Matthew Chapter 15

"2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? "

Habits in organized form becomes a tradition of that organization. Every organization establishes traditions over time. True Jesus Church is not an exception. For example, the tradition of separate seating for brothers and sister in Taiwan transferred to the USA with the immigrants. To this day, there are still TJC churches in the USA that keep this tradition. However, there are many others that do not. Sometimes those church that do not uphold that tradition are considered not so spiritual. Members start to measure one another in regards to tradition. Then we have to ask, do these traditions matter in regards to Salvation?

Sometimes in holding on to our traditions we may forget that those traditions may have nothing to do with Salvation. At the end, it only causes unnecessary dispute between brothers and sisters. It's true that the tradition mentioned above probably came from a good intention to prevent brothers and sisters from sinning. However, if viewed from a different light, it really doesn't matter if brothers and sisters are kept apart in church, they have many more opportunities to meet outside of the chapel if they wished. The tradition may have then induced people to appear like a good Christian in church, and encourage people to be fake in church for fear that others may talk behind their backs if they see a person talking to a member of the opposite sex, which in turn causes rumors. Then perhaps it is better to be open about your friendships in church and live in the light.

We can see that traditions can cause problems in church which can be avoided if we come back and see if these traditions matter in the eyes of God. It's true that we will not be able to get rid of all our traditions, because that is human nature. However, the important part is to discern between what is the truth leading to Salvation, and what are traditions that men have established overtime. After that, we should be able to uphold the truth and throw away traditions if they come in conflict with the teachings of God and the way to Salvation. There may be times when the tradition does not come in conflict with the way to Salvation, but if the tradition start to cause arguments between members or affect our faith, then it may be more beneficial to throw away that tradition; because "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive" (1 Corinthians 10:23).