Matthew 15:3
"But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"
It is amazing how powerful traditions are to many. The scribes and Pharisees were caught up in the traditions of men so much that they ignored the commandments of God. They saw the disciples of Christ eat bread without washing their hands, and they thought that Jesus should rebuke His disciples for doing so. Instead, Jesus took the opportunity to teach the importance of traditions and commandments. Let me show you several things you must learn from Jesus' response.
First, traditions change. Traditions of themselves are dependent upon the accuracy of man communicating them to the next generation. The problems with this is that man cannot be relied upon to be accurate. Oftentimes you have heard or watched someone whisper something in someone's ear and asked people to spread it around the room. By the time it gets to the last person, what the last person heard was completely different than what was originally said. Traditions are just simply something that a culture does, but that does not make them the final authority.
Second, God's commandments never change. The difference between traditions and commandments is that God's commandments were settled before the world was ever created. Psalm 119:89 says, "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." God's commandments have not evolved as our culture has, but His commandments were settled before the world was created.
Furthermore, God's commandments are not dependent upon man preserving them, but God Himself chose to preserve them to keep them accurate. Psalm 12:7 says, "Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." This makes the commandments of God something which you can trust to be accurate because God is the One making sure they are accurate.
Third, traditions do not determine right and wrong. Just because tradition says something is right or wrong does not mean that to be true. When I was growing up, I remember my mom telling my sisters that if they were going to set the table right, then the fork needed to be on the left side of the plate. That is a tradition. If they now choose to put the fork on the right side of the plate, that does not make them right or wrong because tradition is what dictates this. We must always decipher if something is a tradition or a commandment to determine if it is a right or wrong.
Fourth, when traditions conflict with commandments, then the tradition is wrong and God's commandments are right. Always remember that God's Word is the final authority. You must never let tradition become your foundation for truth because only God's Word is the foundation of ALL truth. Traditions will change with one's conscience and culture; therefore, you must follow God's commandments when tradition conflicts with them.
Friend, study God's Word and learn what is right and wrong. Lay aside the traditions and only let God's Word be the final authority that you follow. There is nothing wrong with having traditions as long as they don't contradict God's Word. Whenever teaching or following traditions, always be sure to make clear that it is a tradition and that God's Word must always be followed. First and foremost, don't become so entrenched in traditions that you become like the scribes and Pharisees who were blinded to the Word of God and what it said. When God's Word is your basis for truth, then you will easily decipher what is right and wrong.