I didn’t grow up in the church, so it wasn’t until after I became a believer that I became aware of church traditions. Prayer, communion, membership, and worship were all new to me.
Then I began to learn about the different traditions in various churches. Some have ideas about how you should dress in church. Various churches conduct baptisms in various ways. The length and style of worship services vary.
These different traditions are fine, as long as they don’t hinder the unity of the body of Christ and serve to draw people closer to God. If the traditions separate us and move our hearts away from Him, then we need to abandon the traditions for the sake of the love of God. Jesus said, “So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”
If we say that we love God, it is Him and His Word that we must follow, not man-made traditions, if those traditions get in the way of true worship, love and service to God.
Reluctant Retiree 