FREEDOM, BUT WITHIN LIMITS
Alex V. Wilson

Suppose you want to travel quickly from Louisville, where I live, to San Diego. You might go by plane. If so, during the flight the pilot might veer 25 to 50 miles off course due to a storm, navigational error; or because he wanted to see the Grand Canyon! The pilot has great freedom.

You might travel by train instead, and by train there is hardly any freedom to maneuver. After all, it is supposed to stay on the tracks, and it is disastrous if it swerves just a few feet away from them.

Or maybe you choose to go by car. Then you’ll have more freedom than the train has but less than the plane. You’ll have freedom, but within limits. You’ll want to stay on the road, and stay within the speed limit; yet you may drive faster or slower, take a scenic route or else the most direct one, etc.

Now compare those options to the New Testament’s teaching about church practices. It is not like the plane flight: “It doesn’t matter what the Bible says; anything goes.” But it is not like a trip by train either: “All churches should be exactly alike; all should imitate every New Testament practice—nothing more, nothing less.” No, it’s like traveling by car: freedom, but within limits.

In other words, Bible teaching about church activities is not laid down in rigid laws but in flexible principles. It tells us to baptize, but does not say if it is to be done in rivers, pools, or in a building. Christ told us to remember His death by means of the Lord’s Supper, but He didn’t specify Sunday as the only day it should ever be held. After all, He initiated it on a weeknight. The Corinthian disciples had fellowship meals, but it seems Paul abolished them due to their abuses; so should we today have such meals, or not? (1 Cor. 11:17-34)

One difference between the Old and New Covenants is that the former contains many specific details while the latter contains general principles. If Christ’s New Covenant with the church were as detailed as the Old Covenant with Israel, it would spell out for us exactly what the preacher would wear and a precise code governing meetings. There would be rigid regulations regarding the architecture, dimensions, and floor-plan of our buildings, if it specified them at all.

The former Covenant was suited to one people living in one small land, and during their spiritual childhood when they needed to be regimented. But the New Covenant is suited to many peoples scattered around the world in many lands with differing customs, living at different times, and being more mature they can be trusted with more freedom.

Jesus as our Rabbi has not given His church unbending rules but spiritual principles to serve as guidelines, such as “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,” “I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved,” and “Let all things be done for edifying, for the strengthening of the church.”

Others principles are: “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way,” “Make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification,” and “Don’t pass judgment on one another; instead make up your mind not to put any stumbling block in your brother’s way.”

Within these and other similar guidelines found in Scripture there is much leeway and room for variety. We have great freedom, within the limits of Biblical principles and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Thus churches need not all be alike; there is no one detailed blueprint for us all. If this be so, then congregational differences within God’s guidelines should be no grounds for bitterness or lack of fellowship.

If we are to enjoy the unity which Christ desires His people to have, we must grant each other liberty in beliefs and practices. Thank the Lord we go by car, not plane or train. We do, of course, make sure we stay on the road!—2518 Portland Ave., Louisville, Ky. 40206