Surely, you’ve heard the story of the young bride that always cut the end off a roast before she put it in the pan to cook? It is said that her husband asked, “Honey, why do you do that?” To which she replied, “I don’t know. My mother always did it that way, so I do it that way.”

This made the young bride curious enough to ask her mother, “Mom, why do you always cut the end of the roast off before you cook it?” Her mother answered in like manner, “I don’t know. My mother always did it that way, so I do it that way.”

By this time, her curiosity had really peaked. “Granny,” she asked the following week, “Why do you always cut the end of the roast off before you cook it?” Smiling sweetly, her grandmother answered, “Well dear, I always bought a big roast to feed a big family, but my roasting pan was too small. I had to cut the ends off the roasts so they would fit in the pan.”

Whoever first told this story was probably trying to make a point about the folly of following others blindly. Scripture speaks to that issue as well when it says if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch (Matthew 15:14). But that is not the point I wish to make.

I would like you to ponder this Scripture instead: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15).

Dear reader, if someone were to ask you why you believe as you do, are you prepared to open your Bible and answer them through Scripture? And if someone were to ask why you, as a believer, why do you do certain things, are you prepared to answer those questions also? It might not be in your best interest, or theirs, to say, “The church has always done it this way, so that’s how I do it.”

After all, there are many folks out there who are hungry for the truth and they want definitive answers. Telling them, “It has always been done this way,” is a bit like serving a roast with the end cut off – pointlessly lacking.