I was having a conversation with a good friend last week and he was talking about the idea of rules and their relevance on the lives of Christians today. His point was essentially that people get too caught up in rules and we should be primarily concerned with loving others. I have to both agree and disagree with this statement; let me explain how so. I think it primarily comes down to what kinds of rules we're talking about.
If we're talking about rules imposed by humans, such as Christians can't drink, watch R-rated movies, or listen to secular music, then I'm in agreement. When we add rules to the teachings of the Bible and seek to impose our individual convictions (beyond what Scripture teaches) on someone else, then we're just as bad as the Pharisees. God wants a people seeking after Him who have changed hearts, not just people who can follow a list of regulations and appear to be holy on the outside.
If, however, we're talking about teachings (I like that word better than rules) that are clearly specified in the Bible, then that's an entirely different matter. In some of His last teachings to His disciples, Christ talked about obedience as a way to demonstrate love for Him (and several times at that). So, to disregard the teachings/commands of Christ is to demonstrate a lack of love for Him- something I'm sure no God-lover really wants to do. God has every right to make certain demands of us (teachings of the Bible) and we are responsible to follow those. Does God love us any more if we keep them or less if we don't? Of course not. But, out of a desire to please God and show Him love, we should desire to live in these ways and not just write them off as unnecessary rules.
Our actions also carry consequences. God will forgive us when we miss the mark, but that doesn't mean He will always remove the consequences of our actions. Sin brings about negative consequences and will not lead to the best life that we could live. So, another reason for sticking to the teachings of Scripture is to live life as God intends.
Interestingly enough, John Piper has a new book coming out soon called What Jesus Demands from the World, which gets into what He demands throughout the gospels. I'm sure that should be a good read and get into some of these issues.
Essentially, my point is that as Christians, we should desire to live for God and a primary way we do that is by obeying His commands. This means studying and applying the Word to our lives, not just accepting what the "Christian culture" tells is the way that we should live. True godliness starts in the heart and manifests itself in the way that we live- not the other way around.
-JRO
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I agree completely Jamie, Its such an important virtue to recognize and be able to discern between the rules of man, and the teachings of God. I was reading a Strobel book the other day at the bookstore and he made a statement that I identified with. He said, God is a loving father, giving us rules to follow so that we wont get hurt, so that our lives will be lived out to the fullest of what God has for us. I would agree. We as humans dont see past the action most of the time. We dont look to see what the concequences in the long term will be. God seeks to avoid this for us by giving us his teachings to head off such heartache because He loves us that much.
The rules of man are just another way to assert their rule and equality with God in my opinion, of course its not good to be smashed, things happen because of too much alcohol and your judgement is impaired, that doesnt mean you cant have a glass of wine with dinner at night, since, obviously, we Jamies get smashed off of a single glass of merlot. These rules are sub to what God has for us. To love Him is to respect his teaching and because we love Him so much, we desire to be in accordance with what He desires of us. His first and foremost commandment (in accordance with spreading His word to the world) was to love one another, we dont really do that anymore, so I agree with your friend, we must follow this command and not concentrate so much on being a "perfect Christian" in the eyes of men, for we are shorsided and blind and God is clearvisioned and all knowing.
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