We just finished with our taxes. The tax rules are so confusing that I hired an accountant to help us. For many Christians, God’s rules are just as confusing or even more confusing than the tax code, but they shouldn’t be. I recently read that it takes 73,954 pages to explain the US tax code. The Bible is closer to 2,000 pages and much of that is history, poetry and prophecy. It is not all commands.
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We all have rules to abide by that have no connection to morality. For example, an employee at a prestigious law firm may be required to meet a very stringent dress code that includes an expensive suit and tie. Even some minimum wage jobs require wearing a specific uniform. These are requirements placed upon man apart from the requirements of God. Still they do have a connection because Christians are taught to obey their masters as long as doing so would not cause them to disobey the Lord. We are even taught to pay taxes as we “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
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Further there are rules of society. For example it is considered rude to burp loudly in public even though there is nothing in scripture that specifically forbids such behavior. In fact, in some cultures it is considered a compliment to burp after a meal. Still as a Christian in this culture, I want to avoid such behavior because of my love for my neighbor realizing that that the sound may make them uncomfortable.
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With all the different rules that affect us- expectations of our government, our boss, our teacher, our parents, and society in general, it can be difficult to sort out what God really expects of us and what sort of things are simply the expectations of man.
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Sometimes because of the churches involvement in expectations the line can get even more clouded. For example during lent, some may avoid meat on Fridays in order to focus more on God. Giving up anything for a time to give more attention to God is wonderful and ought to be encouraged, however; we must understand that we cannot find a specific directive in scripture to observe lent by avoiding meat. Another example would be the expectation that men wear suits and ties to church on Sunday. Although there is nothing wrong with someone dressing up for a special time of worship- especially if they are doing it to honor God- it is not a specific requirement of scripture. In fact, scripture condemns those who look down on others for not being dressed as well.
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All these expectations can end up leaving a Christian confused about what God really expects. For example, I have met Christians who did not even know that sex outside of marriage was wrong even though I Corinthians 6:18 says, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” (NKJV)
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The Bible book of Colossians addresses this challenge of balancing the rules of man with following God. Colossians 2:20-22 NKJV says, “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations-- "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," which all concern things which perish with the using--according to the commandments and doctrines of men?” Then in the next chapter we are told, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2 NKJV).
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Really what it comes down to is that we need to be more concerned about following what God has commanded us to do than what man has commanded us to do. In order to know the difference we must know the Word of God. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV)
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Friday, March 7, 2014
Are Your Children Unruly?
I sat in the adult Sunday school class with my 2 year old son on my lap. Occasionally he would wiggle, but he had learned to sit still- for the most part- as I held him. After class the lady across the table told me how impressed she was about how good he was. I responded that he was not always that good. She then said that she was also impressed with how well his 2 older brothers had sat in the same class a few weeks earlier.
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At that time I admitted to her that our 3 and 4 year had been in class with us because they had not wanted to go to their own class even though we had told them they should. I then explained that we had been on the road a lot recently, preaching in other churches, and that the boys were often in unfamiliar settings and had gotten a bit scared and wanted to be close to Mom and Dad.
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This brings up an important question: Were my children being disobedient and unruly in a way that would disqualify me from being a pastor because they were too scared to go to their class and insisted on staying with us?
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Consider 1 Timothy 3:4-5, “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)” Consider as well Titus 1:6, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.”
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Let me be honest. This is not the only issue my children have. They do not always sit quietly- especially if they have to sit for more than an hour. Further, they fight with each other over toys, they have taken candy without permission, and they have tracked mud across the floor. Even though we remind them to take their shoes off, they sometimes forget or are just in too much of a hurry to obey. Is this what the Apostle Paul was referring to when he used the word “unruly” in Titus 1:6?
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Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible defines the underlying Greek word for unruly as: “unsubdued, i.e. insubordinate (in fact or temper):- disobedient, that is not put under, unruly.” The Geneva Bible Notes (commentary from the year 1599) gives some further light to the subject when it states, “This word is used of horses and oxen, who will not tolerate the yoke.”
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In 1599, it was much more common to have horses and oxen in a yoke than it is today, yet the usage of the word should help our understanding. Though a horse may tolerate a yoke, that does not mean it will never throw its head or even stomp its hooves. Further the driver of the yoke may have to pull the reigns to steer the animal back on course from time to time.
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The same is true of children. They are not robots that we can just program for an automatic outcome. We have attempted to program them to never walk across the house with muddy shoes and they are improving, yet they are not perfect. Even a well trained horse may have to be reigned in now and then.
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Still, children should not be allowed to run wild. A pastor, just like any parent should be concerned about the behavior of his children. A pastor who has no restraints on his children should be disqualified from ministry, but this does not mean that his children have to be sinless.
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At that time I admitted to her that our 3 and 4 year had been in class with us because they had not wanted to go to their own class even though we had told them they should. I then explained that we had been on the road a lot recently, preaching in other churches, and that the boys were often in unfamiliar settings and had gotten a bit scared and wanted to be close to Mom and Dad.
-
This brings up an important question: Were my children being disobedient and unruly in a way that would disqualify me from being a pastor because they were too scared to go to their class and insisted on staying with us?
-
Consider 1 Timothy 3:4-5, “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)” Consider as well Titus 1:6, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.”
-
Let me be honest. This is not the only issue my children have. They do not always sit quietly- especially if they have to sit for more than an hour. Further, they fight with each other over toys, they have taken candy without permission, and they have tracked mud across the floor. Even though we remind them to take their shoes off, they sometimes forget or are just in too much of a hurry to obey. Is this what the Apostle Paul was referring to when he used the word “unruly” in Titus 1:6?
-
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible defines the underlying Greek word for unruly as: “unsubdued, i.e. insubordinate (in fact or temper):- disobedient, that is not put under, unruly.” The Geneva Bible Notes (commentary from the year 1599) gives some further light to the subject when it states, “This word is used of horses and oxen, who will not tolerate the yoke.”
-
In 1599, it was much more common to have horses and oxen in a yoke than it is today, yet the usage of the word should help our understanding. Though a horse may tolerate a yoke, that does not mean it will never throw its head or even stomp its hooves. Further the driver of the yoke may have to pull the reigns to steer the animal back on course from time to time.
-
The same is true of children. They are not robots that we can just program for an automatic outcome. We have attempted to program them to never walk across the house with muddy shoes and they are improving, yet they are not perfect. Even a well trained horse may have to be reigned in now and then.
-
Still, children should not be allowed to run wild. A pastor, just like any parent should be concerned about the behavior of his children. A pastor who has no restraints on his children should be disqualified from ministry, but this does not mean that his children have to be sinless.
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