Friday, June 9, 2017

Reflection for June 2, 2017

" Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?"(Acts 15:10)

I'm not a huge fan of hard fast rules.  I do like guidelines and flexible boundaries however.  The thing with most rules is that someone inevitably finds a way around them, or determines that they apply to everyone except them.  Rules often handcuff us, and then we don't know what to do.

When rules become a burden and one to which no one seems to keep, it may be time to revisit, the who, what, where, when and why.  For the early church it was about whether you had to be circumcised and keep the torah in order to be a Christian.  The answer was ultimately no, but that's not to say that the torah isn't worth taking a look at and finding appropriate applications for ourselves.  But we are not bound by it.

I'm glad that the early church saw their dilemma and acted on it.  I wish we could in today's church stay away from a legalism that doesn't actually help.

Blessings,
Ed 

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