Rules vs. Guidelines
Has Hollywood ever given us a sequel or a threequel (my word) that could rival the original? Ok, I’ll give you The Mummy – pretty darn good all the way around. Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my all-time favorites. The original that is. Destroyed in theme, romance and character in Parts II and III. But that’s a different story for a different day. The original finds our heroine, Elizabeth, standing toe to toe with the chief pirate bad guy quoting him, chapter and verse, the rules from his own Pirate Code. Once she stops, his response is simple; “Those are more like guidelines.” If only life were that way – just guidelines.
Adam and Eve had a few rules -- well one BIG rule and when it was interpreted as a guideline…what happened?
Moses brought some rules down off the mountain. I know I have seen on numerous occasions, and you probably have too, the bumper sticker or poster that states simply; “They are Not the Ten Suggestions” (most likely an outline or faint image of two stone tablets is visible)
Since May of this year I have been on fifteen flights, handled by two airlines through ten airports. Along the way, I saw a nice wide cross section of people. Once on board, I sit dutifully and listen to the flight attendants going through all of the safety features and reminding us that “the nearest usable exit may be behind us.” They are gracious to conduct this mandatory speech over the din of noisy travelers. They make sure you hear and know (several times throughout the flight) what electronic devices can and cannot be used and when they can and cannot be used. Focus here with me on the cannot. On EVERY flight, I kid you not, every flight, someone – sometimes my seatmate – fails to follow what I would, most definitely , consider to be a rule, and leaves their iPod running, their electronic book engaged or plays a game on their mobile phone. Do they feel that the airline is just over-anxious and that the stated actions are just guidelines? I hope each time that the guideline interpretation doesn’t interfere with, say – THE ALTIMETER.
A man came out of the crowd that had been listening to Jesus. His question itself speaks to the strength of what he most likely knew to be the answer, “What MUST I do to inherit…?” (Luke 10:25-28) And the verses that follow outline what Jesus let the man himself answer, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Even in Eugene Peterson’s more modern translation, The Message, the answer does not come back as “Well Dude, ya know if you have a chance and feel like it, might I suggest you love God a little, and maybe an occasional knuckle bump with a neighbor.”
In Mark 12:28-31 we hear the same answer come from Jesus when asked to identify the greatest commandment. Commandment, according to Miriam Webster, lists in its synonym roster, directive, imperative, injunction, order, decree and dictate. No reference to guideline.
God must have known that left to our own devices, like water, we would take the path of least resistance. That given loosie-goosie language we would interpret to our own advantage.
Jesus left great rules for us. How to love, how to live, how to serve. They have been spoken forth, written down and acted out.
They say that babies don't come with an instruction book. Maybe, 2000 years ago, this one didn't either but wow what a How To... book He left.
Steve Matthews
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