“Master, we saw one…and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not.” The disciples had a problem with anyone who was not just like they were. It was not good enough that they had their own ways; they wanted to impose them upon everyone else. They could not grasp the fact that anyone not like themselves could be used of God.
Because a man or a woman took a Nazarite vow, must everyone else do it also? Should other families adhere to the tradition of the Rechabites passed down by their father? Can all believers meet the standards laid down for church officers in the New Testament? Any spiritually intelligent, thinking person, knows that the answer to these questions is an emphatic, “No!”
Since all of us come way short in one area or the other in our lives and ministry, we would be wise to give others a little elbow room; room to breathe in if you please. Some people’s standards would suffocate an angel.
In essentials, UNITY; in non-essentials, LIBERTY; in all things, CHARITY. (St. Augustine)
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