Is “one size fits all” for Christians too?

It was “one size fits all” in the church I attended. We all had to believe the same things, observe the same annual “special days,” pay the same required minimum to the church, and trust whatever the founder of the church said as coming from God himself. 

So red flags popped up quite naturally when we were told by government and medical officials that we should all be vaccinated. All of us? You mean, one size fits all? But what about my medical history? And was there any evidence offered of possible long term effects? It didn’t seem to matter; just ignore all that stuff and follow the science, “THE” science, take note, as if there was only ONE science to follow. And don’t bother with how different your body and its reactions might be to someone else’s, because these novel vaccines are “safe and effective” for everyone. Yup, “one size fits all.”  

So is “one size fits all” how Christianity works too? Should all Christians believe the same list of doctrines, follow the same annual calendar, meet on the same day, keep to the same format for church services, and require the same conditions for church membership? Well, why not? Because then you could travel the world and in any Christian church it would be the same familiar routine. And no worries about what church to attend, or one being better and more accurate than another, because they’d all be the same. Everyone believing the same things, following the same format and rituals, singing the same hymns, sharing the same thoughts on alcohol and eating meat, etc.  

But Paul came up against real humans – you know, the kind that don’t fit into tidy boxes or categories very well. People who believed they should only eat vegetables, for instance, or that only one day a week was sacred, whereas others believed the church could meet on any day, or that some foods are not for human consumption, and alcohol was wrong. 

Now what? Did Paul demand that everyone should get on the same page for everything, and if so, what page was it? Was it his page? Well, to a point it was, because he did express what he believed in Romans 14:14, but three verses later he writes, “For God’s Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of fair play, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. Serve Christ that way and not only does God love it, so do people.” 

“That way,” eh? Sounds like there is a one size fits all for Christians after all, then. But it’s not on the same page in every little detail, it’s on the same page in our attitude to each other. That’s the one size Christian way for everyone; it’s the way that takes into consideration each other’s background, conscience and concerns, because let’s be fair, isn’t that what we want from others in their attitude toward us too?