At our staff retreat this week, the topic of Renovaré events came up. As a lover of systems, I wanted to define rigid criteria for planning our event calendar so that every incoming request could be neatly filed and sent a canned response. Automation! Efficiency! I could taste the clarity.

Chris Hall kindly chimed in, ​“Let’s avoid policies that box us in. Events should align with our mission, but I want us to be responsive to the Spirit about the specifics.”

Ah, yes. Listening to the Holy Spirit. Being flexible. That’s an option, too, isn’t it?

Bonhoeffer comes to mind. Richard Foster comments: 

Bonhoeffer took free, responsible, obedient action seriously. He rejected all legalistic systems for defining moral norms. He refused to reduce Christ and Scripture to ethical principles and rules. Instead, he stressed the ongoing, relational dialectic of encountering God’s will, often against our will, and, in Christ, receiving the freedom to act responsibly in any given situation. When the center is clear, the boundaries of responsible action can be open to meet the demands of the present moment.

Life from the Center is more difficult than life from a rulebook. It’s also far richer and more rewarding.

So, Father, help us to not worship the law, but to worship you who through your Spirit writes the law of love upon our hearts.