always tell us to leave Christ. Sometimes it tells us to add something to Christ:

• Christ + our customs.
• Christ + our church group.
• Christ + our dress code.
• Christ + our culture.
• Christ + our rules.

Soon, the added thing becomes our test for who is a real Christian.

A church can say, “This is how we do things here.” But it should not claim that God requires every Christian to do it.

The religious spirit hides that difference. Preference becomes principle. Custom becomes command. Culture becomes doctrine.

When Tradition Becomes a Burden

Jesus said this about the religious leaders of His day:

“For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”

— Matthew 23:4 (KJV)

Notice the word bind. They were putting heavy loads on people.

Many Christians still carry loads God never gave them. They pray, fast, dress, or spend money because someone called a human rule God's command. They may even make major life choices that way. When they fail, they feel guilt, shame, fear, and defeat.

Watch these two words

Religious bondage often begins with “You must.”

Sometimes God truly says we must do something. But sometimes the rule came from a person, a church, or a culture. It may even come from our own mind.

When Christians Add Something to Christ

Acts 15 gives us a clear example. Gentiles heard the gospel, believed in Jesus, and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44–48; 15:7–9). Then some teachers arrived with another demand:

“And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.”

— Acts 15:1 (KJV)

Circumcision was not evil. The problem was that these men made it a requirement for salvation. They added something to Christ.

Peter answered:

“Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”

— Acts 15:10 (KJV)

The apostles later wrote:

“For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;”

— Acts 15:28 (KJV)

The Holy Spirit does not give us permission to place needless religious loads on God's people.

A good practice can become bondage when people force it on us. Paul had Timothy circumcised for a ministry reason. But he would not let anyone force Titus to do the same. It had become a test of faith (Acts 16:3; Galatians 2:3–5).

A free choice

I may attend a crossover service. Wonderful. But I must not say every faithful Christian must attend one. The Bible does not say that.

A free choice

I may fast on a certain day. Wonderful. But if I say Christians who do not fast that day are less spiritual, I have made my practice a rule God never gave.

Where God Gives Freedom, Religion Makes Rules

Romans 14 speaks about food and special days. Paul did not force one practice on every believer:

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”

— Romans 14:5 (KJV)

One Christian keeps the day. Another does not. Both belong to Christ. Neither one should judge the other (Romans 14:3–4, 10–13).

God gives freedom. Religion wants a rule.

Paul warned us not to let people judge us over food or special days:

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:”

— Colossians 2:16 (KJV)

This makes the religious spirit hard to spot. Bondage can look strict, humble, wise, or holy. A person may seem spiritual because of things they refuse to do. But more rules do not always mean more holiness.

Paul warned about teachers who would forbid marriage and foods that God created (1 Timothy 4:1–5). Their rules sounded spiritual, but they went beyond God's Word. Extra limits do not always produce extra holiness.

When Spiritual Leadership Becomes Control

God gave pastors, teachers, prophets, and other ministers to His Church. We need them (Ephesians 4:11–12). I am a teacher, and I deeply believe in God's gifts to His Church.

I once met a brother who said he did not believe in pastors anymore. I understood his pain. Pastors, prophets, and teachers had deeply wounded him. Yet his answer was still wrong. We should not reject God's plan because some people have misused it.

There are false and controlling ministers. There are also true ministers who lose their way. But many pastors, prophets, teachers, and churches are faithful.

• Do not let another person's sin push you into your own.
• Pray for your leaders and give them grace.
• Know God's Word and test what you hear.
• Never give your conscience to another person.

There is also another danger. A leader can move from spiritual care into spiritual control.

My wife once told me about a woman who could not make a choice without asking her spiritual mother. Even private family choices were under that leader's control. In some cases, a husband and wife may seek a leader's permission to be close to each other.

I hardly know what to call this. It is a kind of Christian witchcraft: one person takes a level of spiritual control over another Christian that God never gave.

Paul was shocked when believers placed themselves under religious bondage:

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?”

— Galatians 3:1 (KJV)

Please notice the word “bewitched.” That is a very strong word to use for Christians.

If God used that word through the Apostle Paul, then this was a serious issue.

These believers were not living in open sexual sin like some of the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:1). They were adopting Jewish customs in a way that made Christ seem insufficient.

It may have looked small on the surface. But to God, it was serious enough for one of the sharpest rebukes in the New Testament.

That should tell us something. Adding religious traditions to Christ is not a small matter when we say they are needed to be right with God. It strikes at the heart of the gospel.

Paul also warned that some believers would accept leaders who brought them into bondage:

“For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.”

— 2 Corinthians 11:20 (KJV)

We must never hand another person the place that belongs to God.

A Special Danger in Prophetic Settings

This danger can grow in prophetic settings. I believe in prophecy and in the gift of the prophet. But a respected leader may claim God gave him a new rule. If the rule is not clear in Scripture, trouble can begin. Few people will ask questions because the leader said, “God told me.”

God may give a person a special step to take. But that does not make it a rule for every Christian.

Imagine a pastor feels led to start Sunday service with one hour of praise. Before that, the church used thirty minutes. The church follows the new plan.

Over time, the practice is handed down. By the third or fourth generation, people may no longer see it as a church custom. They may think it is God's command for the whole Church. Then churches that have praise and worship for thirty minutes suddenly seem to be disobeying God.

What changed?

The practice may still be good. The chain appears when we treat that practice as God's rule for everyone.

The Bondage of the Religious Spirit

The word bondage is also strong. It means something holds us down and takes away our freedom. Bondage brings pain, stress, and sometimes deep suffering.

Sin is the kind of bondage we know best. But sin is not the only bondage in the New Testament. The law can also become a yoke when people use it as a way to earn righteousness (Galatians 4:21–31; 5:1–4).

Think again about the Pharisees. Jesus said they were binding heavy loads on people (Matthew 23:4). What were those loads? They were hard religious duties that God did not command.

The people spent time, strength, and money trying to keep them. When they failed, they felt guilt, shame, and blame.

Pause and ask

Are you doing something now that takes much of your time, strength, or money, even though God did not command it?

• You may have placed the load on yourself.
• It may have come from your church.
• It may have come from your Christian culture.

It may look spiritual and still be a burden God never gave you.

Stand Firm in Your Freedom

Galatians 5:1 is often misunderstood. Many sermons use it only as a warning not to return to sin. That warning is true, but it is not Paul's main point in this passage.

Paul warns believers not to return to the law as a way to become right with God. Christ has freed us from the pressure of trying to earn righteousness by keeping rules (Galatians 5:1–4).

How do we stand in that freedom? Jesus gave us the foundation:

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

— John 8:32 (KJV)

Few things make us more open to pain and bondage than not knowing the truth. God's people have suffered because they lacked knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

Know God's Word for yourself. This does not mean you should rebel or reject good leaders. It means you must learn God's mind, His ways, and His plans.

Truth helps you know when a leader is guiding you and when a person is trying to control you.

Five Signs a Tradition Has Become Bondage

1. 1A human practice is treated as a command from God.Mark 7:7–8
2. 2The practice becomes more important than God's Word.Mark 7:9–13
3. 3The practice becomes a requirement for salvation or righteousness.Acts 15:1–10; Galatians 5:1–4
4. 4The practice binds people where God gave freedom.Romans 14:1–13; Colossians 2:16–23
5. 5The practice becomes a tool for judging other Christians.Romans 14:3–4, 10–13

Tradition becomes bondage when something God permits us to do becomes something people require us to do.

Christ Is Enough

The religious spirit is not only a problem in other people or other churches. It tries to influence you and me inside God's house.

I once taught on this subject. Afterward, a sister told me she knew someone who was a perfect picture of the religious spirit. I laughed. We often see the religious spirit in everyone but ourselves.

So we must all examine our faith.

Examine your faith

• What do I believe because Scripture teaches it?
• What do I believe only because that is how I was taught?

Some traditions should be kept. Some should be enjoyed. Others should be released.

A healthy tradition points us toward Christ. It helps us obey Him, worship Him, and pass on truth.

But a tradition can go beyond Scripture. It may claim to make us right with God or lead us to condemn other believers. Then it has become bondage.

Christ is enough.

Hold tightly to Him and His Word:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

— Galatians 5:1 (KJV)

May God give us wisdom to know the difference. Some people feel sad, afraid, tired, or condemned under a burden God never gave them. May they find the joy and freedom that are theirs in Christ.

Amen.

Watch the Bible Study

The Religious Spirit: When Christian Traditions Become Bondage

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Recommended Reading

• Mark 7:6–13
• Acts 15:1–29
• Romans 14
• Galatians 2:1–5; 3:1; 4:8–11; 5:1–6
• Colossians 2:8–23
• 1 Timothy 4:1–5