Life on the Pasture

Would you describe yourself as a “rules follower,” or one who likes to “exercise personal freedom” and often goes against the crowd? I tend to be a rules follower. For instance, if I see certain rules posted, I will follow them not only because I don’t want to get in trouble, but also because I do not wish to set a bad example. However, there are exceptions to that rule.

I fully admit that as more rules seem to be posted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the “exercise personal freedom” voice is coming out in me. I do not want to wear a mask as soon as I step out of the house. Why is ten the magic number for gatherings? What if you had a family of eleven? I’m not ready to do away with handshakes and high fives. I have no qualms over participating in a pick-up basketball game in my driveway or even at the park. 

But those are the rules. And so I comply (for the most part), dutifully keeping my distance so that all around me feel safe even though we will never stop the spread of the virus, even though there will be no true cure, only a vaccine, even though the vast majority who get it will not be hospitalized, even though models that predicted a much worse situation have so far not been accurate (thanks be to God!) All of those factors make me question some of the rules. But I don’t make the rules, and am compelled to follow them even when I question them.

But what bothers me perhaps more than anything else is the inconsistency of the rules (and rule following). What, for instance, makes a liquor store an essential business, or an abortion a necessary surgery while other businesses cannot be open and people like hair stylists are losing a lot of income or people who need certain other medical procedures have to wait? Why can more than ten be present at certain press conferences? Why can the Mayor of Chicago (and probably other important officials) have her hair cut and styled to look good in public while others can’t?

Eugene Peterson paraphrases James 2:8 this way in The Message: “You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: ‘Love others as you love yourself.’” There’s the rule that was never meant to be broken but, in fact, motivates us to keep the rules for the sake of others even if some break them. After all, true love is not a rule, but a lifestyle worked in us by the Holy Spirit as we rejoice in being first loved by our Lord Jesus who kept all the rules for us and then died to cover the guilt of our sin so we can live with Him who rose victorious now and for eternity. When it comes to love, there is no exception to that rule.

– Pastor Schmidt