"Rethinking my Non-negotiables"

Acts 10:9-15  "On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.

A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."

My mom is 91 and my mother-in-law is 94.  Both of them are life-long Believers and both still regularly attend church.  In our conversations about church, they share the same two complaints.  1. The Music - way too loud, no hymns; 2. Attire - far too casual, both in the congregation and in the pulpit (not appropriate for worship, disrespectful to God).  As I listen to others who are my age or older and who have grown up in church, the same two issues top the list of "what's wrong with churches these days".  I have to admit that I still feel more comfortable wearing a tie on Sundays and I do miss those hymns.

I think I'm sometimes stuck in Peter's mindset.  He had a well-defined set of personal guidelines and he balked whenever someone tried to stretch him beyond those boundaries, even if that Someone was God.  Think about it.  What was his response when Jesus announced that He must go to the cross? "No way, Jesus!"  His reaction when Jesus wanted to wash his feet?  "Not mine - never!"  How about when the Holy Spirit tried to get him to eat something that was "unclean"?  "It's not going to touch my lips!"

Peter's "non-negotiables" were much broader than God's and he resisted God's efforts to re-align them.  As Peter began to recognize his own prejudices (based upon the Law and tradition), his perspective aligned with God's and his ministry expanded dramatically.

I, too, have my own set of non-negotiables.  Many are based on Scripture, but others are based upon traditions, experience, preferences.  God keeps working on me to pare them down to match His.

I am coming to understand that by clinging to my "non-scriptural non-negotiables", I hinder the Holy Spirit's progress in shaping me to be more like Jesus, I limit my fellowship with others who think differently, I thwart God's efforts to expand my ministry, and I rob myself of joy.  To be honest, it frightens me, unsettles me to think this way.  I find security in my set of standards, and it is hard to admit that some (maybe much) of what I consider non-negotiable is, from God's perspective, actually negotiable.

Dear Lord, You have a habit of shaking up my thinking and I find it very uncomfortable.  I confess that I'd rather not change, yet I also want to see things through Your eyes, from Your perspective.  So, with Your direction, I commit to rethinking what I consider to be non-negotiable.  Please give me the courage and discernment to align my convictions with what You reveal in Your Word.  Thank You for being so patient and with me.  Amen.