Freedom to Do What is Good ...

Thursday, April 26, 2012. Are we free to do what is good? Or are we bound by rules which might be good sometimes, but work against us in other places?

Do what is needed and what is good …

With many parts of our daily life, with the rules and laws we have, we are in a dilemma. The laws and rules are made for some standard situations. But they do not work in many other cases. I could tell you many details now, about time recording systems, about rules for funding of science, about professorial state and title etc. etc.

I ask myself: are we free to do what is good? Are we free to treat people adequately? Are we free to support school children in the right way? Or are we bound by rules, and by the idea that everyone needs the same treatment, even if they are all so different?

One special example: two working parents with three kids. Schools in Germany end around 1pm, with some exceptions where kids stay until 3pm. How do you manage the time over lunch and the afternoons? You need to be very flexible as parents, and it would be possible, but does not really fit the rules of the employers. Do what is good or follow the rules? You need to work with the rules and employ them as far as possible, of course. But not seldom that is a challenge!

Jesus as template …

I admire the way Jesus dealt with social rules and his environment. He followed many rules, he was kind of well-behaved. But on the other hand he broke rules as soon as it was important. His clear focus was to do what is good. He did not care about a blind way to follow rules made by men.

There is a freedom in faith, which helps you to develop the wisdom how to deal with rules. Here is a wisdom given by the Holy Spirit, which helps us to find out how to do good. He tells us when breaking the rules is needed. He tells us how to find a way to stay within the rules, but to do what is good at the same time.

The life of Jesus can be a template for our life. The way he deals with people, with society, with his heavenly father, is a good way also for us. We can learn from him. We can imitate him. We can be filled by the spirit whom he sent - to be connected to him. That is even more than a dead template, it is a continuing living source! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts