As someone whose life is tied to the institutional church as well as the Body of Christ followers I am all too familiar with the 'extras' humanity adds to the requirements of people. It seems the church is more known for it's shall nots than anything else. Like the Pharisees of Jesus time, we in the institutional church are very good at adding to what God has set forth in Scripture. This is all done under the guise of protecting people from themselves or as the Pharisees said it, building a fence around the law so we might not come close to breaking it. There is a problem here, it is not humanities responsibility.
These human protections often become vehicles of captivity. These human developed rules and regulations create a relationship with God so filled with should and should nots that no one can meet the measure. We are not the first to wrestle with this. Paul is writing the church letting them know they are more free than they realize. Human developed rules are not the measure of our faith, rather it is the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus which provides the measure.
This does not mean we can do whatever we want to. There is a standard by which we are called to live. And yes, as humanity we are in this together meaning we help each other see when we have gotten off track. Still we are not to add rules and regulations. When it comes to things of God, none of us are in management, we are all laborers in God's vineyard. We receive our direction from God. Some have been given the task of oversight, but they still do not create the vineyard.
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