MY, HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED!

Like some of you, I lived my teen years at a time when Christians didn't drink, smoke, dance, or go to movies. Pool halls were out and playing pool anywhere was questionable. I had a childhood friend who wasn't allowed to go bowling with our Sunday School class because in his family bowling was considered to be a worldly activity.

A lot has changed since then. All of the things on the above "don'ts" list are common now and for the most part accepted in most Christian circles. So what happened? Did we have it wrong then? Do we have it wrong now? Or did God change His mind.

I will be the first to admit that to a very large extent we simply had it wrong. In spite of clear Bible principles against making up rules to please God, we were often guilty of defining our Christianity by the list of things we didn't do. Clearly some of our rules had no basis in scripture, on the surface at least. While the Bible says not to get drunk, it does not prohibit alcohol. Dancing was a common activity in Israel, and apparently it wasn't a problem. Smoking, movies, pool and the like didn't exist in the first century so obviously they weren't addressed at all. Clearly the prohibition against these things was man-made and smacked a bit of "Phariseeism" (not a real word, but you know what I mean). 

HOWEVER (you just knew there was a "but" coming), for many Christians these rules were born out of a sincere desire to serve God well. They were people who loved God and wanted to live lives that were set apart and holy. Though there was definitely a tendency to adopt rules for rules sake, many people in their heart of hearts truly wanted to keep from anything that would be displeasing to God or damage their testimony before their unbelieving friends. 

Pleasing God. Having a solid Christian testimony. Now THOSE are principles born out of scripture.

To use a cliche, the pendulum has definitely swung far in the other direction. Younger generations understandably rebelled against man-made rules that didn't make sense or were inflicted without any reasonable explanation. That has led to a radically different situation. Now, at the risk of exaggerating a bit to make a point, it seems that even in Christian circles almost anything goes. On issues where we once correctly took a Biblical stand, church bodies are increasingly prone to waffle and compromise. And while we corporately struggle to find a comfortable place on the fence, there is no shortage of individual Believers who quite openly challenge the standards with the question "what's wrong with that?" 

We shed the chains of man-made restrictions, and then rushed headlong toward embracing the cultural norms, even though they may be contrary to the word of God. I wonder if we may have missed a couple of really important points.

• Though some of the old rules now seem rather silly on the surface, were there some underlying reasons that could make sense even today?  To use another cliche, have we thrown out the baby with the bathwater? Let me give you an example. The prohibition against alcohol is not Biblical, but the warning against drunkenness is. Many of us choose to avoid drunkenness by avoiding drinking.  Here's another example. Dancing is not a problem, but sometimes the environment and surrounding activities are. Pool is an innocent game, but pool halls historically were not the healthiest environment for Christians. The rules may have seemed silly, but the motivation sometimes had merit.

• We used to go overboard with rules while determining to be different or set apart (the definition of "holy").  Are we now overboard in our determination to be as much like the world around us as we can, even if it clearly violates the principles and teachings of the word of God?

I'm not interested in debates over specific do's and don'ts. I'm more interested in whether there is a tendency today for Believers to incline toward what they can get away with rather than how to live in a way that is most pleasing to God. In other words,the goal too often is "how close can I be to the lifestyle and morality of the culture and still be a Christian?"  Contrast that with an attitude that says "God I want so much to please you that I am quite happy to forsake anything that may lead me away from your best for my life." 

Our mistake is when we think It's about making and following rules. It's really about love. It's about a love for God so deep that I don't want to get close to anything that may take me from where God wants me to be.

We haven't got it all wrong. As I look at the church today I think maybe we are more compassionate than we used to be. I believe we are more concerned about meeting the needs of our fellow man than we once were. That's scriptural and it's the way Christians ought to be. 

But the Bible still teaches a need to be "holy". There is a need for me to live my life sold out to pleasing God, rather than sold out to my own desires and pleasures. Am I suggesting we need a new list of "don'ts"? Absolutely not. I am suggesting we need to examine what the word of God teaches with regard to morality and lifestyle, and be willing to adopt those principles.  Why? Because God said so. And if God said so it must be good for me.

I would be interested in discussion over the things I've expressed today.  Share this with your friends, and share your thoughts in the comments section below.