Tel me about it!!

Ingz, I think I’d sum up being an Adventist as being part of a community of believers who are waiting for Jesus’ second coming holding fast to God’s word, the law and the testimony.  

I take it by rules you are referring to something other than the 10 commandments (please correct me if I’m wrong). If my understanding is correct, then we are fast becoming modern day Pharisees. The Israelites who came back from captivity after the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians were determined not to repeat the mistakes of their forefathers (rebelling against God and breaking His commandments).  They feared that if they rebelled once more, God would send them back into captivity and allow the second temple Nehemiah built to be destroyed. To guard against that, they supplemented God’s law with their own rules (man-made standards) as a way of making sure that every aspect of their lives was in sync with God’s law. For example, they said carrying a handkerchief was doing work on the Sabbath; for you to carry one, you had to stitch it to your clothes so that they become one garment. Also, you could only travel a certain number of miles (kilometers) and anything above that was considered to be working. (Tindo is an expert in that field; he can give you more examples). 

The Pharisees considered themselves the moral standard and tried as much as they could to keep each one of those rules.  However, there were so many rules that they became a stumbling block for the ordinary Israelite. Jesus addressed and rejected these man-made rules during his ministry. For example, He healed on the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 9-14), mingled with tax collectors and “sinners” who were considered unclean (Matthew 9: 10, 11) and His disciples picked heads of grain and ate them without washing their hands (Matthew 12: 1, 2). 

As I said above, by setting rules of our own (man-made standards), we are fast becoming modern day Pharisees and just putting stumbling blocks in other people’s paths to salvation. And, what usually happens is that if someone does not conform to the standards we set, we are quick to condemn and judge them. 

I, personally, think that Christianity, generally, is a way of life, just as it is a relationship we have with God. I also strongly believe that although we are a community of believers, what really matters is our relationship with God as individuals (we are not saved as a community). As that relationship grows, God will impress on our minds the standards that He (not anyone else) wishes us to follow in our lives. Although some of the so-called rules are beneficial, for example, to our health, they are not the standard by which we shall be saved. 

After had been criticized by the Pharisees for breaking the rules (when Jesus had dined at Matthew’s house with tax collectors and “sinners” and Jesus’ disciples had eaten with unwashed hands) Jesus quoted Hosea 6: 6 and instructed the Pharisees saying “But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9: 10-13; 12: 7). I really think that as Adventists, it’s high time we learn what God means when he says, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'