A Human Guinea Pig

Recently, I have been reading A.J. Jacobs new book "The Guinea Pig Diaries". A.J. Jacobs is the author of "The Year of Living Biblically" (where he...lived a year following every rule in the bible), and "The Know-It All" (where he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A-Z). I haven't read either of those two books, however I would love to. Anyway, this book is about him doing a bunch of smaller experiments, such as outsourcing his entire life to India, posing nude in a magazine, being 100% completely honest with people (that chapter is title "I think you're fat"), and following George Washington's 110 rules. I'm not going to give a review on the book (it's very good...funny and insightful), instead I'm going to talk about some principles in the book, starting with the chapter on radical honesty.
Being completely honest. Sounds good right? Isn't that what we are called to do? Well, to some extent yes, however there are times when it is important to lie. The hilarious movie Liar Liar comes to mind, but there are moments when the truth has to be stretched a little bit. Such as when you are trying to give someone a surprise birthday party, or you see a hideuosly ugly baby. I'm not saying living a completely deceitful life is good, in fact the contrary. A.J. Jacobs, during this experiment, finds it incredibly difficult, and he never does get completely honest with people, however it does make him more aware of what he is saying, and to this day he tries to be much more honest. If someone asks him to go for coffee, instead of making excuses, he will be honest and say that he really doesn't want to go. For the most part, people respect that. I think we can learn a lot from being radically honest. In the book, he talks about how the radically honest movement states that you shouldn't even have a filter...just say what comes to mind. I think that is a bit much as filters keep us from saying things that will hurt someone else. But I do think that, when possible, honesty is the best policy. If you don't want to go somewhere, say it. If you have a problem with the food in a restaurant, admit it, don't just suffer and complain to yourself.
The other chapter I want to talk about a bit is the chapter about following George Washington's 110 rules. This chapter seems very similar to his year of living biblically experiment, except there are way more than 110 rules to follow in the Bible. Thsi chapter made me question the legalistic lifestyle many people have, and percieve Christians of having. Agnostics (such as A.J. Jacobs), Athiests, and people of other religions often see Christians as people who have lots of rules, no freedom and can have no fun. Even fellow Christians sometimes fall into that mindset. It's too bad, because Christianity doesn't rely on a legalistic lifestyle. Yes, there are lots of rules in the bible, but God doesn't expect us to follow every single one every single hour of the day. God knows that we are human...he created us. He knows that we sin, and that we will make mistakes. Does that mean we shouldn't even bother to follow the 'rules'? Of course not, but we shouldn't be so focused on the rules that we forget about the exceptions, or we lose the joy in life. Christianity should be a joyful relationship with Christ, not a harsh, boring life slaving ourselves to follow strict rules. Even Jesus himself breaks the rules. He heals on the Sabbath, he talks to and touches lepers. He forgives sins, he speaks to women. There are many things that Jesus does that the Pharisees (the strict followers of the Law) see as sinful. It's the reason why they wanted him to die (that and the fact that he claimed to be God). Rules are good. They keep people in line. They give people boundries that they need to try to stay between. But rules become bad, when they leave no room for error. In sports, athletes break the rules all the time, but they always get the opportunity to play again after serving their penalty. It is the same thing in Christianity. Yes, we should do our very best to follow God's commands, but know that when we mess up, he is always there to forgive. Also, don't be so focused on the legalism that you can't make exceptions. As Jesus healed on the Sabbath (which was classified as work, and was taboo), you too must choose between following strict rules and doing what is right sometimes.