After talking about sin last week, I thought I would spend this article talking about our efforts to avoid sin.
Keep in mind everything I am about to share with you can be summed up in Matthew 22:37-40. (I’ll let you read up on that passage)
The two greatest commandments are basically love God and love your neighbor (my simplification of Matthew 22:37-40).
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, took this scripture a bit further and used this passage as a guideline for a set of rules for life.
Keep in mind in the beginning of the Methodist Movements focus was put on holiness of heart and holiness of life. The basic idea was to not only profess your love for God, but to live your love for God.
I can safely say every denomination has a similar ideology and maybe even similar guidelines.
If it’s OK, I will share the general rules of the people called Methodists today.
Rule 1: Do no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is generally practiced …
While this sounds simple, it is far from easy. Every action we take can have harmful consequences. Harm can come in so many forms, and at times we may not even realize the harm we do. Our task is to avoid hurting people as much as possible, but be careful, sometimes helping can hurt.
Rule 2: Do good, by being in every kind merciful after your power …
Again, simple, but not always easy. We have many opportunities to do good, to make life easier for someone else. Doing good can be anything from sharing a meal, to a firm handshake and a smile. Again, both of these rules are about loving your neighbor. They were written down as a means of action, or if you will, a how-to guide.
Rule 3 is: Attend to the ordinances of God, such as:
• Public worship of God
• Read and study of the Bible
• The Lord’s Supper
• Family and private prayer
• Searching the scripture
• Fasting and abstinence (I admit this is a tough one.)
The point of this rule was to seek a deeper relationship with God. All of these actions are the real means to focus on God in our lives and habits.
The one thing to remember is that these rules are not meant to be kill joys.
All three rules are meant to help us rejoice and share in the life that Christ offers us through his blood.
These rules were not meant to limit, but to help people grow.
Within these rules, people were able to grow and offer Christ to others. Classes would use these rules as guides to hold one another accountable in their Christian walk. For us, Christ should be the focus and love the tool to help us grow in faith.
I am pretty sure that many of your own churches have similar guides to getting closer to Christ. I encourage you to explore and learn them.
Who knows, maybe this is what it will take to change the world for Christ.
See you in church.
Rev. Kent Wilfong is the pastor at the United Methodist Church, Doniphan/Neelyville.