Rule keeping is not the same as Christianity
Many people think of Christians as people who like to follow rules. There are a range of things Christians do that others do not, like going to church and praying. There are also things Christians avoid doing that many others think as normal, like drunkenness and lying. It sure looks like rule following or religion!
The problem with seeing Christianity like this is that it is a half-truth, and not the most important half. Yes, Christians do have a code of behaviour, which includes some things to do and some things to avoid. The Bible is full of rules and guidelines for life, from the Old Testament law to Jesus’ ethical instructions. Yet an attitude of rule-following or law-keeping is actually the opposite of what Christianity is all about.
When Jesus himself spoke of the Old Testament law, he said that it could be summed up in two commandments: to love God and to love your neighbour. That reveals something important: it is all about love. That’s something internal, not something external. The behaviour of Christians should be driven by love.
Law keeping is something quite different to this. When we live our lives trying to follow rules, we often want to impress others or feel good about ourselves. When it comes to trying to follow God’s rules, we can think that if we follow the rules well enough, if we are religious and committed enough, then God will love us and accept us. Can you see what kind of attitude this will lead to? It will make us driven, sure, but driven by fear that we might not be good enough. We might become competitive, trying to do a better job than other people. Rule keeping makes us think of God as a school teacher who will mark our exam in the end, and we hope we have done enough. It makes Christianity all about us and our efforts. It is a problem many have fallen into through history, notably the Christians in Galatia in the first century.
The truth of Christianity is far better than this. The good news is that we can never be good enough for God, and God knows this. God provided a way for us to be right with him, and it is not to do with our efforts and religion. We are only right with God through trusting in Jesus who died in our place and rose again. We are saved by faith in what Jesus has done, not in our faith in our own achievements or religion.
So why do Christians follow rules at all then? Why are there things to do and things to avoid? All of the Christian life is a response to God’s love for us in Jesus. Now we know we are already loved by God, we are free to love God and others with all our hearts. We will want to honour God with our lives. We no longer try to follow rules to impress God; we do them because we want to. This comes from the heart; it is from love. This leads to such a different attitude from law keeping. A Christian is motivated by knowing they are loved and secure; there is no fear of not being good enough. We don’t see other Christians as competition but fellow children of God whom we should encourage. This sees God as a Father, not a school teacher; a Father who wants to see his children love him, but is not marking them with an eye to rejecting them.
Christianity is so much more than rules and religion. It is about trusting Jesus who died for us. Let’s make sure we get the reason for our Christian life right.