Time for church

Today's episode happened all in my head (hence the name of the blog).

Friend: "Church is all about rules. It's kind of ridiculous - some old man in the sky just waiting for you to make a mistake so He can jump out and say 'Gotcha!' Besides, look at how all those church people break their own rules."

Sorry, first I have to get the joke out of my system...

Person 1: "Church is full of hypocrites."
Person 2: "There's always room for one more!"

Me... You're not supposed to keep the rules. God isn't sitting around waiting for me to make a mistake. He really doesn't have to wait, does He?

All of those rules are for the express purpose of showing me, I mean really showing me, that I can't keep them - no matter how hard I try. Believe me, I've tried. No, really, I actually tried it once. I think it lasted 5 minutes. Or less. When I tell myself to not think about something, well, I think about it.

I'm pretty good at rationalizing. But there are enough rules in there that I can't rationalize all of them. And I think that's the point. Eventually, I have to admit that I do selfish things. Stuff that keeps me from being perfect.

And this is where the conversation breaks down in my head. I'm going to make a jump. I'm just not sure how this ties back...

Out of Time

Let's start with the premise that God sees all eternity as a single moment. He sees the end result, not the temporary condition. In Matthew 18:12-14, Jesus talks about not losing one that He was given. Notice the past tense. I think that's intentional. What if even those of us not born yet were already given to Him?

As a human being, I think about saved or unsaved as specific groups that are constantly changing based on the specific moment in time. I wonder if Jesus saw them as static groups. He wasn't seeing people who "need to be saved". He saw people who were already His, they just didn't know it yet. 

So all of those rules were written for them. To show them exactly what God was willing to do, of their need for Him. I'm not supposed to follow all the rules. I'm supposed to understand the value of not having to follow the rules.

Anything I want?

So if I don't have to follow the rules, then that means I can do whatever I want? Well, yes, I can. And I don't. Can and should aren't always the same. I should do what Jesus asks of me. He's proven beyond any doubt that He wants my good. I don't obey because I have to. I do it because I'm immensely grateful for what He has done, knowing that He wants to do even more.

He certainly knows a lot more than I do. What have I got to lose?

Okay, so back to church. I go because He asks me to go. I go where He asks me to go. I'm sure there are great reasons. And maybe one day He'll explain them to me. Until then, I do enjoy the process of thinking about it, even if it's all in my imagination.