November 30, 2022

Colossians 2: 20-23 (NIV)

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why . . . do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

No amount of religious ritual can substitute for doing what God commands.*

For the 25 years that I worked in elections and voter registration, I was subject to laws – federal, state, and local. In addition to the statutes we had to abide by, the state was required to promulgate rules with which to implement the laws. And then there were procedures that we developed within our own office on the local level. Obeying the laws and rules was mandatory; our procedures were more for our own benefit.

In this passage, Paul was addressing “procedures” that the church at Colosse had implemented - with the best of intentions, no doubt. The “statutes” – what Jesus said – were binding and non-negotiable. The “rules” – how to implement Jesus’ commands as presented by Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude, and the mysterious writer of the book of Hebrews – were still works in progress. Who can blame those early pioneers of the Church if they took matters into their own hands and devised some regulations that had “an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body”? It’s a good thing Paul’s letter arrived to remind them that they were imposing unnecessary burdens upon themselves.

It’s too bad Paul hasn’t sent us a letter like that. . . Oh, wait. He has. His epistle to the Colossian church is an open letter to all of us. We, too, can benefit from his admonition that man-made rules “lack value in restraining sensual indulgence.” What does Jesus say about how to live in a fallen world? Read the gospels. Read the book of Acts and see the work of the Holy Spirit and how the first Christians put Jesus’ words into practice. Want a procedures manual for day-to-day living? Read Romans through Jude. On the local level, your congregation must have by-laws and other governing documents; your leadership will make decisions about the order of worship and the programs and personnel - but those are human rules – not the plan of salvation!

Rules are a good thing but we often need Paul’s reminder that our freedom in Christ should not be sacrificed for the sake of bondage to commands that Christ never uttered.

We must not let our own rules or customs or habits or practices become hardened or sanctified beyond the reach of human needs.*