Legalism in Disguise!
What comes to mind when you hear the word, legalism? Is it some guy in a suit that tells you pants aren't allowed on women and men need to be clean shaven? Or perhaps, it's the person screaming that all alcohol is the devils’ juice and Rock music is the devils' music! Whatever the picture, I think often we spend too much time calling out the caricatures of legalism. All the while adhering to our own forms or even attending churches that have managed to disguise it in casual dress and motivational talks that contain very little scripture!
In scripture we see that those who were most guilty of this were the Pharisees and the Jewish religious leaders. They had this way of interpreting and applying the law, that led to a very heavy burden being placed on the people, one that no one could carry and most importantly, one that God Himself never intended. One of the places we see this most clearly is in John chapter 5, and the healing of the man at the pool on the Sabbath. Jesus heals this man and then commands him to get up and pick up his mat and walk! He obeys and is only met with judgement over breaking man made sabbath laws as if they were directly from God Himself. Legalism is simply looking to laws for justification, and in the case of the church its often looking to man-made laws in the same way the Pharisees did.
Christians should be striving to uphold God's Law, so I am not making an argument for antinomianism (lawlessness) but we do so while looking to Christ alone for our justification before God. Recognizing that where we fall short there is grace, and it is that very grace that enables us to be gracious towards others. But I’ve noticed that within the church today one will often find a new legalism that has been simply dressed in more popular clothing! It's the legalism that says, you can't preach from a pulpit because you create barriers, or the legalism that says you have to dress more casually because that's the kind of church we are. It's the legalism that in seeking to be more relevant has just set up an entire new set of laws. Laws, that if one doesn't follow, the pharisees are waiting to condemn, leaving them on the outside looking in.
Here's what we need to understand, legalism isn't limited to the guys in suits getting angry because some guy wants to preach in jeans, it actually cuts both ways! Where the Spirit of God is, there is freedom, or at least there is supposed to be. But so many of us are busy trying to create churches that make us feel comfortable and that won't offend that we have lost sight of the very freedom we have in Christ. I'm not saying that your church can't have certain set policies in place, but I am saying that you can't bad mouth other churches or Christians for not adhering to them. Just as those of us who don't adhere to them can't bad mouth you for doing so. That's how freedom works! We must learn to be encouraged by our differences and not threatened or offended, as long as those areas are not affecting our orthodoxy or orthopraxy.
So, take a good look around you, are you perhaps part of a culture that is promoting legalism in disguise? Because if you are, then you need to call it out for what it is, sin, and just as pharisaical as not allowing the healed man to carry his mat on the sabbath. Jesus said, get up and walk... So let him walk!