Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Bible Bites
A Word About Lists
Often, after a person is born again, and asks, “What shall I do next?” he is given a list of things, usually of a limited nature, and primarily negative. Often he is given the idea that if he does not do this series of things (whatever this series of things happens to be . . . ), he will not be spiritual. This is not so. The true Christian life, true spirituality, is not merely a negative not-doing of any small list of things. Even if the list began as a very excellent list of things to beware of . . ., we still must emphasize that the Christian life, or true spirituality, is more than refraining from a certain external list of taboos in a mechanical way.
Because this is true, there almost always comes into being another group of Christians which rises up and begins to work against such a list of taboos; thus there is a tendency toward a struggle in Christian circles between those who set up a certain list of taboos and those who, feeling there is something wrong with this, say, “Away with all taboos, away with all lists.”
Francis A. Schaeffer,
True Spirituality, 5*
There are few Christians who haven’t, at some point or other, bumped up against the tension Schaeffer describes regarding religious lists. It’s hard to be against lists when you realize that the Bible contains a lot of them (the Ten Commandments come to mind). Part of their utility is that that they meet us on the level of our superficiality to guide us on significant issues in a straightforward do/don’t do manner. But lists, like anything else, are liable to misuse. Here are three concerns I have about them.
1. They sometimes end up being our lists rather than God’s. In our pride (we all build Towers of Babel inside us, don’t we), it’s easy to equate our practice of a divine principle with the principle itself. Listening to preachers as I grew up in the ‘60s, I had no doubt about the length at which my hair made me a backslider (if it touched my collar) or how long a girl’s dress had to be for her to have God’s approval (below the knee). Let me be the first to say that you can’t obey principles generically; to be holy you have to get specific. But when I equate my specifics with God’s standards, any list I put together will most likely be nothing more than a dogmatic creed (Col. 2.20–23).
2. They tend to leave out important things. The lists I’ve seen tell me what I need to believe and how I ought to act on any number of matters, but I’ve yet to see one that says anything about love (understand, I’m not saying there are no lists that mention love, I’m just saying that the ones I’ve seen didn’t mention it). How in the world can you leave the most important thing of all off the list (1 Cor. 13.1–3, 1 John 4.8)?
3. They can promote self-salvation. If all it takes to overcome guilt or fix my situation with God is that I observe some list, then the Pharisees were right. But my Bible says that one can live consistent with a large code of acceptable conduct and still be far from the kingdom. In saying this, I’m not denying that we must be doers of the word. God forbid! I’m only urging that in our doing we stay God-oriented, not self-oriented. I’m saying that we maintain a clear distinction between what God says and what we say (“For Moses said . . . but ye say,” Mk. 7.10,11). And I’m saying that nothing makes the devil happier than when we take grace out of redemption.
Eventually, we all must confront what we believe about the relationship between our conduct and God’s approval. I don’t always balance things correctly. But in trying to live well-pleasingly before God, I’ve found His lists to be invaluable.
If you know a better way of thinking about any of this (and I’m sure there is), let me know.
— In "The Prairie Papers", #94
