‘Someone
will say, “You need to spend at least an hour a day in prayer,” and you can
say, “No, I don’t. Prayer is a good
thing, but I don’t have to do it in order to earn God’s favour’[1]
(Ken Blue).
The first sermon I ever
preached was in Dungannon Methodist Church when I had just began working in a
group of churches as a pastoral assistant.
For my text I chose, ‘You shall know the truth and the truth will set
you free’ (Jn. 8:32). I actually didn’t
feel very free at that time. I was
haunted by my sin and was sure that I wasn’t good enough for God.
Super-spiritual
Christians will try to rob you of your freedom in Christ. Some will look down on you for your past
failings and often they think that maturity in Christ is seen in terms of
strictness of our Christian walk. They
may judge you by their rules, even though some of their rules are found nowhere
in the Bible.
However, we are called to
be free. Therefore, we must not let
arbitrary rules of the super-spiritual Christian rob us of the joy that we are
to have through faith in Jesus.
A
manifesto for freedom
The apostle Paul’s letter
to the Galatian Christians has been called a manifesto for freedom. The Galatians had started their Christian
lives well, understanding that belonging to God was the result of placing your
trust in the promises of God. Paul had
preached the message of the cross to them (Gal. 3:1). On that cross Jesus had taken all their guilt
and shame. Jesus alone had done
everything necessary to make them beloved children of God.
But some super-spirituals
had infiltrated the church and thrown them off track. The super-spirituals said that you weren’t a
real Christian if you weren’t circumcised and obey the Old Testament Law. These people who said that they loved the Old
Testament Law didn’t actually understand it.
The way to be put right with God is the same in both the Old and New
Testaments. We see this through the life
of Abraham, who simply took God at His word and was given the free gift of
righteousness (Gal. 3:6). The later
giving of circumcision to Abraham and the Law through Moses didn’t change this
way of being made right with God.
No one was ever supposed
to rely upon obeying the Law as a means of being justified by God (Gal.
3:24-25). The Law through Moses was
given from the time of Sinai to reveal to us our need of God’s forgiveness and
mercy and was only in place until the time of Jesus (Gal. 3:19). If you try to earn God’s acceptance through
law-keeping you are denying the gospel (Gal. 5:4). Jesus comes as the end of that Law (Rom.
10:4). We see Jesus showing us that this
law is no longer to govern us as He does things like declare all food clean
(Mk. 7:19).
The super-spiritual
legalists were stealing the Galatian Christians of their freedom in
Christ. They were insisting on obedience
to a Law that no longer binds believers.
They made the message of the Bible one of grace plus effort rather than
simply grace alone (see Eph. 2:8-9). I
once met a student who insisted that the Law of Moses was still in force
today. So, I asked him about rules
concerning tassels on his garments (Num. 15:38). To my surprise he lifted his shirt and showed
my little tassels hanging from the belt straps on his jeans. Still, he didn’t seem to follow the rules around
hair length (Lev. 19:27). He told me
that he was still trying to figure that one out.
Today’s super-spirituals may not insist on observing the Old Testament Law, but they will try to force you to obey laws that aren’t given to the Christian. They may take something like alcohol, what you wear to church, what sort of entertainments you like or how much you give to and suggest that you are a weak Christian at best, and possibly not a Christian at all, if you don’t reach their standards. In the face of such legalism we need to hear the apostle Paul’s call to stand firm in our freedom.
Freedom
from legalism
The legalists in Galatia
denied this gospel of grace by suggesting that you contributed something to
being made right with God. What a
terrible message. How would you every
know if you had done enough? No wonder
that it robbed the believers of their joy (Gal. 4:15, GNB).
The apostle Paul tells us
to stand firm in our freedom (Gal. 5:1).
But what does freedom look like? If
you think that your law-keeping is earning God’s love, then you don’t get the
gospel. If you are adding laws to the
Christian life then you are denying the gospel.
When I was in Dungannon I
was aware that many Christians disagreed with going to the pub. That might be right for them, but I could see
nothing in the Bible that says I couldn’t go.
At that time, I was
playing rugby with the bottom teams in the local club. I wanted to get to know those guys better, so
when they asked me to join them for a drink I knew it was the right thing to
do. But I did not feel free. I actually considered staying in that bar
until it was dark, so that no church people would see me leave. When I did leave my heart sank when I heard
someone call out my name, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I realised it was
one of the other rugby players that was calling me.
I am not saying that
going to the pub is always a good idea, and for some Christians it may be a
very bad idea. But it helps to remember
that Jesus was condemned by the super-spirituals of His day. They saw who He associated with and the places
He went to and called Him a glutton and drunkard (Matt. 11:19). Ken Blue explains that ‘if you aren’t accused
by the religious of being sift on sin, if you aren’t accused of encouraging
people to be “too free,” then you are not yet preaching the gospel.[3]
You also don’t get the
gospel if you think that God is simply interested in how tight you are. I was talking to a man who left the church
where I was ministering. He felt that we
were too lax. He boasted about his new
pastor saying, ‘when you listen to him you would question whether you are
really a Christian at all.’ That made me
wonder what this pastor actually was teaching.
It also makes me wonder why people would enjoy been condemned all the
time.
Sometimes people come up
with rules for the best of reasons. They
might want to protect themselves and others from temptation. After all we pray, ‘lead me not into
temptation’ (Matt. 6:13). Avoiding
places where you might find yourself tempted is not necessarily legalism. I don’t drink alcohol because when I was a
teenager I could not handle it. But I
must not make this a rule for other people, or look down on those who feel free
to drink.
When
to curb our freedom
Rule-making is
dangerous. It can rob people of their
freedom. But there are times when we
should sacrifice our freedoms in love for each other. This is especially true for leaders, for some
people will decide what is right and wrong for them simply on the basis of
watching what you do.
The apostle Paul told the
Christians in Rome not to quarrel over opinions. There were those whose conscience would not
let them eat foods that the Jews considered unclean. They weren’t like those legalists in Galatia
who claimed that you weren’t a real Christian if you didn’t abstain from such
meats. They were simply Christians who
had a weak conscience, who felt uneasy about not adhering to Old Testament food
laws. He tells those who knew that they
were free to eat all foods not to despise those who didn’t share their
freedom. He also tells those whose
consciences were not free not to judge those who did eat all meats (Rom. 14:3). He further adds, that the person with the
strong conscience must not put pressure on others to act against their tender
conscience (Rom. 14:23). If you are
having someone over who feels strongly that Christians should not drink
alcohol, then don’t serve such drinks at the meal. Don’t hurt them with your lack of
consideration.
Of course, when someone
disagrees with us on a disputable matter don’t assume that they are always
wrong and you are always right. It could
be that what you call freedom is actually compromise. They may refuse to go to some of the movies
you go to. But might they have a
point? Maybe they are not being
legalistic but fleeing from such things as sexual immorality (1 Cor. 6:18).
Good
things turned bad
In our church we are
trying to encourage people to join a small group. When someone asks to become a member, we tell
them that we expect that they will connect with one of these groups. But we need to be careful. Being a part of a small group doesn’t make
you a better Christian. In some
instances, where people’s work life is very demanding, it might actually be
better that they spend time at home with their family than going out to a
church meeting.
I have heard Christian
complain about those who do not attend the church prayer meeting. But attendance at the church prayer meeting
is not necessarily a measure of spiritual maturity. I have been in churches where people
complained about those who didn’t go to the evening service as well as the
morning service. But there is nothing to
say that you need to go to church more than once on a Sunday.
When we started an
evening service in our church we made it clear that this was not about
encouraging people to come out twice but offering an alternative service to
those who would benefit from it. I think
it is a subtle form of legalism when we judge people for not being as
enthusiastic as us in their praise or when we think that they are being over
the top in their praise. Only God knows
what is going on in their hearts. Be
careful not to make laws around good things like fasting, Bible-reading, giving
and prayer, or using these as a means of trying to make yourself a better
Christian than other Christians.
Don’t
judge people on issues that are disputed
I think we need to be
particularly careful on issues that Christians have debated for centuries. Some see ‘the Lord’s Day’ (Sunday) as form of
the Old Testament Sabbath. Others
believe that the Old Testament Sabbath is fulfilled in the rest we have in
Christ and so there is not special holy day.
The arguments around this are complex.
Someone may treat Sunday in a way that you don’t, but don’t assume that
they are either being legalistic, or that they are simply ignoring the commands
of Scripture.
Legalism
turns people away from Jesus
Cathy grew up in
Miami. She was from a comfortable
middle-class Jewish family. Then she met
Barry. Barry was a Jehovah’s Witness. Through Barry’s influence she too joined the
Witnesses. She did the obligatory hours
of sharing her faith. She went along to
the meetings. It was fine at first.
But then it began to feel
toxic. Kathy and Barry were married and
moved to another part of the country. There
some of the stranger rules began to affect her family life. For example, you weren’t allowed celebrate
birthdays. When she bought a Mother’s
Day card, Barry saw it and called it sacrilege.
She found that being a Jehovah’s Witness sucked all the joy out of her.
She began to want to
leave the Jehovah Witnesses, but this was not easy. Pressure was put on her by that cult. Leaving left her with emotional scars. Kathy no longer has any interest in anything
that calls itself Christian. In fact,
she actively works to keep people away from controlling religious groups. She told one writer: ‘the hardest thing for
me to cope with now is the realisation that there’s no paradise to go to one
day. That when I die, I’ll just end up
as nothing in a box, in the ground. That’s
been the toughest thing about losing my faith—knowing that there’s no hope of
resurrection. Knowing that this is it.’[4]
The legalism found in a
cult robbed Kathy of freedom and left her disillusioned.
The
freedom to obey
But freedom scares
people, particularly those who lead churches.
How will we get people to behave if can control them through rules? The author of Pilgrim’s Progress, John
Bunyan, was accused of telling his congregation that God loved them too
often. ‘If you always tell them that God
loves them,’ the complaint went, ‘then they will simply do what they
want.’ Bunyan replied, ‘if they realize
that how much God loves them they will do what He wants.’
The super-spiritual
Christian does not understand the dynamics of true holiness. True holiness comes from the inside out, but
the legalist is focusing only on outward performance (Matt. 23:25). While people judge by appearance God cares
about our heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
There is a formula that
leads to holy living. Forgiveness leads
to love. When Jesus forgives a woman,
who was notable for her sinful lifestyle, she responded with adoration. Jesus explained to the legalists who held her
past against her that she loved much because she was forgiven much (Lk. 7:47). They didn’t love because they didn’t realize
that they needed to be forgiven. When we
realise that depths of sin in our hearts and that God’s grace is more than
sufficient to forgive and cleanse us, then love is stirred up in our hearts.
This love that is stirred
up by grace leads to a desire to obey Jesus.
Jesus was not nagging the disciples when He said, ‘if you love me, you
will keep my commands’ (Jn. 14:15). He
was simply stating a spiritual truth. When
we understand the freedom and love we have in Christ, we will want to lovingly
live a life that pleases Him. We will
not want to abuse grace. This is what
Augustine meant when he said, ‘love God and do as you please.’
God not only provides us
with the desire to obey, He also gives us the power to obey. The truth is that we can’t produce true
holiness by our own efforts. The power
of the cross has freed us from slavery to sin (Rom. 6:6). When temptation comes remember that it is no
longer inevitable that you will fail.
Look to the way out that God promises you (1 Cor. 10:13). God is working within you to will and act
according to will and act according to His good purpose (Phil. 2:13). The Holy Spirit is transforming us into the
likeness of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). We act
as we flee from sin, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
endurance and gentleness (1 Tim. 6:11).
But we know that we can only flee sin and pursue righteousness in the
power that God provides.
In the first sermon I
ever preached I thought that I was showing how cultured I was by referring to
the film, ‘The Three Colours Blue’. This
film was a part of a trilogy celebrating the ideals of the French Revolution:
‘liberty, equality and fraternity.’ In
this film the heroine loses her family in a car crash. She realises that she is now free from the
bonds of family. So, she cuts herself
off from all her previous friends and lives in isolation. But she finds that she is not free. It is only when she starts to fall in love
again that she is truly free.
Freedom comes in the
bonds of relationship. Christian freedom
comes when we understand the love of Jesus.
We know that we cannot be truly free when we live for ourselves. When we follow Jesus, we are denying
ourselves for the only one who has the perfect love and wisdom to show us what
is best for us. Jesus said, ‘you will
know the truth and the truth will set you free’ (Jn. 8:32).
Could
grace be a better motivator than law?
I served in a church
where they produced a list every year where they listed who gave how much. When I suggested that this was wrong, someone
explained that if they stopped telling everyone how much people gave the church
would lose money. Surely such an attitude denies God’s
faithfulness to provide. Do we think
that God cares more about how much we give than why we give?
Some
churches put a big emphasis on tithing.
I actually can’t see the principle of a specific tithe in the New
Testament. It seems to me that each
Christian is given the freedom to give what they have decided in their heart to
give (2 Cor. 9:7). But if we simply
encourage people to joyfully give, will our churches go bust. It might actually be that as people are
motivated by God’s grace to respond generously that giving might go up. Why do we automatically assume that law is a
better motivator than grace?
Conclusion
Sadly, many
super-spiritual Christians burn out.
Aiden Swan points out that in his twenties he began to encounter Christians
who had been raised to see Christianity in terms of dos and don’ts and who
insisted that there were things he had to do to become a ‘better’
Christian. He saw the agony that these
people went through trying to follow their rules, and the feelings of guilt
because they never felt good enough. He
also noticed that some of them got so tired of this performance treadmill that
they simply gave up.
I heard of a man who was
involved in a Bible study for those ‘elite’ Christians in his church who agreed
with his particular theurgical leanings.
He looked down and quarrelled with those who didn’t hold to his
particular beliefs. But, as far as I
know, he believes nothing anymore.
Some studies in America
have shown that the least happy people in that culture are conservative
evangelical Christians, because they hold to a high standard to which they
believe God has called them, but they are stuck without the power to reach that
standard.[5] This should not be. God does not treat us as our sins deserve but
according to His loving-kindness (Ps. 103:10).
Yes, Jesus tells us to be perfect (Matt. 5:48), but His blood covers our
blood covers our imperfection (1 Jn. 1:7).
In Him we should be enjoying the power to change. We are in the glorious and gradual process of
being made like Christ (2 Cor. 3:17-18).
Finally, remember that we
are free. We are free from condemnation,
and we are as accepted by God as much when we are having a bad day spiritually
as when we are having a good day spiritually.
We are also free from trying to earn brownie points from God by trying
to out-preform other Christians. We are
free to ignore the rules that legalists try to place upon us. We are to be free as we refuse to listen to
the voices of those who condemn and criticise.
Let your freedom bring you joy!
We have seen that
super-spiritual Christians condemn and criticise those who don’t live up to
their own rulers, but what motivates them to do this? Why do super-spiritual Christians feel the
need to be better than everyone else?
That is what we will look at in the next chapter.
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