"[Jesus] also said to them, 'You completely invalidate God's command in order to maintain your tradition!'" - Mark 7:9
When the true commandment of God is reduced to a tradition then the tradition often hides God's intended purpose and becomes a commandment unto itself. The unfortunate result of this exchange is that His commands are often neglected (love God and love your neighbor) in order to protect the tradition that is being tightly-held.
Traditions are not necessarily bad, but when we become more concerned about keeping them than keeping His commandments, they hinder God's work in our hearts and in the world.
At the root of our biblical traditions and practices there was once a God-honoring purpose. You must continually "mine" it like precious gold and drag it to the surface of your ministry or there is a danger that God's true purpose will be lost.
There is no secret to remaining "rooted" and "relevant." Just center on His purpose and His glory.
As soon as tradition has come to be recognized as tradition, it is dead. - Allan Bloom
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