Christianity as a relationship, not a club.
Any club has rules. There’s a common interest, frequently there are meetings, sometimes there are obligations, some people are viable for the club, some people aren’t. (dues, books to read etc)
It might be tempting to think that youth group is a club, or church is a club. From the outside, it has a lot of the same elements, but being a christian isn’t being a part of a club. It’s about Jesus.
God’s people used to have a lot of rules they had to follow in every aspect of their lives. over 600 of them, and then the religious leaders made more.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Romans 10:9-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
That’s so simple, but it’s far more demanding. Getting flowers for someone every valentines day and getting them balloons on their birthday is easy, but actually loving someone is a lot harder. you don’t need to follow a billion little rules anymore, but you have to have a relationship where all of you is included. And so the church isn’t a club, but it’s group of people who are trying to live out being God’s family. Or at least it should be.
John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
You have to remember that not everyone here has a relationship with God.
Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
Sitting in the garage and making car noises doesn’t make me a car any more than going to church and doing churchy things makes me a Christian. You have to actually love Jesus.
If being a Christian isn’t about following rules, should the church/youth group have rules? Why or why not?
Ezra submitted these photos.