CHURCH - Useless Tradition ...or... A Place for True Worship?

Today in Mark 7, I have seen some scripture in a new and piercing light. What I will write may feel offensive to some, but I am highly convicted that God's message is clear and one that we will either respond to or ignore:

A bunch of the religious folks came to Jesus and asked him why His disciples weren't washing their hands before they ate. These religious and seemingly spiritual people insisted upon the keeping of certain traditions that they felt made a person clean and acceptable before God. One such tradition, established by older generations, was the mandatory washing of hands before eating. Their exact words to Jesus were, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders?"(Mark 7:5) Jesus' response to their question was harsh. He called them "hypocrites," told them that they were giving him only lip-service rather than true heart devotion, and that their worship was useless. Finally, He said the words that really struck me: "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men...  You have a find way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions." (Mark 7:8-9)

For those of us who have been in church for years, are an active part of our churches, or have even been turned-off by a poor church experience, I believe this story holds stunning application to church culture. This story, I believe, demands some questions to be asked:
Are we just being religious and going through the motions of man-made traditions? Are we insisting upon the keeping of empty church traditions and programs simply because that's the way things have always been done? Are we continuing in the "traditions of the elders" not because they are effective methods of producing glory for God but simply because we're scared of change and of what unknown things God might ask of us? Are we content to cling to our church traditions because they only require surface-level lip-service rather than costly, life-changing surrender to Christ? Have we actually set aside the clear commands of God's Word and chosen instead to rest comfortably in the keeping of useless church rituals? Are we mistakenly calling those rituals "worship" and fooling ourselves into thinking that God is pleased with our show?