Loyalty To The King, Not The Pulpit

Most believers grow up assuming that if a pastor says something with a Bible in his hand, God must be fine with it. We inherit sermons, church calendars, and traditions, then call it “walking with Jesus,” even when a lot of it never came from God in the first place.

Isaiah 29:13 says, "The Lord said, 'Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;'" God is not impressed with religious talk when the fear that shapes us comes from man-made rules instead of His voice. That is the core issue when tradition replaces obedience.

Jesus picks that up directly. Matthew 15:3 says, "He answered them, 'Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?'" Then a few verses later, Matthew 15:9 says, "'But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.'" He is not talking to pagans, He is talking to respected religious leaders who thought their system was safe because it was old, accepted, and “for God.” He flat out says that kind of worship is empty when it replaces God’s command with human rules.

Mark 7:8-9 says, "For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things. He said to them, 'Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.'" Jesus is not gentle about this. He calls it what it is, rejection of God, even when everyone in the system calls it faithfulness. Later in the same passage, Mark 7:13 says, "making void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this." That is the line, either we let God’s word stand, or we make it void in practice by what we are willing to excuse.

So what does that look like with pastors today? One of the clearest examples is the Sabbath. God set apart the seventh day at creation before there was Israel, Sinai, or any “denomination.” Genesis 2:2-3 says, "On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work which he had created and made." Later He commands that same day to Israel in Torah, and calls it a sign between Him and His people. Then generations later, Jesus shows up and does not cancel the Sabbath, He cleans it off from man-made rules. Mark 2:27-28 says, "He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.'" He defends what the day is for, and He claims authority over it, but He never gives anyone permission to throw it out or move it wherever it is convenient.

Yet how many pastors will boldly say from the pulpit that the specific day no longer matters, that the fourth commandment is flexible, that the weekly rhythm God wrote into creation can be swapped out for Sunday because of tradition and history. They preach as if church patterns, Sunday habits, and denominational history outrank what is plainly written. That is exactly the Matthew 15 and Mark 7 problem. The words come out “for Christ,” but the practice cancels what God said.

The same thing shows up with feast days and church holidays. Leviticus 23:2 says, "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.'" God lays out His appointments, His moedim, as times He picked, with meaning He defined. These are His calendar, not optional cultural add-ons. Later, whole church systems build new calendars with their own “holy days,” loaded with customs that never came from Torah. People pour energy, money, and emotion into those, while ignoring or downplaying the days God actually commanded. That is not just culture, that is exactly what Jesus confronted, substituting human schedules and rituals for God’s appointments.

Another area is when pastors teach that loyalty to the local church structure is the same thing as loyalty to God. Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey those who have the rule over you, and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you." There is a real place for leadership and honor. But that verse does not give anyone the right to contradict God’s commands or to demand blind obedience. When leaders use this to pressure people into staying silent about clear disobedience to Scripture, they have crossed a line.

The apostles set the standard for where loyalty really belongs. Acts 5:29 says, "But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.'" That was not just about government, it is a principle. When any human authority, including a pastor or a whole denomination, demands something that collides with what God has already spoken, the answer is settled. Obey God, not men.

So what are you supposed to do in real life when your pastor teaches something that clearly overrides God’s word with tradition? First, you have to know the word yourself. Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, "Every Scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." If you only know sermons and not Scripture, you will always assume the pastor is right because you have nothing to measure it against. God gave you His word so you would be equipped, not so you would be dependent on someone else’s filter.

Second, you test what you hear instead of swallowing it. First Thessalonians 5:21 says, "Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good." That is a command. You are not dishonoring leadership when you compare their words to Scripture, you are obeying God. First John 4:1 says, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." That includes people who use Jesus’ name while teaching people to ignore what God actually said.

Third, when you see a conflict, go to the word first, then go to the pastor with humility and clarity. Ask, “Here is what God says, here is what I heard taught, can you help me understand why they do not match?” Their response will tell you a lot. A shepherd who fears God will be willing to look again at the text, to repent if needed, or at least to walk through it honestly. A leader who gets defensive, dismissive, or angry at the very idea of being measured by Scripture is showing you that tradition and position matter more than truth.

Fourth, you have to settle in your own heart ahead of time that your loyalty is to the King, not the pulpit. When church calendars, long-standing customs, or comfortable habits cancel out God’s commandments, you cannot hide behind “my pastor said” as if that excuses you. Romans 14:12 says, "So then each one of us will give account of himself to God." On that day, you will not be judged by your denomination’s statement of faith, you will be judged by whether you trusted and obeyed what God spoke.

None of this is a call to go on a warpath against every pastor. There are leaders who genuinely love God but are trapped in the same system they inherited, just like the people listening to them. The point is not to chase arguments, the point is to refuse to participate in worship that Jesus has already called “vain” because it trades His commandments for man-made rules. There is a big difference between patiently walking with someone toward truth and agreeing to let tradition erase what God said because it is more comfortable.

So if you see that your church treats the Sabbath as flexible even though God did not, if you see that God’s feast days are ignored while invented holidays are treated as sacred, if you see sermons that protect the system instead of submitting to Scripture, you are standing in the tension this teaching is about. You can stay quiet, keep the peace, and hope God overlooks it, or you can realign your life with His word even if the pulpit does not approve.

When church traditions cancel out God’s commandments, remember who you answer to and where your loyalty belongs.