"... So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God" (Matt. 15:6, ESV). "So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths" (Col. 2:16, NLT).
The Pharisees were bound by traditions that were merely the rules of men and they manipulated them to avoid doing God's will and obeying His commands. Even today Catholics defer to tradition and break with Protestants on this issue. Ever since the Counter-Reformation, at the Council of Trent (1545-63), the Romanists have deemed and valued tradition of equal status and authority with Scripture as the rule of faith--Protestants take issue with this and "dissent, disagree, protest," as they would say. Traditions are not wrong or evil per se, but only when they controvert or invalidate Scripture. There's nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas as a tradition, for instance! We only defer to tradition when it's concordant with Scripture and/or not against sound doctrine. We need to beware of adding to the Word or subtracting from it!
People basically have four reasons why they act when they don't have faith: culture (everyone's doing it!); tradition (we've always done it!); reason (it sounds logical and right!); and emotion (it feels right and appropriate!). Old traditions die hard and it's difficult to even start new ones. But remember this lesson: traditions must bow to conviction! Protestants adhere to the conviction that Scripture alone is the rule of faith, and have made this their rallying cry since the Reformation (sola Scriptura).
We don't give any man authority if it isn't in harmony with the Word--we're all subject to God's Word: ".... [For] you have exalted above all things your name and your word" (Psalm 138:2, ESV). It is wrong to base far-fetched teaching on some obscure passage with some private interpretation though, for "no Scripture is of any private interpretation" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20). Hebrews 13:9, ESV, says, "Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings...." We must interpret Scripture with Scripture and with the whole analogy of the Word. The Bible is its own Supreme Court! We also must observe all inferential and sound reading interpretation rules: narratives in light of didactic or teaching passages; obscure in light of the clear. We must interpret it as written: poetry as poetry; proverbs as proverbs; and narrative or history as such.
And we are not bound to observe all the traditions or commands of Scripture ("We are not under the law, but under grace" according to Romans 6:14; for instance, the Sabbath day observance laws have been rescinded and not applicable for Christians, but were meant for Israel (cf. Ezek. 20:12, 20). Don't let anyone judge you by your own tradition of a holy day: Col. 2:16 says this quite plainly. Each believer should be convinced in his own mind (cf. Rom. 14: 5). Family traditions are not necessarily forbidden--all tradition doesn't have to be religious!
"All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD" (Prov. 16:2, NIV).
"[F]or the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts..." (cf. 1 Chron. 18:9).
There are many theologians who attack tradition as being unnecessary and unbinding to the believer, especially those believers of the Romanist persuasion with their numerous ones. Tradition can become a teaching aid and learning experience. John demurred to baptize Jesus but laid aside his understanding of things and trusted the Lord in obedience. Only sinners needed to repent! Sometimes it's just a simple matter of obedience to authority to our spiritual leaders. The only danger occurs when tradition is contrary to Scripture, directly contravening a doctrine. Often we defer to tradition for the sake of unity and coherence in the body.
Old traditions die hard! Even Protestants, especially Lutherans, have traditions reminiscent of Catholicism. The vestments of pastors go way back, and who would want to be the first to break that tradition? Because traditions have their pitfalls too! We all observe holy days such as Christmas and Easter, birthdays, anniversaries, even Thanksgiving Day is traditional.
However, tradition must be concordant with the Word to be binding and otherwise, it is simply a matter of personal conscience--for we ought to have the freedom to have our own convictions before God. By and large, tradition must bow to conviction! Family Christmas celebrations come to mind as a common tradition, even routines that are observed. Christmas is not biblical per se nor mandated, but that doesn't make it unbiblical, because it conflicts with nothing in Scripture. The problem comes when we put tradition on a par with the authority of the Word like they did at the Counter-Reformation (the Council of Trent, 1545-63). We don't add tradition as a replacement of Scripture!
There are many gray areas that cannot be judged as ill-advised scripturally, but the believer is to make up his own mind and feel free from being judged. The Jews at the time of Christ were burdened with the traditions of the elders and Pharisees, and the law had become a yoke they couldn't bear (cf. Acts 15:10) as a result. The point of Christianity is that it's not merely a religion of externals (do this or that), but of internals--the mental attitudes and thoughts are more important. God looks at our motives and incentives. We can become so bogged down in a tradition that we miss the boat with true spirituality. We are all creatures of habit seeking comfort zones!
Let's not get our eyes off Jesus as the true focus. Even the devil can observe tradition and look somewhat Christian--as he can "appear as an angel of light" (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4). Christianity is a matter of the heart and a spiritual matter at that. God sees the heart, while a man looks on the outward appearance. We cannot judge what happens in the heart of a believer observing his tradition, and God only holds a man accountable for what he knows, has the opportunity to know, or should know, i.e., had the opportunity to know. We ought to ask ourselves: Do we know better or not?
Sometimes churches have traditions known as rituals or liturgies, that they religiously obey during the worship service, which shows little imagination or creativity from the powers that be, and little has changed from the founding of the church--is there no room for improvement or advancement? Has the church freeze-dried the format down pat so that there's little room for the Spirit to move? The church is to be semper reformanda or "always reforming." Even though the Bible does say that all things should be done decently and in order, but that doesn't preclude freedom of the Spirit and opening the door to allow Him access.
Jesus accused the Pharisees of being hypocrites, for they "[nullified] the word of God for the sake of [their] tradition" (cf. Matt. 15:6, NIV). Jesus didn't follow the traditions of the elders to prove they weren't binding. We need to keep the main thing the main thing! We don't want to confine or bind the activity of God by our preconceived notions of what He can or cannot do. Man is by nature a religious being (known as Homo Religiosus) and will revert to his default position of security in tradition when push comes to shove or when the chips are down his real faith shines through to shed light on his inner convictions.
When Protestants stipulate that tradition has no spiritual merit or value per se, this is vis-a-vis salvation. Tradition has no part and no authority in salvation or over Scripture, of which authority is sola Scriptura or Scripture alone. Tradition doesn't trump the Bible in authority, nor is it on par with it. All in all, the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart, which only God can judge and see through its veneer.
We all observe tradition unbeknownst to us, often masked as routine, habit, or custom. Jesus said a blessing and thanksgiving before meals and the tradition of saying grace was realized--note that this was not a command! We say "Please!" and "Thank you!" out of courtesy, but this is just tradition too! In sum, don't pooh-pooh tradition by virtue of it being merely tradition; i.e., don't knock it unless you don't observe any yourself! Soli Deo Gloria!