Identifying and Avoiding Unbiblical Church Traditions and Practices
Scripture establishes the church as Christ's body, unified by allegiance to him rather than human tradition. Paul writes, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them" [1]. This command presupposes a standard: the apostolic teaching already received. Practices that contradict this foundation warrant scrutiny, regardless of their antiquity or popularity.
The Biblical Standard for Church Practice
The New Testament presents the church as a single body with diverse members, each assigned a function by God himself [2, 3]. This organic metaphor implies that legitimate church practices serve the body's unity and edification. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians emphasizes that "harmony and care for each other in the church is essential" [6], suggesting that traditions fragmenting the body or elevating some members above others contradict the church's nature. The criterion is not novelty versus antiquity, but conformity to apostolic doctrine.
Discernment requires distinguishing between practices rooted in Scripture and those originating elsewhere. John Gill identifies "profane and old wives' fables" as including "the traditions of the elders" and "those doctrines of demons" that impose unbiblical restrictions, which are "to be rejected with abhorrence and contempt" [8]. The specific examples Paul addresses—forbidding marriage and commanding abstinence from certain foods—illustrate how traditions can masquerade as piety while contradicting God's design.
Marks of Unbiblical Tradition
Several indicators help identify problematic practices. First, they often create divisions based on criteria foreign to the gospel. Paul declares that in Christ "there is no longer" distinction between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, because "you are all one" in him [5]. Traditions that reinforce such divisions or invent new ones undermine the church's unity in Christ [4].
Second, unbiblical traditions frequently restrict what Scripture permits or permit what Scripture restricts. Gill notes that unregenerate persons "may not be admitted members of a Gospel church" because holiness characterizes Christ's body [9], yet traditions sometimes impose additional requirements beyond regeneration or, conversely, neglect regeneration itself.
Third, false teaching destabilizes believers. Mature Christians with "well-grounded knowledge of the Good News" can "discern and resist false teaching" [10], but immature believers become "tossed and blown about" by novel doctrines. Church discipline exists not for vindictive display but for "restoration of the wayward to holiness" [7], addressing both doctrinal error and moral failure.
Sources
- Romans “Romans 16:17 (KJV) — Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 12:12: 12:12-31 The church is like a body (see 12:27) composed of many different parts, each with its own function as determined by God (see 12:11, 18, 28; Rom 12:4-5).”
- 1 Corinthians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Corinthians 12:27: members in particular--that is, severally members of it. Each church is in miniature what the whole aggregate of churches is collectively, "the body of Christ" (compare Co1 3:16): and its individual components are members, every one in his assigned place.”
- Colossians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Colossians 3:15: 3:15 Just as Christ is one, so there can be only one body of Christ (see 1:18; Eph 4:4-6). Allegiance to Jesus as Lord must transcend differences and will result in peace (harmonious relationships).”
- Galatians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Galatians 3:28: 3:28 There is no longer: Everyone comes to Christ and receives God’s promises in exactly the same way (cp. 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 2:14; Col 3:11). • male and female: Cp. Gen 1:27. • you are all one: The community of believers is one body, the body of Christ (see Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 12:27; Eph 2:15-16, 19-22). • in Christ Jesus: See Col 2:6–3:11.”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 12:25: 12:25-26 The church is a unified body, so harmony and care for each other in the church is essential.”
- Matthew (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Matthew 18:17: 18:17 The church is the local Christian community. • The unrepentant person is to be considered a pagan or a corrupt tax collector, a wicked transgressor of the law. Church discipline by exclusion (excommunication; see Acts 5:1-6; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 5:1-13; 2 Cor 6:14-18; Gal 5:7-12; 2 Thes 3:14-15) is rooted in the conviction that God’s people are to be holy and that sin corrupts fellowship, both between people and between the people and God. The goal is neither vindictive retribution nor a public display of power, but restoration of the wayward to holiness and f”
- 1 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Timothy 4:7: But refuse profane and old wives' fables,.... Either Jewish ones, the traditions of the elders; or those of the Gnostics, concerning God, angels, and the creation of the world; or those doctrines of demons, and which forbad marriage, and commanded abstinence from meats before mentioned; which are called profane, because impious and ungodly, and old wives' fables, because foolish and impertinent; and which were to be rejected with abhorrence and contempt, in comparison of the words of faith and good doctrine. And exercise thyself rather unto godliness; either to th”
- Ezekiel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ezekiel 44:9: Thus saith the Lord God,.... This that follows is the law and rule to be observed, and which will be observed by the churches in the latter day, though so little regarded now: no stranger uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary; of these See Gill on Eze 44:7 unregenerate men may not be admitted members of a Gospel church; for that is holy, and holiness becomes it; but they are unholy, and as unfit to be received as swine into a king's palace; saints and they cannot talk together, their language being different, they are bar”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 4:14: 4:14 We won’t be tossed and blown about: Mature Christians, with a well-grounded knowledge of the Good News and of Christ himself, will be able to discern and resist false teaching (see Gal 1:6-7; 3:1; Col 2:8-23; 1 Tim 1:3-7; 4:1-3; 6:3-5, 20; 2 Tim 4:3-4; Titus 1:11).”