Rules and Woes

In the Word of God, we find reliable and powerful principles in order to live a life that pleases God and is productive for His Kingdom, based on our love relationship with Jesus.  In Psalm 119, we can
read:
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!
12 Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes!
13 With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth.

God desires for us to adhere to His principles and recognize that His Word contains powerful resources - Hebrews reminds us that His Word is living and active, and we can receive incredible power as we study and meditate on the Scriptures.  His Word provides instruction by which we live and information by which we grow.  If we want to be strong in the Lord, we can know that God's Word can contribute to that strength within.

+++++

In Matthew 23, in this Holy Week snapshot, we find Jesus teaching and taking aim at the corrupt
religious practice that had permeated the Jewish faith. We read:
10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

It wasn't too long ago that a Canadian professor received attention for his opposition to a Canadian bill called C-16, which, according to the BBC, "prohibits discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act on the basis of gender identity and expression."  That bill actually passed the following summer. 

The professor, Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto was...

...especially frustrated with being asked to use alternative pronouns as requested by trans students or staff, like the singular 'they' or 'ze' and 'zir', used by some as alternatives to 'she' or 'he'.

In his opposition, he set off a political and cultural firestorm that shows no signs of abating.

He is quoted as saying, "I've studied authoritarianism for a very long time - for 40 years - and they're started by people's attempts to control the ideological and linguistic territory," adding, "There's no way I'm going to use words made up by people who are doing that - not a chance."

Peterson's latest claim to fame is a book called, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, as well as a lecture series.  Peterson, in some circles, has become an intellectual phenomenon.  A quick-start guide to the "rules" for you now, from The Guardian website:

Rule 1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back
Rule 2 Treat yourself like you would someone you are responsible for helping
Rule 3 Make friends with people who want the best for you
Rule 4 Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today
Rule 5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them
Rule 6 Set your house in perfect order before you criticise the world
Rule 7 Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)
Rule 8 Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie
Rule 9 Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t
Rule 10 Be precise in your speech
Rule 11 Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding
Rule 12 Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

And, there you have it - and perhaps one day, I'll compare each individual rule with the teachings of Scripture.  It is rather intriguing to see articles being written about how closely - or not - that Peterson tracks with Christianity.  There is some overlap, but I have not seen anywhere any writing that makes the case that he is a Bible-believing Christian.

Rules are important.  Now, Peterson's rules might better be described as guidelines or guardrails.  Maybe simply principles.  Petting a cat doesn't constitute a rule, but it may propel us to appreciate the simple things of life.  Rule 6, about setting your own house in order before criticizing the world, is certainly a wise saying and would greatly benefit our perspective and practice.

The Bible contains a thorough set of principles by which we can live - and a study of God's Word and absorption into our hearts and minds can enable us to release God's power to follow His Word.

During Holy Week, Jesus did quite a bit of teaching - and in Matthew 23, we see a set of principles - you might describe them as "Christ's 8 Woes for Learning."  Here's the summary:
#1 - Don't try to keep people from entering the Kingdom of Heaven (v.13)
#2 - Don't pray pretentious prayers (and take special care of the widows) (v. 14)
#3 - Don't corrupt those whom you win to the faith by your bad behavior (v. 15)
#4 - Don't exalt the gold of the Temple over the Temple itself; or, don't exalt the gift over the giver (v.16)
#5 - Don't give of worldly possessions without possessing heavenly character, including justice, mercy, and faith (v. 23)
#6 - Don't clean up the outside without dealing with a corrupt heart on the inside (v. 25)
#7 - Don't try to project a righteous appearance for unrighteous motives (v. 27)
#8 - Don't pridefully say that you would not repeat the mistakes of your predecessors (v.29)

The religious leaders of Jesus' day had created a system that really contradicted the heart of God, and Jesus was calling them out for it.  This leads to our first takeaway when we consider lists of rules or guidelines - whatever "system" of principles we follow should first and foremost line up with Scripture.

Jesus was calling the "scribes and Pharisees" to examine their hearts - and during this Holy Week, we can carefully look into our own hearts, making sure that we are intent on loving Jesus and appropriating what He has done for us in the cross into our own lives.  We have to move beyond showy religion into a sincere encounter with the living God.

Finally, we should have principles that we follow.  And, we should also have discernment - because not all seemingly "good advice" is Godly counsel.   From Biblically-based principles, we develop convictions that serve us well in our walk with Him.