What's With All These Rules?

It's a question we all have had and heard some variation of: "What is with all the rules of Christianity?" The situation is fueled by the 613 commands that make up the Law found in the Old Testament, not to mention any other reiterations, warnings, charges, and challenges issued throughout the Bible. "But," you may say, "I heard that Christianity is a relationship with God. What do rules have to do with relationship?" This is a legitimate question and one someone should ask if they find themselves questioning the reason for such rules or the importance of a Law in a relationship. One response a person may offer is that these rules don't matter since Jesus came. In short, this is a flat out ignoring of what Jesus himself said (I recently wrote about this, so I'll brush over it for now). There is a more correct response, and it follows from the basic idea of opposites.

Let's picture our spiritual world as one of polar opposites, which I think is a legitimate way to think of it. Hot is in an exact opposite place as cold, beautiful far from ugly, and good is set obviously apart from evil. If I am cold, I have two options: I can run away from the coldness, or run toward the warmth. In a similar way, if I'm caught in evil I have the same options, run from it or run toward the opposite, good. However, one is easier than the other.

To add to this picture, we can think of a race. While running, do you think an athlete runs from last place or runs toward first? How effective is it to flee the starting line versus running toward the finish line? If you have seen me, you know I am no athlete, but even I know a better result comes from seeking first than simply wishing not to be left at start.

We see the same themes sewn beautifully throughout the Bible. In Paul's letters to Timothy, a young leader he was training up, he is careful to charge him with the idea of flee/pursue. In his first letter, Paul explains to his student the dangers of false teachers and their desire to earn wealth by godliness. He continues:

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
(1 Timothy 6:11-12 ESV)

He does not simply say "do not sin," but rather "run toward the things of God." In fact, he emphasizes the eternal life Timothy has as a motivation, not one of simply following commands but one of seeking the prize, seeking God.

In his second letter, Paul tells Timothy to be worthy of the work God has called him to. "So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22 ESV) Here we again see flee/pursue: Do not just run from sin, but it is more effective to run toward God and his purpose.

Lately, I have been studying the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) with a couple students from our youth group. Constantly, I read Jesus' words, not simply correcting our views of commands, pointing us to their original intentions, but stressing the motivation. One of my favorite places he illustrates this is near the end of chapter 6. Wrapping up his instructions on worrying, Jesus tells the reader to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33 ESV) Notice, the first thing we seek is not to avoid worrying. How could we seek that first? Our human nature gives us no basis to abstain from anxiousness and we need Christ to accomplish this for us. Therefore, we must seek him and his kingdom before we can cease unhealthy amounts of worry. Like illustrated earlier, it is more effective to pursue the goal than to flee the starting point. By seeking the end, we are simultaneously running from the start more excellently.

I hope it is clear I do not mean to say that it excuses us to sin by saying we should seek God and his kingdom first. One cannot rightly say "I am pursuing righteousness, and so I do not need to consciously flee from sin. These sins do not matter because of my focus on God." The contradictory, idiotic nature of this statement should be obvious. Furthermore, did the one thinking this erase the first half of 1 Timothy 6:11 and 2 Timothy 2:22 from their Bible? The Bible still clearly teaches us to flee sin. However, we must not forget its emphasis on pursuing God first in a more effective and complete way to live a righteous life worthy of our calling.

Think on this: In what ways are you neglecting to pursue God? Where could you learn to live more effectively for and by Christ by shifting your focus from simply running from a sin to running toward God first?