I don't think God intended Christianity to be prescriptive at all. I think the bible is written the way that it is because it is not meant to be prescriptive. It is meant to be descriptive. The bible describes the kind of life that we are meant to lead, but it does not prescribe it. The bible says that there is a season for everything and I often wonder if some of the more prescriptive ideals coming out in Christian literature at the moment, are respecting those seasons.
I think people often get frustrated by the lack of prescription in the bible – it isn't specific about how we should parent, or how much tithe we should give each week, how we should be involved in ministry but I think this was intentional. It is not something that has been lost in translation. I think the bible allows for our individuality because God loves us as individuals. I think that is why Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13 "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." We are meant to be working it out, it is not prescribed for us.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think prescriptive things have their place at times. In 1 Cor 10:23, the bible says "All things are lawful," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up." So while I think Forty Days of Purpose can be a great focal point for a church, but Forty Days of everything else may be taking things a little too far. My concern is that we are judging ourselves and other Christians by the benchmarks of these prescriptions but these prescriptions can become robotic after a time, and we forget the attitude that God wants us to have towards Him and life in general.
Areas of importance and unimportance
I don't think God cares if we don't "read the bible in a year" or even get through the whole thing in our lifetime. While I think reading the whole bible is great, and for some people, reading it in a year can be really beneficial, the attitude with which we read the bible, is more important than the method that we use or how much we actually read. I have a problem with reading huge chunks of the bible everyday because there is often a lot to process, but I think we can become focused on ticking boxes rather than actually hearing God's word. Sometimes prescriptions can focus us too much on the goal and not enough on the attitude. I think when we approach things like reading the bible in a year, we need to proceed with caution and be aware of the potential dangers. It is very easy to fall into the trap of fulfilling a check list.
Another word that is more commonly used for prescription in Christian circles is legalism. I think we often have a hard time calling things legalism, because in some cases the materials are far more liberal than anything we have seen published in the past – like Mark Driscoll's study of Song of Solomon. Driscoll uses verses in Song of Solomon to tell people how to do marriage as 'God intended' and some of his interpretations of the passage are very specific and explicit. Unfortunately this approach leaves no room for respect of individual needs or individuality in general. This kind of prescription, or legalism, is dangerous. It is essentially manipulating people into giving something that they are not necessarily willing to give, and that is how people get hurt. Song of Solomon was written the way that it was because God is descriptive about our relationships with each other, not prescriptive. Description respects our individual needs where prescription tends to walk all over them.
Works out for different people at different times
Prescription will inevitably work out well for different people at different times. It is the beauty of being individual and the beauty of how God created us. I think the long term issues come when we start judging ourselves and other Christians by these standards. I do think organisation and management in churches is important, but judging the health of a church by people's involvement in services, tithing, ministry and cell groups is another common trend that is becoming dangerous. Churches are meant to be communities where we are able to meet the needs of individuals at different times but we use these things as measuring sticks of people's commitment. So instead of focussing on where people are giving or not giving, I think we need to focus on giving 100% all of the time.
100% will mean different things at different times. For example, before we had children, my husband and I were heavily involved in ministry in our church. We participated in the music team, ran the youth and children's ministry, I was on the administrative board and we helped out with special events at the church. We were giving what we could because at that time we were capable of giving that much. Now our 100% means that making it to church on a Sunday is a huge effort because we have four small children and live our lives in a complete state of exhaustion. When our children are older, we will be able to give more and that will be our 100% at that time.
The thing is that if everybody is giving 100% all of the time, whatever that means for them at the time, the work will be done. That is what being a community is about. When people are unable to minister, there will be others who will have the capacity. I think forcing people to give when they are not capable leads to burn out. When we have to force ourselves to be there week after week, to meet a criteria, it is not healthy for anyone. Ministry should be about passion, not about ticking boxes.
An illustration from the Scriptures
I think a good example of this is in 2 Chronicles 25:2 where is says that Amaziah was king. Verse 2 states that "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly." I think the attitude with which we do God's work is just as important as what we are actually doing. God knows our hearts.
In the New Testament, I think the bible is clear on two things. The first of these things is the gospel message – that Jesus, the son of God, came to Earth, lived a perfect life and died in place of our sins. The gap between us and God has been bridged because Jesus has covered our sin and all we have to do is accept what Jesus has done for us – and that is what makes us Christians. Not our beliefs about how the world was created, or what we think about homosexuality or any other hot topic at the moment. These things come from our faith in God, but they are not what makes us Christians.
The other thing that I think the New Testament is clear on, is that we need to love. The bible is very clear that love is the fulfilment of the law. All other things flow from love.
In Matthew 22:34-40, the bible says this:
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37Jesus replied:"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[c]38This is the first and greatest commandment.39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'[d]40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And also in Romans 13:8-10
8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet,"[a]and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbour as yourself."[b]10Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
While I think the New Testament does give some instruction for living, I think what is describes is intended to flow firstly from love and dedication to Christ and secondly from love for one another. I think the bible is very descriptive about how we are to love one another and show our love for Christ, but not prescriptive.
A little care in how we use well-meaning resources
So while I think some of the resources around can be great tools to focus us for a period of time, we need to be careful about how we use them and always keep our attitude in check. Christian faith is not a check list or to-do list. These things can become noise that keeps us busy and stops us from really hearing God. We become so tied up in ticking boxes that we don't seek God's will for us, we don't just stop and listen to what God is trying to say.
God has given us each the intelligence to work out what we are capable of and what we are able to give. We need to use that and we need to trust ourselves that just because a book doesn't tell us that this is how we do Christianity, it is okay. We have the bible to measure our thoughts and beliefs against and we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. The bible talks about the priesthood of all believers and in Colossians it says that we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit the moment we accept God. We don't need prescriptions to tell us how to follow him. Know God's word, act out of love to God and love towards others and I think we are fulfilling what God calls us to do. That is what we should be measuring our commitment against.
Erin Kikkert is married to Anthony and they they have four tiny tots under 5. They live in Townsville and Erin heritage is from several generations of Baptist Ministers.
Erin's archive of articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/erin-kikkert.html