…don’t always have to mean dead.
Becky and I don’t enforce deadlines very well. We seek excuses to make exceptions whenever possible. Occasionally we ask ourselves where we should draw the line.
I suppose that’s one reason to have a clear vision statement: Create a community that empowers people to trust God, work together as servant leaders, and offer hope to others.
As a teacher I learned to expect grumbling about That’s Not Fair! whenever a deadline was relaxed, extra help was offered, or someone was treated in any way as an individual. Fortunately, I benefited from the guidance of a wise mentor.
The most unfair thing we can do is treat every person exactly the same. ~ Mike Walz
Sometimes we get so focused on something arbitrary, like a deadline, that we miss an opportunity to accomplish our real mission. So for the lack of a day or two, the student doesn’t learn an important concept.
Or because it’s this day rather than that one, a person doesn’t join the team. If we believe in the notion of divine appointments, perhaps the person who rushes up just as the door is closing is the one God wants us to admit for some reason we’ll never fully comprehend.
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In some ways I suspect we’re all tempted by legalism, the tendency to enforce the letter of a rule without regard to its spirit. Easier to draw a clear line and make no exceptions–no risk, no discernment required.
Jesus said the rules fall apart without love, and love requires a good deal of risk, sacrifice, and flexibility. Love requires the messiness of relationship, doing your best to decide what’s best for the person, not the rule or the system.
Jesus isn’t a collection of ideas to be learned or a system of rules to be enforced. He’s a person who invites us to follow Him on a journey.
I doubt He’ll leave us behind because the deadline to sign up was yesterday.
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