Obey God Rather Than Men

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)