Following God is not a list of laws and rules that must be obeyed in order to be deemed worthy of salvation. We would never be worthy if that were the case. God knew that. Jesus came to fulfill all those laws and rules for us. He met the requirements on our behalf. His blood forever covers us, making us forever good enough. Now, we live in freedom because of Jesus.

Our burdens are now light. We are not subject to laws so extreme that we can’t fulfill them. We are not under restrictions and rules that prevent us from living lives of joy. Actually, quite the opposite. Our guilt and shame has been lifted. We are invited to enjoy the fullness of all God has created, covered in a undeserved blanket of grace and forgiveness.

It all sounds too good to be true. But it is true – if you accept it. Freedom in Jesus is yours.

But humans struggle with freedom. We struggle with grace. We make things messy, then we drag others into our mess. Without extreme rules, we begin making our own rules. Rules that overlook the heart and just begin checking boxes. All while God isn’t concerned with the boxes, he only wants your heart. If your heart is right, then he is pleased, regardless of the box.

But dang we like our boxes of right and wrong, don’t we? And we create enemies out of those not in our same boxes. We judge and condemn anyone who’s box looks different than ours. But really, the question is – where did the box even come from? Did God give you that box? Is your box now creating harm in the life of someone who’s looking for Jesus, but all they can see are your boxes they don’t fit in? Are we tearing about God’s work over laws and rules Jesus has already fulfilled for us?

I have a family member who is so smart that it hinders his faith. He is distraught that most churches meet on Sundays and that’s not the appointed Sabbath day according to God. So, he wants nothing to do with Church because it’s the wrong day of the week.

I met a young man who believes all Christians hate him because he’s gay. And if the followers of Jesus are against him, then wouldn’t Jesus be against him too? So, he has never met the saving power of Jesus because he feels he wouldn’t be loved. He doesn’t know God is for him because no one representing God has ever been for him. (He happens to be the young man on the airplane I gave my Bible to last year. It was the most valuable gift I could give him to show him love.)

The 28 year old guy with a long pony tail who does the best pedicures on the island struggles to believe there is a God because bad things have happened in his life. He’s hurting and questioning and running, all while making some bad decisions.

What would Jesus do in these situations? Wouldn’t Jesus say, “Hey, if you want to hang out with me on Saturday, that’s really cool too! The day of the week doesn’t matter to me, they’re all mine.” Wouldn’t Jesus say, “I know everything about you. I knew you before you were even knit together in your mother’s womb. I loved you then and I love you now. My good plans for you haven’t been cancelled. I can work in your life.” Wouldn’t Jesus say, “I know you’re hurting and I’m hurting with you. Let me sit with you.” Wouldn’t Jesus say, “There’s nothing you could ever do that would separate you from my love?”

And whatever Jesus would do, he’s asking us to do it too. Jesus sat at tables others would be ashamed to be see at. He hung out with the unpopular. He pursued the unlovable, the untouchable, the undesirable. He tore down every wall and every excuse and made the path for the broken and the hurting to come to him.

The leper who Jesus touched hadn’t been touched by a single living soul for years. He was an unclean, forbidden outcast. But Jesus reached for him. When no one else would, Jesus did. Now he calls us to do the same.

We can’t live in our extreme boxes of right and wrong and expect everyone else to fit in them. Our boxes are limiting the free flow of Jesus’ healing power. Here’s how Paul says it in Romans 14:

“Don’t argue with others about what they think is right or wrong.”

That’s plain and simple. Stop arguing over what you think is right or wrong. You’re helping no one and you’re not representing Jesus well. Jesus would walk smack dab in the middle of what is wrong and he would touch people. Jesus would pull us a seat next to the one who is adamantly wrong and share a meal with them. Jesus wouldn’t argue with them over what is right or wrong. He would spend time with them, love them, and shine the light of God in all their dark places. He would offer grace where there has been guilt and shame.

Paul goes on to use 2 examples of right and wrong. Clean food and holy days. In the Old Testament under the old law, breaking of the laws of food or holy days made you unclean and unworthy. Guilty. Punished. Banished.

Now, because of Jesus fulfilling the old laws, things have changed and Paul says, “One person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.” Okay, so we have a difference of opinion in what is right or wrong. We don’t agree on this. My box doesn’t match yours. So what do we do? Paul says, “Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.”

God has accepted the person you’re condemning. The person you’re judging has been deemed worthy of love and forgiveness by God, because of Jesus. WHY ARE YOU STANDING IN THE WAY? If what they’re doing is wrong for you, then it’s wrong for you, but you don’t have to push it on them. Isn’t our God big enough to accept me with my hang ups and you with your screw ups at the same time? Isn’t God big enough to sort all that out?

My 3 year old grandson loves the Minions movies. These little yellow cuties unite for a mission and they’re a force to reckon with. But they’re really, really dumb. They do the stupidest things and cause major messes along the way. We’re kind of the same. We don’t know why we’re doing what we’re doing, but we’re doing it. We make a mess of things without looking around to see who’s getting hurt. And if we don’t pause for a moment, we may be hurting someone Jesus died to save.

Paul says in Romans 14: 12-13, “Each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.”

The first rule in any type of medical treatment is do no harm. Don’t make things worse. We’re surround by sick and hurting people. People who need the love and healing touch of Jesus. The first thing we must commit to is to not hurt them.

Repeat after me: I WILL DO NO HARM.

Verse 14, “If someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong.”

God is big enough to give us personal convictions. Those personal convictions are on a personal level. We don’t have to spew them onto everyone else as the standard for living. God doesn’t need destructive little minions out enforcing his laws.

For 7 years, I practiced yoga daily. The majority of those days, I hated it. But it helped me calm my racing mind and brought a slower pace to my rushed soul. And this very non-bendy girl really needed flexibility. Over the years, I benefited greatly. I’d never been more toned or fit. I would miss a day of praying, but I wouldn’t miss a day of yoga. I never opened my Bible, but I always rolled out that yoga mat. Then, one day the Holy Spirit ever so clearly told me to stop doing yoga.

That didn’t make any sense to me. It had been so good for me. I wasn’t hurting anyone. So I continued, ignoring the prompting of the Holy Spirit to stop.

Months passed and that holy conviction grew stronger and stronger. I had to stop. I asked God why, but there was no explanation, just a conviction to stop doing yoga. Finally, I quit. With no understanding as to why, but faith to believe God knew best.

Some time after stopping, God revealed to me why he had asked me to stop. Then it made sense. It wasn’t right for me. It was wrong for me personally. I’ve never done yoga a single time since, and it’s been over 2 years. I’ve grown more spiritually in those 2 years than I have in my other 48 combined. God has never once called me to tell anyone else that yoga is wrong for them. Maybe it’s great for them. It was wrong for me.

Could what is wrong for me be right for you? Could what is right for you be wrong for me? And could we be big enough to be okay with that without be threatened or judgy?

Here’s what God asks of us, “Don’t let your choices ruin someone for who Christ died.” Don’t become a stumbling block. Don’t trip them up over something God says is not in the way of coming to him. If God has accepted them, GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Verse 4 says, “With the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.” Notice it doesn’t say with your judgment, or your boxes, or your hate, or your posting, or even your example – it says with the LORD’S HELP, they will stand and receive his approval. You and I need to get out of the way. Allow God to work in your personal convictions, and let him be big enough to work in the personal convictions of others too. God is so much more concerned about the HEART than the box.

Verse 22-23, “Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should do something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe it not right, you are sinning.”

Just because it’s not right for you, doesn’t mean it’s wrong for everyone else. Let God handle that.

Just because it’s totally right for you, doesn’t mean it’s your mission to push it on anyone else. Let God handle that.

When the Holy Spirit has told me not to do something, doing it anyway would be sin for me personally. Pushing my personal convictions off on you would only cause division and confusion. I become a stumbling block when I make my rules and regulations. I block God’s grace when I create my boxes and try to get you to make the same boxes.

God doesn’t need minions. He wants disciples – followers of Jesus. See how Jesus would do it, then do the same. Jesus would touch the unclean. Jesus would sit with the wrong. Jesus would have mercy on the accused. Jesus wouldn’t throw a stone and he’s not telling you to either. Jesus would wash feet. And he’s very clearly telling you to wash feet.

You can’t throw stones when you’re washing feet. You can’t push your personal convictions on everyone else when you’re loving like Jesus.

If it’s not right for you, then don’t do it. It would be sin for you if you did. But don’t let that become a box you try to make everyone else fit in. Give him your heart, and let him work on the heart of everyone else in his way.

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