Conflict Between Love and Rules
By Rev. David Wilson Rogers | April 25, 2015
He knew his lot in life. As one with a serious physical disability, he was left to beg at the gates of the temple to make his living. Then Peter and John happened to cross his path and changed his life. What is telling about his story is not the miracle healing he received, but the angry response it generated in those who professed to love God.
As he had done countless times before, the man sat at the gate and asked for handouts from those entering the temple to worship. It was a common site and very much a part of the religious life of the Temple. When Peter and John heard his request for money, their response was that they had no money to offer, but would give him what they did have. Then, in the name of Jesus Christ, they offered him the power of faith and he got up and walked.
This little story in the third and fourth chapters of Acts shows the power of God’s love and mercy in amazing ways. Yet, as this beggar that everybody knew as a lame man at the gate of the temple began to walk around and celebrate his healing, people began to talk. Before long, Peter and John found themselves in the custody of the religious authorities and having to answer for their deeds.
The challenge was simple. “By whose authority do you do these things?” It was clear that those who had the authority to rule over the religious life of the people were threatened by this miracle healing and the profound illustration of God’s mercy. Then Peter and John, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to explain the power of God. They clearly articulated it was not them, but Christ who granted the miracle. It served to only agitate the leaders more.
Their story is our story. So often we see a clash between the priority of God’s love and mercy versus a fidelity to the religious rules and power structures that define our culture. In many ways it was this very clash that Christ challenged every day of his ministry. Christ was devoted to elevating the power of God’s love over the priority of religious regulation and pious power and the sacred community of God.
In spite of their righteous appearance as men who loved God and served God’s law, the conflict created when this beggar was healed, demonstrates that those who were in authority cared more about the preservation of their position than they did about the love of God they presumed to serve.
This vivid conflict illustrates one of the greatest dangers to the church and our world today. Whether it is in the preservation of what is presumed to be proper practice and doctrine, or whether it is strict adherence to political partisanship at the exclusion of all who may disagree, many Christians have lost sight of the priority for love over our propensity for proper practice. Enforcing our rules—the very structures that effectively serve our personal needs and desires— over the love of God is one of the most dangerous aspects of our world today.
Consider a similar clash that is told in the second chapter of Mark. Jesus Christ is in conflict with the leaders over what is presumed to be a violation of Sabbath law. His response is simply to state that God created the Sabbath for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath. The fundamental lesson remains the same in both passages. God’s law has its place and purpose. The doctrines and traditions of the church are relevant and good. Even the political passions that we find piously important have relevance. They must all however, be kept in perspective to the ultimate priority of God’s love for humanity. God did not create the church to rule the world. Rather, God created the church to serve the world out of the love God has for the world.