“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. -Matthew 23:15
Living Grace is more than a list of rules. It is rare that I visit a church that has official rules plastered on the wall and none that I have visited has asked me to sign a pledge to follow their operating rules. However, there are countless unwritten rules in every church.
- Don’t sit in someone’s assigned seat. These are typically in the back so if you go to the front row you usually don’t have to worry too much about this one.
- Depending on the church, you must stand and clap during worship or don’t stand and clap during worship.
- Stay in your seat and mind your manners.
- Don’t interrupt the preacher with your questions. (This is interesting, since when I read the Scriptures, Jesus often based entire lessons around questions.)
- You should be wearing clean clothes and have showered recently before church.
- You must tithe.
- You must vote (Republican if you are in some churches and Democrat if you are in other churches)
- There are many more around ordinances and personal beliefs, but you get the idea.
While there may not be anything wrong with some of these rules, that is not what we are leading people to experience. For too many, the Gospel is about quit smoking, drinking, and carousing. The Gospel is really about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Most who establish a growing relationship (Living Grace) with God will choose wise behaviors that bring glory to God. For most though, this will take time.
Many times, our efforts match those of the early missionaries who exported western culture as much as they did the Word of God. You must dress a certain way and talk a certain way to show that you are saved. Look at pictures of early First Nations believers and they are dressing in fancy western clothes. Could they not be full-fledged believers wearing native dress? The church of that era said, “No.” Is today that much different? Can you be a guy with long hair and still love Jesus? Can I love Jesus in jeans? What about wearing a Metallica shirt or a Faith No More hat?
Are we discipling them to the church culture or discipling them to become followers of Jesus? Jesus said that we were not to worry about what we were going to wear and what we were going to eat. Reach out and love the lost. Do not do as the pharisees did and were condemned by Jesus.
