Weaponized Traditions – Higher Things

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Weaponized Traditions

Are traditions, especially in the church, a bad thing? 🤔

Traditions aren’t inherently bad.

They can actually be a very good thing!

In fact, they shape our society and provide structure.

But what happens when we start elevating these traditions above the Gospel and God’s commandments?

In Mark 7, Jesus challenges the Pharisees who turned traditions into weapons, placing them above God’s commandments.

They were so focused on man-made rituals that they missed the point.

Their traditions became weapons—used to control, exclude, and overshadow what was truly important.

When we begin relying too much on the rituals of men, we risk setting them above not just the rituals of God, but the promises of God, too.

Listen to the entire discussion on our YT channel!

Contributor Rev. Harrison Goodman is the Higher Things Content Executive.

Contributor Eli Lietzau is the pastor at Wheat Ridge Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheat Ridge, CO.

#lutheran #lcms #higherthings #unculturedsaints #traditions

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...Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:1-2)

In 1998, several LCMS pastors began planning a smaller, more regionally minded, cost-effective conference for youth, designed to be uniquely Lutheran. A year later, those plans were unveiled for the Dying to Live national Lutheran youth conference, held in the summer of 2000. Over 700 youth and adults from 25 states attended what was, for all intents and purposes, the first Higher Things conference. Based on the success of that first conference, more plans developed for what would become Higher Things.

The name for the emerging group was chosen just before the first conference, as it had become obvious by then that the event would serve as the impetus for something worth continuing and expanding. The new organization’s theme verse was: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians. 3:1-2).

Twenty years ago, Higher Things was started by a handful of pastors and laypeople who cared very deeply about the young people of the church. Today over 1700 LCMS congregations have been impacted by the mission of Higher Things.

Higher Things is many things, all of which seek to keep young people focused on Christ and His gifts as they grow and mature in their faith. It is parents teaching their children the catechism. It is youth workers and volunteers reinforcing what is preached from their congregations’ pulpits and confessed in their pews. And it is pastors keeping their young sheep Lutheran as they grow up.

In two decades, we haven’t wavered in our mission to assist parents, pastors, and congregations in cultivating a distinctly Lutheran identity among their youth and young adults. We work to bring the Gospel of Christ, and Him crucified to youth via our events, app, confirmation curriculum, Reflections, videos, articles, VBS curriculum, and more! Higher Things strives to be available to youth from their cell phones and computer screens all the way to their summer plans.

Our plan for the future? We will keep putting the Gospel in the ears of youth as long as the Lord allows!