Rocks On The Slide

The other day Laura had taken Linc out to the park to play. The sun was out and she was taking full advantage of it with a two year old and another on the way. Linc could run free!

There were a lot of other kids at the park that day and while they were all playing Linc began throwing rocks on one of the slides. Laura quickly went over to tell him he couldn't do that because the other kids at the playground would get rocks on their butt while sliding down. Linc was confused. See, earlier in the week Laura was at the park with Linc and there were no kids there and she let him throw as many rocks on the slide as he wanted. No harm, no foul. It didn't matter. This time was different. He was frustrated and began to cry.

All That God Doesn't Mention

There's a lot in this world the Bible doesn't say anything about. As far as rules go, God only made ten and then Jesus came along and reduced those ten down to just two.(1) "Just love God and love other's and everything else will figure itself out"(2) was Jesus' grand reduction of the small amount of rules God proposed. Instead, the Bible is filled with a bunch of stories of various people relating to other people and God occasionally interjecting. Take a look for yourself and you'll find a very clear emphasis in the Bible on relationships over rules.

This is why I get nervous when sitting in a church that turns Sunday morning into a To-Do list. There emphasis is on rules. They draw lines in the sand in order to define their church or their denomination(3) rather than explain how God interacts with us. They become dogmatic about their doctrine.

Situational Ethics

They don't do this to be maliciously controlling. They do this because it's easier. It takes a lot of work to hop up from the bench, run over to your child, and explain to them why it's not okay to throw rocks on the slide today but it was okay the day before. Immature believers get frustrated, throw a fit, and make a scene. The easier thing to do is to just simply tell your child they are never allowed to throw rocks on the slide. That way, you can just sit back and let them play by themselves without interacting much at all. Situational ethics aren't easily defined and if they were we'd be missing the point.(4)

That sunny day Laura ran over to Linc to correct him something significant happened.

They talked.

Laura and Linc had a conversation, she reassured him how much she loved him, and he made a mental decision to trust her correction.

And this kind of interaction is not possible with a To-do list.

Perhaps the reason why Jesus only insisted on two rules is because he wanted us to interact with him. "So what do you think about this one, God?" He wants us to connect with him daily. He wants a relationship. This demands a conversation, dialogue, trust, and is a lot more work. He wants you to trust him. He wants to hold you when you're frustrated and reassure you of his love.

So what are you emphasizing? Have you drawn lines in the sand but having trouble connecting with the Creator?

Do your rules promote a relationship?

1. Notice even the two rules Jesus does insist upon are thoroughly relational.

2. Luke 10:27

3. I've been hopeful at some movement between denominational lines but I'm saddened that denominational disunity is merely being replaced with the latest trends. Reformed or postmodernism? Missional or evangelical? Just keep making up terms and the church will keep treading water. I've been a pastor in three different denominations so obviously I'm not a stickler for the details.

4. Matthew 12 is a great story in the Bible where Jesus gets confronted by some angry religious guys for picking grain on the sabbath (no work). That was against the rules but Jesus lets them know that if he's hungry, he's going to eat and by the way these rules were made by God, not for God. Check it out for yourself.