Rules

In Acts of the Apostles, Peter, a leader of the Jesus followers, has a vision in which he sees food, forbidden for a Jew to eat, come down from heaven on a big cloth.  A voice says, "Eat," but Peter says such forbidden food has never touched his lips.  Interesting.  Peter was very good about dietary rules, but not so good about the command, "Do not fear!"  What if an observant Jew was one who did not fear, rather than one who ate the right foods.  I suspect there would be a lot fewer observant Jews.

It would be the same with Christians.  We seem to take some commands very seriously, but not others.  We can be real careful about Church attendance or meat on Lenten Fridays, but not make too big a deal out of our lack of trust in God, our fears, anxieties that go along with lack of trust, lying to get out of messy situations, and so on.  There would be fewer Christians saying they are "observant" if Fear were the criterion.