Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in what we know and get so attached to it that anything to the contrary is just down-right false, that any glimmer of true growth cannot be seen. True growth can only occur when one's current frame of reference is challenged, when that thing you know to be true is put to the test with a view equally or even more compelling than your own. When we are tested not only to we get to re-think what we have known but we get to experience how firm and strong we truly are, "See I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah 48:10). When we are challenged, especially when it comes to the things of our faith, God is expressing his care for us by allowing us to either rethink or be strengthened in what we know and have learned.
Therefore, let us allow God to direct us out of the ruts on the road to His Kingdom that have been left by the many lives gone before us and be placed on higher ground where we can be directed by Him - not them. "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" (2 Corinthians 7:1), so rather than trying to honor the teachers, preachers, parents and grandparents that have poured so much knowledge into our minds let us glorify God when He reveals to us the things that do not glorify Him and prevent us from attaining true righteousness.
Sometimes this process will be brought upon as a challenge that will cause you to reconsider, and sometimes it will be that still small voice that ushers you onto higher ground.
Remember, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the shedding of the old is not a one time fix all occasion nor is it limited to the obvious areas of sin in one's life, but it is a continual process that reveals one or two issue(s) at a time bringing us closer and closer to the likeness of God.
Some obvious sins: sexual immorality, slander, malice, and greed.
Some not so obvious issues: the structure of the church, leadership potentials, cross-gender friendships, traditions, and even positions of doctrine.
Where are you at? What is in your life that needs a challenge? What are you holding on to that is preventing you from moving closer to God's own heart? How are you going to change that?
