I Don't Like Rules

I'll admit something.

I'm really bad at any kind of discipline.

I don't like rules. I don't like expectations. I don't like guilt.

I've spent enough time in a world where rules abound. Grace was a word we used, but rarely practiced. Shame was a motivator and people were only as acceptable as they were useful.

If you didn't have special "gifts" or "callings" then you were ignored. So, people made stuff up. I don't think they actually thought they were making it up. I think they just hungered for it so deeply that, at some point, it became reality.

Since my slow movement away from that world I've become more and more disgusted by rules. You will often hear me swear.

Because I'm seeing that sometimes you have to cross the line of what is seemingly appropriate to make a point. I think I'm in good company with this, seeing as how Paul made reference to "filthy rags", i.e. menstrual rags... kind of a big, offensive deal in those days.

This might be offensive to you. There was a time it would have been offensive to me. I would have been horrified at the use of scripture to justify something so against the rules. I would have looked down on the perpetrator and, later on, use their unholiness as an example of what happens when we distort the truth.

Did you catch that?

I would have looked down on them....

Gross.

I read a story about a guy who traveled around speaking at christian events. He would always talk about the horrific amount of people who are starving to death everyday. And then he would always say, "...and no one gives a shit." He would end his talk by pointing out that almost everyone in that room was more offended that he had used a swear word than the face that people were starving to death. His point was always proven right when he received a letter in the mail protesting his "foul language" and never once mentioning world hunger.

This makes me sad.

Why do we care?

I get it that CURSING someone is a bad idea. I don't condone that (although I will tell you that, in my flesh, I've done it many times - most times without using a single swear word).

But really the point I am making tonight, is that it just doesn't matter.

The rules don't matter.

Holiness isn't about rules. It is 100% about the heart.

Righteousness isn't about rules. It is 100% about the heart.

Why do we make so many rules that only give us the power to condemn other people? As if judging other people according to our rules is what makes them worthy of life or not.

Why can't we choose to love people that offend us?

Why can't we open ourselves up to the idea of grace?

Grace that saved a wretch like ME.

There are no barriers to grace. Grace allows us to freely love the people we think are nuts. And, most importantly, grace allows us to let God do God's job.

This is a hard thing to swallow. Sometimes it makes me sick to my stomach... cause I know that I am a big, fat judger.

But my hope is that, in extending mercy to the people that piss me off, I will receive the mercy that I did not deserve.

I happen to know that I have pissed off quite a few people off in my lifetime. Almost every time, it was unintentional, misguided and regrettable.

So, if I start showing undeserved mercy to people that do things I don't like... like making rules that give me the heebie-jeebies, maybe they'll show me mercy when I do things that they don't like ... like swear...

Just a thought.