Mathematicians and accountants like predictability, a set of rules that always work. While this predilection is important when working with numbers and finances, it doesn’t fit with life nor with following Christ.
Oh yes, even though life is unpredictable, the Ten Commandments always work. The laws of God are irrevokable and we must obey them. I’m thinking more about issues like how a local church should operate, or how to make personal, daily decisions concerning non-moral issues. Our penchant for a list of rules often comes into play and I don’t think we should let it.
For instance, someone wants to know how to respond to their co-workers when asked to participate in after-work activities. They want a rule that would cover each instance. I refuse to give them one. Listen to the Holy Spirit.
Another example are those who think today’s church should be exactly like the one in the New Testament. We should do everything they did. I say no. Listen to the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2 starts out with a description of how the church began: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
From this description, if today’s church must conform to the New Testament church, then every time we are together in one place the Holy Spirit will fill us with Himself. We will see tongues of fire from heaven and be able to speak in other languages. No choices. He will do it.
But as I read this, I’m thinking of all the ways the Holy Spirit makes Himself known. He comforts, teaches, reminds, convicts, corrects, empowers, and a host of other things. Does He do it exactly the same way each time? Or in each person? Or in each church? No, He is not a cookie-cutter. He is far too creative for that.
When someone asks me for a ‘rule’ for life, I think about all the books in Christian book stores that attempt to give just that. If you are in this situation, you do this . . . If you are confronted by this type of person, this is what to say . . . Those kinds of rules. Then I think about the way God guides me. His responses to my cries for help are never exactly the same. He is creative, and as each situation has variables and distinctions, so do His solutions.
That does not mean there are no rules. The greatest is to love God with all my heart. The next is to love others as I love myself. Whatever course of action God gives me, it will fit under these rules. It will never break any of His commands. But it will also be as unique as the time, place, and situation that I’m in, because that situation will never repeat itself, neither will God in His responses.
The over-arching principles of His commands are certain and give me a sense of security, but the individual way that He deals with each problem makes life an adventure. I’d hate to be stuck with a list of predictable rules because His answers are always delightful surprises.
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