Column
Mortal Remains
The Gospel Rules
We are apt to impose rules on other Christians that one does not find in the Scriptures, nor are they historically endorsed by the Church. Even when we recognize this about our rules, we still impose them for practical reasons, for the good of body and soul. Over the years, these prescriptions tend to harden into faith-tenets. I have heard it argued in the case of certain ones that they should be kept in place because the practical reasons for them haven't gone away, and removing them would disrupt the churches where they have in fact become part of the faith.
The problem with this is three-fold. First, we didn't have the right under God to impose these rules in the first place; second, they invidiously and unnecessarily divide Christians into those who are morally committed to something extraneous to the faith and those who are not; and third—and most serious—what amounts to teaching as doctrine the precepts of men adulterates and misrepresents the faith that we wish others to follow, justifying them in rejecting it, at least as we present it. How many cases of "rejection of Christ" are in fact rejections of our distortions of him, and how shall we who teach them escape judgment for this?
An example was given me by a missionary who witnessed this first-hand: A pagan tribe deep in the jungles, for whom pigs were the basis of their economy, was approached by Christian missionaries from a sect that rejected, in Old Testament fashion, the eating of pork. If they were to become Christians, the natives were told, they would have to slaughter their pigs. There were, in the providence of God, other, more orthodox missionaries nearby who were unburdened by this rule, and it was from them that the primitive people accepted the gospel.
There are rules Christians must follow if Christians they will be, but woe to him who invents what the gospel does not impose. It is likely the first people he will lose will be his own children. To do the practical job of the rules, it is better to teach, especially to our young people, something wholly real and true: fear of the destructive power of their freedom when turned to the service of their desires. •
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
5.3—Summer 1992
Everything You Need to Know About Morality & the Bible by David Mills
20.7—September 2007
Paul Didn’t Build Bridges to Popular Culture by Russell D. Moore
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
