The Big Questions About ChristianityExemplo

Is being a Christian all about following rules?

If you listen to many critics of the Christian faith, you’d probably think Christianity is all about following rules, and that’s the reason why a lot of people don’t want to be Christians. Who wants to live by being told what to do all the time? That might be okay when you’re an infant, but you have to grow up sometime!

Unfortunately, there have been far too many Christians who have seen their faith in that way throughout history. They’ve made following rules more important than anything else. In so doing, they’ve misrepresented what the message of Christianity is all about.

This is the very same central issue Jesus faced during his ministry, and it is precisely the issue he persistently tried to correct. The Jewish people had turned religion into essentially all about following rules.

If you think about it, most religions and spiritual philosophies are about following the rules. They tell you God will accept you if you follow certain rules or observe certain religious rituals, or they will give you a set of defined spiritual principles you must follow.

The reason is our sinful self-centeredness always pushes us to think if we do better, God will better accept us. Because of the sin deep within us, we will always be powerfully tempted to think we can do it ourselves, and even if we need God, we can help him along. It always feels better if you can do something yourself.

A simple illustration is when you are invited to lunch by someone. You naturally ask, “What can I bring?”

You ask the question because you want to contribute to the meal, and you don’t want to feel awkward if you turn up empty-handed. But here’s the thing: God does want you to turn up empty-handed! The only thing he will accept is the empty hand of faith, which means you know you have nothing to offer, and you surrender yourself in trust to him.

The message of Jesus is that true religion is about following him and not about following rules. It was Jesus’ central message to them and us today.

Because most Jewish people were caught up in their rules, they missed him. They missed having a relationship of trust in Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a place for living in a way that pleases God, and there’s a place for obedience, but there’s only a place for those things as the result of having entered into a relationship of love and trust with Jesus.

So, Christianity is most definitely not just about following rules. If it were, I wouldn’t be a Christian!

– Eliezer Gonzalez