Well, Matt, it looks like you and I have a lot in common.
 
When I joined my church -- which is a terrific church and I think the world of -- there was a requirement that you agree to attend at least two church functions a week.
 
Now, I understand the sentiment behind this, and I agree with that sentiment.  Church membership SHOULD mean more than coming to church on Sunday morning, and I would think that only two times a week might be a little lean for a truly dedicated member.
 
However, if I agreed to the two-meeting rule I would SPECIFICALLY BE INVITING the leadership to
 
"Judge me in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days . . . "

I would SPECIFICALLY BE INVITING the leadership to judge me in respect to my religious observances, when, where, and how many.
 
And I couldn't do that.
 
So, in our application to become members we asked to be admitted to the church exempt from that rule.
 
I was invited to a meeting of the Elders to explain my thinking on that.
 
Having explained my thinking one of them tried to "call my bluff" -- "So, what is it that makes you want to be exempt from this rule -- do you object to having to come twice a week or do you just not like to be under authority?"
 
Ouch!
 
Well, I said I thought that attendance just twice a week would be kind of too little for a good member and I figured they would find out soon enough by experience that "twice a week" was no issue for me.  I further stated that I knew what Elders were in a Presbyterian church and they could count on my good-hearted response to their authority.
 
No, I said, Scripture says let no man be your judge on your religious observances and if we joined the church under that rule we would specifically be inviting the leadership to judge us on that, to judge whether we were meeting the standard or not.
 
So they said they would talk further about it and let me know.
 
Now, I figured I was toast.
 
For them to agree at all would require blowing away the "two-meetings" rule, which had been around for 20 years since the church was founded, and I had little hope that they blow away the rule -- and had not asked for them to.
 
But . ..  how could they admit me and my family as an exception to the list of covenants we are all required to embrace when we join?  (I must say, mostly those covenants are perfectly benign, like declarations of faith, etc.)
 
But several days later I was told my "appeal had been accepted and we were being welcomed into the church exempted from the rule."
 
Hmmm.  There was no indication that the rule had been rescinded and to the best of our knowledge it remains to this day.  Apparently we were admitted as an exception.  And to vindicate their good hearted acceptance of the appeal I trust that they "found by experience that 'twice a week' was no issue for me and they could count on my good-hearted response to their authority."
 
But, at any rate, it goes beyond advice to almost a command -- "Let no one be your judge" on what you eat and your religious observances.
 
Thus does God wisely and graciously protect us from "super-zealots" who might have a tendency to want to bind us to their personal standards.
 
Sincerely,
 
James Norman
Malabar, Florida