Romans 14:6-9
What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
When I was very young, there was a “shouting match” at our church service one evening. At least one man sitting in our congregation began to try to “shout down” the pastor as he spoke while standing at the pulpit.
I was too little to understand why they were arguing, but my mother said it centered partly on comments the pastor had made to choir members who did not attend the Wednesday night prayer meetings. This man told the choir members that when they came into the sanctuary on Sunday morning, and he saw the faces of those who had not attended prayer meeting, they were an “affront” to him.
Do you see a problem here? Christian people who honored God by devoting their time and energy to participate in a church choir on Sundays were berated because they weren’t attending a prayer service on Wednesdays! This offended the pastor – and obviously he judged their Christian faith and witness accordingly.
I’ll be the first to tell you that there is a LOT about the Bible that I do not know or understand. But I honestly don’t know of any scripture that says you have to attend every service that your church holds each week. Just because you have a lovely voice doesn’t mean you have to sing in the choir. We are supposed to read God’s word, but I’m not familiar with any scriptures that say, “You must go to Sunday school and attend organized Bible studies.” I don’t recall Jesus sharing His last supper with the disciples and saying, “You can only do this in remembrance of Me at certain churches or in specific settings.”
We humans have created a plethora of rules about our Christian faith…and nothing could be more of a paradox. A holy Christian relationship that encompasses grace, mercy, acceptance and love is often used as a justification for some of the worst judgments and persecutions of others. And I have to believe that God hangs His head in heartache and disappointment.
But we can change this…and it starts with you and me. We can dig deeply into God’s word and spend some serious time in conversation with Him. We can genuinely ask Him, “Where – and how – do you wish for me to serve and witness?”…and DO IT! We can leave judgment and intolerance of others - and how THEY worship - out of our lives…and let every person work out his/her discipleship as God directs them.
As Paul explained to the Romans…Jesus died to release us from such “petty tyrannies”. Isn’t it time we let them go once and for all?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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