Living the General Rules

One of my friends and mentors, Bob, recently set out upon an experiment to live out more fervently the General Rules from the early Methodist Societies. I have been watching and reading his blog posts (and the insights by another friend of mine, Melissa) with great interest and if you would like to follow his journey, you can do that by clicking HERE which will take you to the opening article on his blog and you can follow from there.

I am looking at going for commissioning (a final step prior to full ordination in the United Methodist Church) at our 2009 Annual Conference. As Bob mentions, the bishop asks us what the General Rules are and if we will live by them. The answer to the latter question is obviously yes, but the answer to the former question is this:

1) "Do no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind..."
2) "...doing good of every possible sort, and , as far as possible, to all..."
3) "By attending upon all the ordinances of God" (Bob calls this "staying in love with God")

These three simple rules flowed out of John Wesley's understanding that "evangelical faith should be manifest in evangelical living." (2004 Book of Discipline, 48). And it seems to me that as I stand before folks every Sunday-teaching, preaching, exhorting, encouraging, etc-to live a life that encounters and becomes radically altered by God, I am no less called to do the same. It also occurs to me that since I am about to take a further step towards a lifetime of mission and ministry in the world as an ordained elder within the United Methodist Church, I too, should be paying particular attention to the commitment that I give to these rules.

So as of today, in addition to my thoughts on theology and other meanderings here at Radically Altered, I am going to begin writing about my journey as it relates to these three rules. Future posts that involve these three rules will all be tagged with Living the General Rules and then sub tagged with which ever rule applies to that post (ie. do no harm, doing good, attending upon the ordinances of God).

My hope is not to make a move towards legalism, but rather to have a rule of life that helps shape and form me as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Many monastic communities and corporate bodies of worship utilize rules of life for their congregations and as individuals...so I thought that I would give it a whirl!

As I set out on this journey, I wonder if you have a rule of life that you are living by? If so, what is it and how is it shaping you as a disciple of Jesus Christ? If not, what prevents you from embarking on such a journey?

I look forward to your comments!

Russell