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I imagine we've all come across people who have figured something out in life and want to share their wisdom. I must admit I've been both on the giving and receiving end of unsolicited advice. And while I think most people are well-meaning when they share their helpful tips, sometimes it's not. Because my kids are different from their kids and my body type and metabolism are different. And my procrastination might be beyond their time management hacks.In Acts 15, the story of Jerusalem council, I generally considered those who said the gentiles must be circumcised where bad guys who are close-minded and didn't want outsiders part of their community. However, I'm not sure that's fair. These Jews were open to receiving outsiders and they were inviting them in to be part of their own sacred faith. But just because circumcision worked for the Jewish followers of Jesus it wasn't necessarily going to work for the gentiles.Paul and Barnabas argued with the Jews because they realized that these particular practices we're not going to help the gentiles in their faith. I think about people who offer weight loss advice that worked for them. That exact same diet and exercise might have helped you, but I can't run 5 miles a day and I just can't give up chocolate.And it's the same way with faith, the requirements of circumcision were not for everyone nor were the dietary restrictions. But the basic concept that underlie these practices - those are relevant. I want to be clear that throwing out all the rules is not where I'm heading. There are obviously things people do that are against the will of God and I'm not going to give you a list because we can see that in the news. But just following a list of rules is not going to help us do our faith better. But I do think we can take principles used by church leaders and apply them to our life today to figure out what it looks like to follow Jesus in our own context. The rituals and practices that we grew up with in church served their time and purpose, but maybe they are not what we need now to reach out to others who are interested in faith. Maybe those rituals and customs served their purpose but maybe it's time to imagine new things in church. How do we do racial justice? How do we do creation care? How do we be vital and faithful in our faith practices that welcomes others who don't know our traditions? How do we take risks and try to live our faith out in a new way?Who isn't in the church? Why aren't they here? What rules and regulations and ways of doing faith are we instituting that are not helping them? How is our church culture preventing us from providing a wider welcome? ... See MoreSee Less

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