Tradition

Because a doctrine, a ritual or a belief system is traditional does not automatically make it correct. If it is not correct the people who believe the falsehood makes the written word of God ineffective. 

When people hold tenaciously to a wrong tradition for a long period, preach that wrong tradition as truth, they believe it to be actual truth. When people listening to the tradition century's later and have known no other way accept that tradition as truth and they to invalidate the written word of God as did the religious leaders during Christ's earth walk. 

We can debate our traditions, we can twist the scriptures to validate our traditions as people did regarding the flat earth belief, the slavery issue, the sanctioning of the so called "religious wars", etc.. More recent traditions that are accepted as of God are segregated buildings of worship that house people who hold to different interpretations of the Bible and Church regulated to a two hour Sunday-go-programmed-event-driven meeting.

There is no lie harder to confront, correct or convince people of, than long held wrong traditions.

Paul and Steven declared to their fellow Israelites that God’s mercy extended to the Gentiles, This teaching was against the tradition of the people of that time and they were stoned by the traditionalist even though Paul and Stephen's message was from God. 

If we refuse to examine our doctrines or beliefs because they are traditional how will we know if they are inconsistent with Bible truth or not? If we refuse to question or acknowledge any inconsistencies in our traditional doctrinal beliefs, how will we ever know?

When our traditional doctrine or belief system damages the character of our all- knowing, all-loving, and all- powerful God, it is time to examine both them and our interpretation of the Bible that led to that tradition through the lens of Jesus, and either make corrections or abandon them altogether when they are found to be wrong.

A tradition is nothing more than when someone’s interpretation pf something is accepted by a group of people and passed down through the succeeding generations as truth, whether it is truth or not. That is why we must examine our traditions and allow the Spirit of Truth to shed the search light of God's revelation before we accept them as valid. Traditions are not truth solely because they have been passed down through the generations. They should be critically evaluated for ourselves.  “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thes. 5:21). “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right” (Luke. 12:57)? Christ strongly warns us about our traditions (Mt. 15:3, 6, 9).

Perhaps you have struggled with some tradition that you have accepted as truth, as I have, but have questioned it because it does not flow with the character of Christ. That is not a bad thing...no matter how much the your religious affiliation deems it to be.  It is important to consider...why we do not judge for ourselves what is right...(Luke. 12:57).