Taboos
Some people really love the Lord Jesus. Wouldn’t you like to be one of them? I would. I feel like my love is so weak. So small. I am not loyal at all. “Prone to wander”, the song says. Some day, my heart will be all His; that day when my old sinful nature is sloughed off and I am like Him. Until then, only by His grace do I even act as if I might love Him, a little. But some people love Him very much. And they seek every way to please Him.
There is a phrase in Revelation: “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day….” Think of that. To be so devoted to the Lord as to be “in the spirit” for a whole day means that the apostle John was in fellowship with our blessed Lord and Saviour for quite an extended period of time without interruption. What a privilege. We know too, that the Lord covets such intimacy with us. He enjoys that garden enclosed and shut up to Himself alone. What a delightful way to spend a day for one who loves the Lord.
There’s another aspect to this. It was on the Lord’s Day. Did you know that the term used here, (“Lord’s”), is only found twice in the New Testament? Here and in reference to the Lord’s supper. It seems this term is used to signify an ownership characterized by great fondness. It is His supper. We are invited. It is His day. What will we do with it?
We are no longer under law. We need not keep a Sabbath. If we desire to keep one, we are not commanded to not do so, but law-keeping will not do us or God one particle of good. It is passe’. The Bible is clear about that. Another thing that is part of the law that many seem to stumble at is tithing. Tithing is no longer required. Instead, ALL of what we are and have is HIS. He should have complete say-so about what we do with it. If He wants us to give it ALL away, that would be His prerogative. The amount we give in the New Testament church is within His Lordship.
But, I have digressed. As I was saying, the Sabbath was made for Man. If we set aside a day of rest for ourselves, it is good, but not required. As to the Lord’s Day, though, we have no commandment. He does not require us to keep it. Again, though, since He is Lord, we can expect that He has a will for us on what is commonly called Sunday and that we should hear Him. But what we do on that day is a matter between ourselves and the Lord.
So it is with consternation that a Christian would find himself condemned (or even questioned) by his brothers and sisters about his activities on the Lord’s Day. It is far from my responsibility or yours to judge whether or not anyone’s behavior on the first day of the week is appropriate.
Any Christian who keeps the day for the proper motive: love of his Saviour, could not possibly in the spirit, look upon another brother’s behavior and be critical of him. He must needs be blind as regards the behavior of others. Romans 14:4-13 is exceedingly clear about just this issue. While the application of these verses is extensive in our interpersonal relationships, it is remarkable that the verses focus on day-keeping.
And what is proper behavior for the Lord’s Day, if I desire to keep it? Is it sleep? Is the Lord pleased to have me unconscious all afternoon? Is it family get-togethers? Where the topic of conversation and the center of interest may occasionally be a casual mention of some scriptural matter, but more often is related to job, or children, or such. Is it prayer? Can you pray, non-stop for, say, four hours? Perhaps a combination of Bible-reading and prayer would be nice.
Would the Lord ever allow physical activity on His day such as hiking? Or swimming? If we were invited and “disposed to go” to a relative’s cottage for a weekend and they decided to take the boat out on the lake on the Lord’s Day, could we go? Would the Lord disapprove? If we did that and He appeared on the lake as He did with His disciples, would He remonstrate with us about our insensitivity? Should we rather shame our relative by declining and cloistering ourselves in our room for the afternoon with our Bible, telling them that the Lord would not be pleased if we joined them? Is there a difference between sitting with our family in a moving boat, socializing and sitting with them around the dinner table? Can we talk about the Lord in a boat on the lake?
And there is still another aspect to this: our testimony.
Many others are on-looking. Do they know we are Christians ? Does our keeping the Lord’s Day impress them? Convict them? Or is a verbal message of explanation as to what we are doing needed? (I Cor. 15:24).
Do those rare people who truly keep intimate company with the Lord Jesus on His day really give much thought to how others view them? Can others view them, or are they out of sight in their closets? If we make a show of keeping the Lord’s Day (like wearing a tie all day) can we do it while keeping a “closet attitude”. Will that be a good testimony? What is a testimony, anyway? Is it a show? A reputation?
People who can be enslaved by peer pressure can believe that they are doing well. Their behavior conforms. But they can be very shallow. Their motives are an abomination to the Lord. They have no depth of experienced with the God they claim to adore. People who yield to peer pressure may be unable to yield to the Lord because their image is paramount to them. It is their idol. They must conform to it or people will disapprove. If God had something for them to do that was outside the limits of what they felt were included in their self-image, they would have to disobey Him.
I had many questions about activities as a young Christian. What was actually allowed and what was not permissible? Could we drink? Certainly not to excess but could we have wine with our dinner? A beer with our pizza? Could we used tobacco? Cigarettes were out, but how about a pipe? (At that time the cancer risk was not well-known). Could we play innocent card games like canasta? How about movies? Serious Christians and even pastors I knew watched old movies on TV. Were only new movies in a theater off-limits? How old did a movie have to be before I could watch it?
I traced a lot of the taboos that Christians have back to movements in the 1800’s that called on people to abstain from all sorts of pleasures. Much of what they pressed was not Biblical. Of course, drunkenness, adultery and other plainly condemned practices are directly forbidden by the Lord. But there were para-church organizations back then that tried to improve society by pushing asceticism. Still, today, some Christians have bought into those ideas as a way of practicing personal “holiness”. They try to push those ideas on their fellow believers as being the straight and narrow path.
When I gained a bit of Christian maturity, I found a wondrous release from the bondage of legality. I found that God bought me and owns me. He wants all of myself. Not just my behavior. If He has ME, He can guide me with His eye. If I am yielded to Him, He can lead me in the paths of righteousness; beside still waters. He can draw me and I will run after Him as a hart. But a servant in chains is no pleasure to Him. He wants voluntary bond-service. When we occupy that blessed place at His feet He can order all our ways on all our days and on His Day as well.
If The Lord Jesus Christ, wanting, to sup with us, knocks, (And He has every right to demand), let us refrain from pressing our brethren even if they are our own children to conform to our standard, but the leave the convicting work to the Holy Spirit.
There is a phrase in Revelation: “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day….” Think of that. To be so devoted to the Lord as to be “in the spirit” for a whole day means that the apostle John was in fellowship with our blessed Lord and Saviour for quite an extended period of time without interruption. What a privilege. We know too, that the Lord covets such intimacy with us. He enjoys that garden enclosed and shut up to Himself alone. What a delightful way to spend a day for one who loves the Lord.
There’s another aspect to this. It was on the Lord’s Day. Did you know that the term used here, (“Lord’s”), is only found twice in the New Testament? Here and in reference to the Lord’s supper. It seems this term is used to signify an ownership characterized by great fondness. It is His supper. We are invited. It is His day. What will we do with it?
We are no longer under law. We need not keep a Sabbath. If we desire to keep one, we are not commanded to not do so, but law-keeping will not do us or God one particle of good. It is passe’. The Bible is clear about that. Another thing that is part of the law that many seem to stumble at is tithing. Tithing is no longer required. Instead, ALL of what we are and have is HIS. He should have complete say-so about what we do with it. If He wants us to give it ALL away, that would be His prerogative. The amount we give in the New Testament church is within His Lordship.
But, I have digressed. As I was saying, the Sabbath was made for Man. If we set aside a day of rest for ourselves, it is good, but not required. As to the Lord’s Day, though, we have no commandment. He does not require us to keep it. Again, though, since He is Lord, we can expect that He has a will for us on what is commonly called Sunday and that we should hear Him. But what we do on that day is a matter between ourselves and the Lord.
So it is with consternation that a Christian would find himself condemned (or even questioned) by his brothers and sisters about his activities on the Lord’s Day. It is far from my responsibility or yours to judge whether or not anyone’s behavior on the first day of the week is appropriate.
Any Christian who keeps the day for the proper motive: love of his Saviour, could not possibly in the spirit, look upon another brother’s behavior and be critical of him. He must needs be blind as regards the behavior of others. Romans 14:4-13 is exceedingly clear about just this issue. While the application of these verses is extensive in our interpersonal relationships, it is remarkable that the verses focus on day-keeping.
And what is proper behavior for the Lord’s Day, if I desire to keep it? Is it sleep? Is the Lord pleased to have me unconscious all afternoon? Is it family get-togethers? Where the topic of conversation and the center of interest may occasionally be a casual mention of some scriptural matter, but more often is related to job, or children, or such. Is it prayer? Can you pray, non-stop for, say, four hours? Perhaps a combination of Bible-reading and prayer would be nice.
Would the Lord ever allow physical activity on His day such as hiking? Or swimming? If we were invited and “disposed to go” to a relative’s cottage for a weekend and they decided to take the boat out on the lake on the Lord’s Day, could we go? Would the Lord disapprove? If we did that and He appeared on the lake as He did with His disciples, would He remonstrate with us about our insensitivity? Should we rather shame our relative by declining and cloistering ourselves in our room for the afternoon with our Bible, telling them that the Lord would not be pleased if we joined them? Is there a difference between sitting with our family in a moving boat, socializing and sitting with them around the dinner table? Can we talk about the Lord in a boat on the lake?
And there is still another aspect to this: our testimony.
Many others are on-looking. Do they know we are Christians ? Does our keeping the Lord’s Day impress them? Convict them? Or is a verbal message of explanation as to what we are doing needed? (I Cor. 15:24).
Do those rare people who truly keep intimate company with the Lord Jesus on His day really give much thought to how others view them? Can others view them, or are they out of sight in their closets? If we make a show of keeping the Lord’s Day (like wearing a tie all day) can we do it while keeping a “closet attitude”. Will that be a good testimony? What is a testimony, anyway? Is it a show? A reputation?
People who can be enslaved by peer pressure can believe that they are doing well. Their behavior conforms. But they can be very shallow. Their motives are an abomination to the Lord. They have no depth of experienced with the God they claim to adore. People who yield to peer pressure may be unable to yield to the Lord because their image is paramount to them. It is their idol. They must conform to it or people will disapprove. If God had something for them to do that was outside the limits of what they felt were included in their self-image, they would have to disobey Him.
I had many questions about activities as a young Christian. What was actually allowed and what was not permissible? Could we drink? Certainly not to excess but could we have wine with our dinner? A beer with our pizza? Could we used tobacco? Cigarettes were out, but how about a pipe? (At that time the cancer risk was not well-known). Could we play innocent card games like canasta? How about movies? Serious Christians and even pastors I knew watched old movies on TV. Were only new movies in a theater off-limits? How old did a movie have to be before I could watch it?
I traced a lot of the taboos that Christians have back to movements in the 1800’s that called on people to abstain from all sorts of pleasures. Much of what they pressed was not Biblical. Of course, drunkenness, adultery and other plainly condemned practices are directly forbidden by the Lord. But there were para-church organizations back then that tried to improve society by pushing asceticism. Still, today, some Christians have bought into those ideas as a way of practicing personal “holiness”. They try to push those ideas on their fellow believers as being the straight and narrow path.
When I gained a bit of Christian maturity, I found a wondrous release from the bondage of legality. I found that God bought me and owns me. He wants all of myself. Not just my behavior. If He has ME, He can guide me with His eye. If I am yielded to Him, He can lead me in the paths of righteousness; beside still waters. He can draw me and I will run after Him as a hart. But a servant in chains is no pleasure to Him. He wants voluntary bond-service. When we occupy that blessed place at His feet He can order all our ways on all our days and on His Day as well.
If The Lord Jesus Christ, wanting, to sup with us, knocks, (And He has every right to demand), let us refrain from pressing our brethren even if they are our own children to conform to our standard, but the leave the convicting work to the Holy Spirit.
posted by Biblical Christianity at 9:56 AM
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