You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. – Psalm 119:4

Today's Scripture Reading (September 1, 2022): Psalm 119:1-48

Thriller author Dean Koontz includes in one of his novels a comment about "Nazarenes." The word "Nazarene" in contemporary culture usually connects with people who belong to or attend the "Church of the Nazarene." I am a Baptist, but I started life and lived most of it as a Nazarene. I still like the theological bent of the church, and Nazarene beliefs often find their way into my speaking and writing. For Koontz, Nazarenes had somehow become attached to the idea that they hated music. I come from a Nazarene family that is also very musical, so the first time I read the thriller author's words, I was mystified. Non-music Nazarenes did not reflect the church that I knew.

Nazarenes are an anti-dance church. They are also an anti-movie theater church. I remember taking a group of Nazarene friends to a theater to watch "The Passion of the Christ." Among the group was an 80+-year-old lady named Sally (not her real name) attending the first movie she had ever seen in a theater. As we were in line waiting to get in, I leaned over to her and said, "Sally, not only do I get to escort you to your first movie, but it's rated R." I hope she saw the humor in the situation.

Maybe it was one of my problems with the Church of the Nazarene. They had the second longest rule book in the ecclesiastical world. Much of the book governed the administration of the church, but still, there were a lot of rules that I found problematic, especially for a worldwide church that operated in many differing cultures. I admit I am a bit of a rule follower, but I also believe that we should keep our rules down to the absolute minimum and that the regulations we suggest should be as biblically based as possible. Also, I think there should be a continual conversation about the church's rules. But we don't like that idea. We seem to believe that our regulations should be settled law to be accepted but not reviewed by future generations.

The Psalmist stresses that God has laid down his precepts which are to be fully obeyed. Jewish experts believed that there were 613 laws that God had laid down which needed to be followed. Others argued that the Big Ten summed up all of the law. But Jesus was able to bring it down even further. Jesus argued that if you love God and your neighbors, you will fulfill all of the commands of the law and prophet with these two actions. Two rules, but the expectation is that we will keep them. After all, we are not commanded to make new rules but rather to follow the ones God has already given us. 

Today's Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:49-96