The Challenge of Making a Choice
Religious traditions die hard, and many find comfort in age-old customs and creeds. “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic,” some may say. Perhaps you feel the same way about your faith, preferring the traditional to the unknown. Certainly, it would be unwise to discard any tradition outright before analyzing its worth. Paul told the Thessalonian Christians to ‘hold fast to the traditions which they had learned.’ (2 Thessalonians 2:15, NE) On the other hand, Jesus warned that religious traditions can alienate us from God, invalidating his Word, the Bible. (Matthew 15:6) Tradition cannot always be trusted.
As knowledge increases, traditional procedures are often modified or even replaced in fields such as medicine, science, and technology. In these areas most people have an open mind, which is conducive to betterment. Even though we may think that our religious tradition is of divine origin, the Bible warns us “not [to] believe every inspired expression” but, rather, to “test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God.” (1 John 4:1) It recommends that we “make sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) Worthwhile traditions will always hold up under such scrutiny.
