Jesus greatest enemies were the legalists, who had created a system of laws and rigidly enforced them on people. More recently, we’ve seen Christianity be boiled down to a list of thing that Christians don’t do: Don’t cuss, Don’t Dance, Don’t Gamble, Don’t hang out with people that have a different skin tone, Don’t have sex outside of marriage. The list of things you do do is shorter and seldom explained: read your Bible everyday, pray before meals, go to church on Sunday morning, evening and Wednesday night.
One of my silly little college rebellions was against praying at meals. I wasn’t a legalist, I had a relationship with God, so could pray whenever I wanted. A funny thing happened: soon, I wasn’t praying at all.
Pharisees and legalistic Christians were doing something very natural, yet very dangerous: taking our human need for rhythm and ritual, and turning it into a man made religion, that has no need for God’s grace and intervention.
Until we created electricity, mankind had lived a rhythm of life determined by the sun. We woke up with the sun, and went to sleep with the sun. The seasons shaped our year, with hard work during the spring and summer, celebrations during fall harvest. Rhythm has always defined what it means to be human, from beating of our hearts, to the ways we divide our year.
In a world with lights, television and refrigerators, rhythm has become a hindrance to a no limits lifestyle.
How do we create a rhythm of life, that encourages Christlikeness, without falling into the traps of legalism? Daniel was known for his prayer schedule. Jesus and his early followers celebrating Passover and Pentecost. When the early church was thrust by Constantine into the mainstream, they created traditions such as Lent to teach new converts the value of sacrifice. The Benedictine Rule of Life was developed as a guide to bring together the various aspect of one’s life into a unified, Christlike whole.
My week is shaped by things like logging into Facebook, my work schedule, or when the next episode of The Office airs. What could be more counter-cultural than allowing practices like prayer, Bible reading, time spent with community, fasting, meditation, and practicing mercy to shape how we organize our lives?
Many, in a reaction to legalism, have sought to be spiritual without being religious. This creates a vacuum filled by things of this world. Perhaps a better goal would be to learn how to be HUMAN without being WORLDLY, which we’ll discuss in the days to come.
What are the rhythms of your life? How have you overcome your human need for religion?
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