Tradition is a hot topic in worship. It has both its positive and its negative uses. Prior teachings should not be ignored because the Spirit has spoken to people in the past. If we were to only accept new “current” insights and leave out the wealth of knowledge from the past, we disregard much of what the Spirit has set up over the centuries. This is a very dangerous thing to do. Rather than building on the foundation that has been laid, many “modern” Christians pay attention to only the newest innovations, insights and methods which have a great tendency to build on another foundation that is not on Christ. I am not against anything new as far as it does not detract from Godly worship that is in both spirit and in truth, which will be discussed later.
Scripture has a lot to say about tradition. Traditions in Scripture have some value, but once it is followed just for the sake of following or doing, tradition becomes meaningless: when the substance is lost behind the worship. Matthew 15:8-10 says, “These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” The real matter is not in the tradition, but in the heart. If our hearts are not after God, all our traditions are done in vain. We need to safeguard that we are actually worshipping God and not merely following a tradition (other passages: Isaiah 29:12-14 Colossians 2:18-23).
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