It's probably worth adding that respect for your theological elders includes not only those who walk among us, but those who have died and are alive in Christ. In other words, respecting our elders includes considering our tradition. G.K. Chesterton famously made this very point: "Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about." More recently, John Webster put it in his typical theological framework: "Appeal to tradition is simply the recognition of the fact that in dealing with the history of theology we are dealing with those who are alive." And, as @RScottClark observed, this is the confessional Reformed posture toward tradition: "The confessional Reformed approach to tradition… neither canonizes the past nor ignores it nor suspects it as an enemy, but rather treats it with the respect deserved by fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.”