"...rules have no power to change your life. We see this all the time. I’ve known strict, religious people who evil brutes in the home, bullying their wives. Or teetotallers who couldn’t be trusted. It’s not sex and drink that corrupt us. We misuse them because our hearts are corrupt. And rules have no power to change hearts......Second, laws and rules are actually about limiting godliness. They’re really about saying, ‘As long as I do this, then I’m okay.’ ‘As long as I don’t drink then I’m godly’ – even though you might bully your wife. ‘As long as I keep the sabbath then I’m godly’ – even though you might not give yourself in love to people in your gospel community...
Let me give you an example. Matt rang to ask what he should do. His friend George had asked him to go street preaching and Matt didn’t know how to respond. So the three of us got together. As the conversation began it was clear that George thought we were selling out in some way. But as we talked about sharing our lives with unbelievers, about an evangelism that was 24/7, about opening our homes, George’s tone changed. At the end of our conversation he admitted, ‘I’m not sure if I’m up for that kind of commitment.’ He wanted a form of evangelism he could stick in his schedule, tick off the list and then switch off. He wasn’t really interested in reaching the lost with the love of Christ. He was just interested in feeling righteous. "
Tim Chester, Titus for church planters part 4