The Spirit of Legalism

I’m not going to worry about writing a grammatically perfect blog post. I’m not going to sweat out the form too much. I’m just going to blurt out what I have on my mind. I am a legalist.

March 3, 2009 rwren1 Comment

I'm not going to worry about writing a grammatically perfect blog post. I'm not going to sweat out the form too much. I'm just going to blurt out what I have on my mind. I am a legalist. And here's the part you're not going to like too much. You also are a legalist. Obviously, this is going to be a post for Christians because the unbelieving world will have no idea what I am referring to, albeit they're legalists too. They just don't know it yet. They will read this and think I'm talking about courtrooms and lawyers. For that matter, there is probably a great segment of Christianity that will not know what I'm talking about either.

Legalism is a term I came to know late in my teenage years although I can't pinpoint the event or place I first heard it. What I did learn quickly was that I was surrounded by legalism. I was, in fact, immersed in it. My mind was legalistically saturated like a chicken leg in Crisco! I came to understand that to be legalistic meant to be "rules driven". Even though salvation was preached as a free gift of God, you found out after you "get saved" that apparently it wasn't free after all. Now after you make a decision and get baptized, you are required to jump through hoops of fiery legalism one after the other until the end of time or eternity, whichever lasts longer. When I tell friends of mine who didn't experience this growing up that these hoops were things like hair cut above the ears, prohibition of movie theaters, no drinking (don't even let it touch yer lips!!) no slacks for women, no mixed "bathing" (they meant swimming, but somehow it turned into a bath…yucch!) and certainly no dancing of any kind and Oh, no card playing either, not even gin rummy, they stare at me like a statue.

Thank God for the truth of His Word that teaches that I am not morally capable to meet God's standard of holiness! Thank God that He made so clear that there is nothing I can do to earn His love! It is by Grace that I am being saved through faith! It's not due to my self-righteousness, but his righteousness transferred to my account that I am considered in right standing with my Creator!

In my zeal to run as fast I could from legalism the past 20 plus years, I really thought I was making headway. What I failed to realize was that I was becoming a legalism legalist! In other words, escape from legalism became my religion! Distancing myself from the self-righteousness of my past resulted in another form of self-righteousness!

What I've come to realize in my journey, is that legalism comes in many forms. There's legalism in every religion and denomination. Case in point, there are churches who are anti-religion so they become non-denominational, but in reality have become their own denomination. "Non-denom" has become their "denomination". How silly!

There are many forms of legalism, yet one spirit that drives them. It is the human spirit. When you get down to it, legalism is really superstition. Superstition is the idea that good things or bad things happen to you because of external circumstances like a broken mirror, a black cat and/or human actions like crossing your fingers or carrying a rabbit's foot.

By nature, we think that external circumstances like illness, tragedy, natural disasters are indicators of our own personal lack of Godliness. We also naturally think that there is somethng we can do in our own power to earn God's pleasure such as church activity, moral behavior, or good citizenship. As Christians we are quick to dismiss this because we all believe the Bible about these things. Yet, our actions indicate otherwise. This is how the Pharisees lived. They viewed lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, women, and children as spiritually destitute. Their cup was clean on the outside and a toilet inside according to Jesus. That is true of all of us. Our natural selves are unflushed toilets that need a good scrubbing! (there are legalists who don't like that I said toilet)

As I search the scriptures, I have found only one solution to the human dilemma of legalism. It is painfully simple. Receive. Receive Grace from God. Receive the gift of His righteousness! Receive the preached Word of God! Receive receive receive! Don't do anything. Just sit down and trust Christ to serve You! Christianity is not driven by Christians serving God. It is driven by God serving us! Sounds selfish doesn't it? Don't hear me wrong, God is not our butler. In reality, it is more self-serving and dishonoring to God when we reject His gift. Since Eden, mankind has been rejecting infinite joy and choosing self serving emptiness! This is the highest offense to God imaginable. Imagine, choosing an apple over the creator!

Be careful when you become a fugitive of legalism. It might be the very spirit of legalism that sustains your fleeting steps.

Hell. A refreshing, gospel-driven perspective!

February 17, 2009 rwrenLeave a comment

Growing up in the fundamental Baptist world, I heard many sermons on hell. Sadly, the spirit of hatred transformed them into "rantings". So many who grew up in that movement, in an effort to distance themselves from the venom, have now completely forsaken all preaching of this important doctrine. Since Jesus warned of Hell more than anyone else, we need to think deeply about its serious reality. Hell is not a mere scare tactic as it was often presented back in those days. As Matt Chandler says, "Heaven is not a place for people who are scared of Hell, it's a place for people who love Jesus." By grace, Jesus courts us and captures our hearts, he doesn't manipulate us through fear tactics, yet Hell is a frightening reality!

That's enough of my blabber. Read this masterful article by Tim Keller, one of the great Christian thinkers of the 21st century!

The Importance of Hell by Tim Keller

We can or we Kant?

February 10, 2009 rwren9 Comments

There is an episode from the hit sitcom "Friends" where Joey and Phoebe are engaged in a philosophical debate about good deeds. Joey doesn't believe in any selfless deeds, in other words, when you do something good, then you will feel good for doing it thus making it a "selfish" act. Phoebe disagrees and sets out to do nice things for Joey without being "happy " about it. In the end, Phoebe is proven wrong as she donates money to a charity only to end up feeling good about it.

Immanuel Kant, the 18th century philosopher, asserted that the notion that the moral value of an act decreases as we aim to derive
any benefit from it. Acts are good if the doer is 'disinterested.' We
should do the good because it is good. Any motivation to seek joy or
reward corrupts the act.

In other words, if we get any pleasure from doing good deeds or obeying God's commands, then we are selfish and it's not truly a good deed in the highest sense. In Kant's view, there is a higher level of morality in doing things minus enjoyment.

This philosophy does not ring true in the scriptures however as we read "delight in the law of the Lord" and "God loves a cheerful giver". It is amazing how philosophies of long ago can infiltrate our thinking as Christians. Recently, someone came to the church where I work to request benevolence. Since this is a common occurrence, I often hear stories that accompany such requests. Some testimonies are very creative in their content, while others I've heard many times. This particular woman told of health issues and how she needed assistance. My initial feeling was that I didn't need to hear the story this woman would tell because I was going to help her anyway. My job is not to determine if her story makes her worthy of assistance, my "job" is simply to help her.

It would be easy to make Christianity our "job". It would seem natural to make things like church attendance and tithing our Christian "duty". Immanuel Kant would definitely view Christianity that way because to him Christianity was merely an expression of some universal morality. In other words, any religion can serve the purpose of "doing good" in the world thus it doesn't matter what you believe about God as long as morality is achieved. The problem with this view, however, is that the question of being right with God goes unanswered and truth becomes relative.

Thankfully, being a Christian runs deeper and more eternally significant than morality. Submission and obedience to God shouldn't look different than submission and obedience in a marriage. Marriage, for example, is God's parable to show us what Christianity is supposed to be about. When you please your spouse there is also a sense of pleasing yourself in the process. What kind of marriage is built on mere duty? Valentine's Day is coming up and what kind of love is it where a husband buys flowers for his wife because it's his duty? Does he commemorate such days to avoid the misery his spouse will enact upon him in the coming days? Oh sure, a man does these things often to avoid pain, but wouldn't it be better if he simply embraced the joy he feels when he pleases his wife? Should he feel guilty for "feeling good" when he loves his wife? What about sexual intimacy? Should a spouse attempt to satisfy the other devoid of his own satisfaction? How preposterous is that?

And while 1 Corinthians 13 reveals that true love "seeks not it's own", we shouldn't interpret that to mean that we should avoid pleasure of any kind when we love others. There is an old saying that describes love as an action not a feeling. On the surface it seems logical, except that it's not true. In fact, true love always involves feelings. The better saying would be that "love is not just a feeling but rather a feeling that actively expresses itself." As John Piper passionately puts it, "Love is not a bare choice or mere act. It involves the affections. It does not just do the truth. Nor does it just choose the right. It rejoices in the way of truth."

So when Paul says "love does not seek out it's own", he's not saying "don't seek joy in loving others". Rather, he's saying don't seek selfish gain that is a "gain" that is impure. As Piper points out, there must be two kinds of "gain" because earlier in the same chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul provides a list of "deeds" and informs us that without love "he gains nothing" in performing these deeds. So Paul is not against seeking "gain" for ourselves in the performing of loving acts. He is trying to teach us that God honoring deeds are loving acts motivated by feelings of joy!

When the lady I mentioned earlier told me her story of health problems
and great financial need, I was overcome with feelings of compassion.
Yes, feelings! I still don't know if she was telling the truth, yet in
that moment, I knew she needed compassion and I wanted to help her.
Afterward, I felt good that I helped her (with someone else's
resources), and I felt good that I was compassionate. But later, I
felt like Phoebe Buffay did at the end of the show. That somehow, my
deed was worthless because I felt good about myself. After much thought, I realized my deed would have been worthless in the eyes of God if I had performed it out of mere duty. But wait! Kant would say, "it doesn't matter how you felt because the woman was helped when you gave her a food card." In retrospect, and as a rebuttal, I would say that this particular woman didn't need a food card, she needed to experience compassion! She needed someone to "feel" compassionate for her! We all do.

What are the practical implications? First, we need to shed the cloak of guilt for seeking pleasure. Next, we need to seek pleasure in the things God commands us to do and realize that feelings are not only acceptable but God-pleasing. As Paul states "love rejoices in all things and hopes in all things". These are feelings. Love does not perform Christian service out of dutiful feelings. It's not love in that case. If I give money to the church from a sense of duty or superstition, then it really would be better that I don't at all. God will not bless dutiful giving. (now, I'm sure your Pastor would rather you give money to the church whether you want to or not)

Finally, we need to recognize God as the ultimate pleasure we seek! Psalm 16:11 tells us "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

We need to let go of the Kantian philosophy that Christianity and morality are equals. Christianity is more like "base jumping" than morality. True Christianity is for thrill-seekers of all ages because it is a pursuit of God! The joy is robbed when we replace the glory of God with our own righteousness because Christianity that is practiced from mere duty is not Christianity at all.