Desperately Seeking Legalism
Here’s a pastoral observation from over a quarter of a century in ministry: people are desperately longing for legalism.
Once you get a taste of it, you will do almost anything to find more. It’s maybe the ultimate addiction.
Legalism comes with secure boundaries, clear authority, cleanliness, and disgust. It vacillates between pride and self-condemnation. It produces a kind of guilty depression that is itself addictive.
Ok, let me be clear. We think we don’t want legalism. We think we want grace. So, we dumb down the idea of grace — the robust, gospel-shaped kind would scare us to death! — into a sort of Grace Lite. We convince ourselves that because we have more “freedom of the Spirit” or more “freedom in worship” we have left legalism for grace.
Hardly.
Legalism beckons us. It makes us plead for more authority — from husband, from father, from church leaders. We want structure . . . we want to be told what to do . . . we want to fall in line.
Our need for legalism is so great we’ll break family ties to keep it (all the while priding ourselves on our freedom). We want the rules; we want the structure; we beg for order.
One of the challenges of ministry is helping legalism addicts. They flit about from place to place, but they can’t “rest” until they find it. It helps explain the popularity of some religious cult heroes — whether wackos or well-coiffed preachers — who will speak with authority and with confidence that they are absolutely right.
We say we want grace. But most don’t. Real grace — God’s grace! — is radical, unfair, against-the-grain. It messes with our addiction.
I think I love you…. so true, ahhh its continual… somebody tell me what to do and what not to do!
Mike,
A great post! I think your observations are very much on target. Let me add to this that the craving for legalism cuts across our own self-described theological labels within our tradition.
We may describe ourselves as conservative, traditional, middle-of the road, non-traditional, progressive, etc. Meanwhile, regardless of the label, the craving for legalism continues on. Consequently, though one may describe himself with one label while another person might use another label, you may see little difference in the way they actually function.
They may both be very prideful themselves because they are some of the few who really “get it.” (In contrast to the others in the body who don’t.) They may both approach their church with a demanding spirit and threaten to go elsewhere if they don’t get their way.
The answer (as you have said so well) is a robust, thick grace which is amazing–even shocking. Yet, it is a grace that will grip the heart of the next generation like nothing else ever will. Meanwhile, maybe the rest of us will begin to consider the hollowness of Grace Lite. Maybe we have not found it satisfying because it is not gospel (in the very best sense of that word). Maybe that robust, radical grace may actually be more satisfying than we ever dreamed.
Pride keeps us from accepting something which is free. There has to be a way to pay for it, to pay someone back! But if we accept it, of course, then all are on equal ground and one can’t have pride in being progressed beyond others in keeping the rules!
Hey, I couldn’t agree more. Legalism is morphine for those who kick heroin. Still an addict just more socially acceptable. Even those of us who feel we have advanced into real grace are still striving to be “made perfect by the flesh” Gal. 3:3 or as NIV puts it, “Trying to attain our goal through human effort”. Many accept grace for the “sin” issue but revert to law for sanctification. Important conversation, thanks for the post.
Thank you! Thank you! Every addict, not matter what the addiction must transform their way of thinking. “God doesn’t love me because of my performance… He loves me in spite of my performance.” Transformational thinking!
I agree with you totally. I have seen it in myself. The challenge is not to become proud of having become much more aware of grace…God’s grace. I wonder…where do you fall in the addiction of legalism?
Hey Mike, we all know you have been in C o C ministry for over 25 years. You don’t need to point it out every other post. Cheers!
Thanks, Mike, for the post. As one who grew up in a legalistic, “non-institutional” Church of Christ in the 1950′s & 60′s, I identify.
However… something puzzles me lately. Why is it that every major spiritual revival came after intensive prayer and wrenching confession of sin – by the church!? (not the world.)
I wonder. Is it “legalistic” to openly recognize and confess our sinful attitudes & actions and publicly repent… as the church? Are we holding back true revival because we’re afraid to admit we have sinned, thinking that will mean we’re legalistic?
Reading about the history of revival has made me wonder. Have any thoughts on this?
As one who is in counseling for codependency (as well as past childhood emotional abuse/neglect), I identify with your post completely. My husband and I both grew up in the church of Christ, although we currently attend an independent Christian church. I *long* to be back in a church of Christ, but the local ones have much too stringent lines of fellowship than we would like. Even without my familiar church structure, I long for it in other ways, as evidenced by my almost obsessive obedience to rules in this life (traffic laws, software licensing agreements, board game instructions). I long for someone to tell me every move to make, lest I make the wrong one.
Darrell – Am I missing something you saw? I didn’t read anything about being a C of C minister for over 25 years. (And in the last 10 posts, I only saw it mentioned one time — in a place where he was reflecting. Certainly not condemning.)
This doesn’t strike me as a post about the C of C but about religious people in general. It came from the perspective of one who’s been witnessing it up close for a quarter century. Isn’t that valid? Geez.
I’m guessing maybe he hit a nerve?
Mike,
You are exactly right! Why? The message of the gospel of grace is an offence to the human flesh. People want credit for their standing with God.
Jesus has done man’s part! What we could never do (please God) because of the weakness of the flesh (sin), Christ did for us and did it perfectly. Eternal life is His life, He is grace and Truth, He is the Resurrection, He died, He was buried, and He arose of His own volition.
So, five things to check off on Sunday, don’t drink and swear, and don’t mess with your neighbor’s wife or power tools, think you are better than the Baptists, and keep insisting we are the only ones going to heaven.
I’ll keep trusting Jesus alone.
Royce
Getting ready to do a podcast on John 5. A feature of this chapter that is fairly typical of the 4th Gospel is that Jesus’ opponents don’t recognize the way the signs that he is doing point to his role as God’s messiah. Interestingly enough, Jesus’ opponents are said to miss the boat in two ways: (1) they are so obsessed with violation of their rules system that they can’t recognize the life-giving work of God (in this case, the healing of a paralytic) and (2) they engage in a pointless “searching” of scriptures because they mistakenly believe that the scriptures themselves contain the life of God.
Legalism addicts, I think, have been around for a long, long time.
I guess I view it as a desire for balance….Somewhere between “keep this very long list of rules and if you are lucky God’s grace might cover 1 or 2 missteps” and the new, prevailing church of my generation that seems to believe that just because we cannot meet the example of Christ that he doesn’t even expect us to try. I see a loving God that gives us amazing Grace and loves me so very much that he allows me participate in my salvation. I long for a church that balances a desire to meet the needs of the world around it with a love of the word that makes it so we stand for something, anything! If loving legalism means that I want the church to feel proud that we actually try to do what God asks us to do, then I am desperate for it.
Mike,
The instrumental legalism is a struggle our congregation dealt with in prayer and study over the last year. For the last six months we have been a musically blended (instruments and a cappella) church. We saw some erosion of the traditionalists but in the small time period following, the church has more seeking God than before we made the move. We have also had more souls come to Jesus in that short time than the previous 8 years. It felt weird to strum a guitar to lead worship in the sanctuary the first time but when the Spirit takes over, amazing things happen. A rebirth into true God seeking and a departure from legalism is hard but so worth it. I am humbled and honored to be a worship leader in such a God seeking church. Our fellow c.o.c bretheren consider us the outcasts and crazies but the Bible is woven together with stories of people not afraid to be lead by God. That’s the point of it all. For HIM.
Chris in Temple,
Canyon Creek Church of Christ
I’ll add my “amen.” This is why, when trying to escape traditionalism/legalism individuals and groups often escape only to the slavery of new forms, but the same legalistic function. Chairs, not pews. Bands, not a cappella. A cappella, not an organ. Mourning benches, not baptism. Baptism, not altar calls. Suits, not robes; ties, but no jacket; no tie, but khakis; no khakis but flip-flips. On and on down the same continuum with a new set of laws, but still laws.
How do we stop the mary-go-round?
Yes, Mike. I think that was Paul’s point to the Romans. The use of the word “law” throughout that epistle refers not only to the Pentateuch, but sometimes to the very concept of “law.” Paul’s point seems to be that any rule of law is not grace. Grace brings about responsibility, but not legalism. Law (through sin) limits, inhibits, kills (Rom. 7) Grace emancipates and saves. Computers may be programmed to perform certain tasks, even though some have a few bugs and don’t work perfectly. God doesn’t want a relationship with computers fulfilling instructions, but spirit-filled, grace-saved, God-loving people.
I think that the super cool “open minded” c of c folk that are cheering mike on don’t have a clue what he’s talking about.
catch the “freedom to worship” people are still entrenched in legalism? just as much as our brethren who don’t feel that same freedom.
grace lite is this idea that evangelicalism has taken on, that it really doesn’t matter how I live, just that I have “relationship”…. whatever they define that as. praying. worshiping with intensity. more hand raising. more clapping. more new songs. more emotion.
All the while, still missing the point. Still drawing lines in the sand. Wallowing in the grace that we’ve been given, but not giving grace to those we think don’t deserve it.
That’s messy grace. The grace that we give towards people who don’t give it to us in return (maybe the crochety old guy who keeps complaining about the new songs). Or the grace that we show towards those whose lifestyles we don’t understand (hello homosexuals, prostitutes, the homeless, drug addicts). When we realize the grace that we’ve been shown, those of us who have lived good lives, mainly by the luck of the draw of being born in a stable country, in the suburbs, into middle class lives…. we’ve been shown grace because, like it or not, we are the oppressors. And especially, when we fail to show grace to those that look a hell of a lot more like Christ than we do, we continue to miss the point.
The grace of God is messy. It means loving the unlovable. It means getting down and dirty, messing up your plans, and sacrificing your agenda for his. Which often looks nothing like the American dream we’ve been taught to run towards.
We are all legalists. We all say that we believe in God’s grace. But his grace is radical. It doesn’t look like the normal american life. It doesn’t look like cultural christianity. It looks like insanity. For the cross of Christ is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.
I’d say, unless you get crazy stares, not because of who you exclude, but because of who you include. Not because of who you hate, but because of who you love. Not because of who you seek revenge upon, but because of who you forgive, then maybe your understanding of the grace of God is merely an excuse to be a religious ass.
“Just a Guy” (and James) – yes, I’d say you’re understanding me. You can switch “tribes” but, in my experience, most people will wind up desperately trying to find a place where their legalism is secure. So many of the “open” churches where people wind up — where they can find “freedom in the Spirit” and “freedom in worship” — are just as legalistic (just with different bells and whistles) than what they’ve known before.
(And no, Chris, I’m not talking about an eagerness to follow God.)
Sadly true. God’s grace pushes us into the world to love the unworthy without boundaries. Legalism reduces what we are expect to do and lets us off at some point. It says, “Do this and it is enough. If others would do this, as you have, they would be fine.” God’s grace is the Samaritan who loves everyone regardless. We don’t want nearly so many neighbors to love.
When we constantly seek ‘our way of showing grace’, legalism will continue to rule. It is only when we stop seeking our right place and seek only God, Him, His needs from us, His Spirit working in us, His desires for us – iow, when we switch the center of our striving from “Us” to “Him” grace, God’s grace model will be the natural, free, messy way of living our lives for Him and we will fade into the background, leaving only Him for the world to see and receive.
Well, I was going to leave a comment on this blog roundly condemning everything I’ve read here, but there’s nothing in scripture that authorizes me to do so on a Sunday morning.
: )
OR…could it be that we don’t want legalism as much as we desperately desire relationship? And since, in religious arena at least, there are so many more legalists than those guided by grace, we compromise and settle on legalism in order to maintain relationship.
I hear you Mike. Always asking the Lords blessings on you and Diane and your family.
I think I really like Jim Martin’s phrase, “thick grace.”
I’ll admit I’m no saint, but I’m better than that family – they rarely come to church (because they have a terminally ill parent, but no one asked), and this dude over here wears tennis shoes on Sunday morning for cryin’ out loud. And, I can’t remember the last time I spied the offering plate go down the Smith’s row and watched them actually put something in it.
Go research church growth in the Northwest – one of the most worldly bastions around. Independent Christian churches are equally demanding of their new converts, but they’re growing like wildfire. They offer something refreshing – the grace of Jesus, rather than the sound doctrine of churchofchristdom. You don’t need to have an MDiv to grow a church – you simply need to offer a hurting person a cup of cold water.
How true, Kent F – also we need to SEE them, SEE their hurt, SEE their need and, as you say, offer a cup of cold water, in His name….being Him in that moment when we share with them.
This is as good an essay on the subject as I have ever read. Sadly, we are set up for the legalism you describe, Mike, almost “locked in” by the way we have been trained to view scripture. Jesus comes to set us free from every constraint save that of love, and to unleash us as his force of unconditional love into the world. It seems too good to be true, but it is not only true, it is in fact the entire truth.
Some legalists think grace is the “Easy way out” and that it is the way of those not mature enough to wrestle with scripture and try to understand all the rules and follow them. What is amazing to me is that it is possible that a grace-filled posture and approach to reading scripture and living in relationship with God can actually require much more maturity because, as you pointed out, some of the walls and comfortable boundaries are torn down. Legalism can be followed with much less maturity than grace. Of course, the opposite is possible in both scenarios.
Hi, I’m Doug and I’m an addict… Thanks for a most profound insight into one of my preferred drugs of use. Until I am able to admit my powerlessness, believe in a power greater than me and make a decision to turn my will over to Him, I’m not sure I will ever do much more than repeat the insanity we’re all very comfortable with. For me that starts with accepting grace in a way that I struggle each day to understand. Getting outside myself by serving, by finding a community that values me and encourages me to grow to look more like Jesus each day, and by working each day to empty a little more of me in exchange for the Spirit are just 3 ways that I feel like I’m starting to live a life of recovery.
Great post, and very insightful, Mike! So, given my quest for true freedom from legalism, and how much I respect you – could you give me, say five points to ensure I don’t fall back into legalism?
Thanks Mike
Hello, my name’s Frank. And I’m a legalist. (Did I say that right?)
It sounds like the same old problem of going from one extreme to the other and missing the total picture. You can be free to obey. Just because someone wants to obey God and be as precise about it as scripture defines , it does not mean that a Chriatian is a legalist. If you love Him you obey Him. And obedience means real freedom. You want to experience how grace sets you free then lay your life on the line. Take up your cross and deny yourself. Give your life to service and compassion motivated by the great doctrines of scripture then you will begin to understand how grace has set you free to be a slave for Jesus Christ.
Somebody said this is the message of Romans. More dramatically, the message of Galatians.
For many in CoCs, God’s grace is the freedom to change the order of worship on Sunday morning. I understand where they’ve come from to get there, but I don’t get it.
For many others of us, God’s grace give us the freedom to enlarge the circle of people who are allowed to pretend that they’ve got it all together — divorced, former drug addicts, etc. That’s not methadone; it’s methadone mixed into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Oh yeah!!! It’s good stuff!
Real grace is messy and dirty, and I’m only starting to understand it.
Thanks, Ray B
In her book “Dating Jesus” Susan Campbell speaks of the “shaft of fundamentalism” that has broken off inside of her. That resonates with me. It seems that just as I think I’ve moved past this, legalism rears its hateful head. It is an ongoing thorn in the flesh for me–part of my spiritually-trained DNA. But I don’t believe this is a permanent or fatal disease for I trust that God in his infinite mercy will continue to transform me into the image of Christ.
Thank you, Mike, for this reminder that so many of us have deep ingrained flaws but that Jesus promises an abundant life free from legalism and other self-focused sins.
Legalism is manipulation, control, and who does not want control. If we are good enough we can even legalize (control) Grace. That even sounds good, Legalized Grace.
The last time I remember being publicly laughed at for being a Christian was in my high school football locker room (early 70′s). The coach yelled across the room asking why I had missed practice the night before. I yelled back that I had gone to church. The locker room broke out into laughter. The coach smiled. I had told him a couple of days earlier that I would miss practice on Wednesday and why. He had set up the situation.
I didn’t go to church on that Wednesday night because I thought I was going to hell if I didn’t. I went because doing so represented my life’s priorities.
I want to follow every one of God’s commands, instructions, blessed precedents and any other hint of what pleases him. I know I fall short. But life is a journey. If that makes me a legalist, then so be it.
So, Mike, what do I do?..
Seriously, true freedom, in Christ’s words, is knowing and following his teaching, being HIS disciples (John 8:31-32). Legalism has always been a strict grasping to man-made rules – misplacing authority.
Spot on, our human nature longs for structure (great illustration with addiction), we beg for it and need it – we are indeed sheep. So it becomes enumbant upon us as preachers and teachers to contiually direct God’s sheep back to the Chief Shepherd – not ourselves as authoritative. Only in HIS fold do we find true freedom. Perhaps that’s why we will be judged more srictly (James 3:1) if we don’t make disciples for HIM (Mat. 28:19-20)
Thank you for the reminder – and God Bless your continued ministry!
Daniel
If Scripture says, “Thou shalt” or “Thou shalt not” or “baptism saves us” or “be baptized for remission of sins”…and I teach that, does that make me a legalist?
Rich,
Being a legalist isn’t about following rules — we all do that, though some follow ones different to others. Being a legalist is trusting that the rules — whichever rules you follow — will save you.
If you follow every single precept you see before but you know that your salvation is in Christ alone and not in your ability to follow a formula and thereby “achieve” salvation, I wouldn’t really say you’re a legalist.
Mike is addressing all the legalist attitudes we all fall into, whether it’s church 3x/week, non-instrumental, “freedom in worship,” being “edgy” or whatever — all the things people trust in with the hope that these rules, whether they look like rules or not, will save them. I think his point is that we can’t play “spot the legalist” by checking to see who flips out at the mention of a piano.
What worries me most are questions like those raised by a few here. Does wanting to obey God mean one is a legalist? Does one wanting to be a Christ-follower of the serious variety mean that this person is a legalist?
No. It’s frightening that the question is even asked.
Read the post again. It’s not about the desire for obedience (a beautiful thing, according to psalms like Psalm 1). It’s about a yearning — an addiction — to find “rest” in legalism.
Want to identify it?
Look for a serious yearning for more authority (husband, father, church leaders). Listen to the language. Are we looking for bosses? Are we anxious for another human to tell us what we have to do? Is there an unhealthy interest in structure?
Look for a disgust toward broken people.
Look for anxiety, depression, and guilt — a merry-go-round of emotions that never stops.
Look for the alternating fronts of pride and low self-esteem. Look for a lack of joy, compassion, gentleness, and kindness.
Look for self-justifying questions like, “Shouldn’t we care what God says?” Such questions are hiding deep things quite often. The questioner “doth protest too much, methinks.”
It’s not a possession of any one tribe. As I said in the post, the irony is that many people who claim they’re needing more freedom or more experience of the Spirit (or better/higher theology?) are actually going deeper into their addiction. Some of the most grace-talking places are the most legalistic.
Legalism privides a comforting sense of certainty and there is no place that one can go to escape it – for we carry it with us. Was Christ not placed on trial by the Grand Inquisitor by foolishly giving humans freedom? Why burden people with freedom?
When faced with the option of freedom, I know that fear so often sends me running for comfort – to be told what to do, who to be, how to think and feel. It is constantly the fight of my life to detect legalism in myself, muster the courage to name it, and rally the strength to oppose it.
Legalism forcefully stamps a canned identity on a soul – an entity inheretly made to create.
I was raised a legalist. I remember as a child feeling the most wonderful feeling in the world. It was the feeling that I was in the place where all of the right people were. I hate to admit it, but I often long to be back at that place, but I know I can’t. To be honest though, I can’t deny that it really feels nice and safe. Today there are times where I feel like a lost soul. Mike, I really appreciate your post. I have thought about off and on since it first went up. I want to say that I was a legalist, but I know it is still a struggle.
Are some concerned that tirades against legalism are sometimes a cover for lawlessness? Is that a valid concern?
Legalism fuels my pride, tweaks an arrogant/better than viewpoint, justifies me to be argumental and defensive, places a stone wall across my heart that separates me from compassion. I am blocked from humility expressed in a heartwrenching cry out for deliverance and confessing my utter dependence on God’s grace.
nicejoest
Somebody said this is the message of Romans. More dramatically, the message of Galatians.
And, if I might add, first set down by Jesus in what we call The Sermon On the Mount. “You have heard it said [legalism]…, but I say, [grace]. What more perfect example of man’s setting down rules to follow vs Jesus proclaiming the true heart of the matter.
Beautiful post, Mike! Thank you!!!
Dee ,
Obeying GOD is not legalism. It is living out the life free in Christ. It is being motivated, inspired, and encouraged by grace.
If Pharisees are to be our prime model for legalism, then we should note that their example shows us that legalism has at its core an obsession with self that is dressed in a veneer of dedication to God. Are you lacking deliverance? Romans in your holy city? God has promised good things to those who obey, so you must not be obeying well enough.
The stakes are high: death or prosperity. You feel so good about yourself when you keep clear of the boundary of the law (as others here have attested) because you are bringing God’s prosperity to your people. And when you stumble, you feel like you’re in the grave, because you are bringing death. But restoration might be on the horizon, and there’s nothing as good as the next high.
God has done his part, and the rest is up to you. It’s no surprise, then, that your inconstancy inevitably leads to a roller-coaster experience.
The real evil comes when people (often the rich ones) master the game: they learn to hide their roller coasters and then sit in judgment of those who can’t hide their sins as well. It helps the masters of the game if the sins that they harp on have obvious external signs. Then the poor and sinners are no longer covenant family but pawns in a game.
Jesus, you’ll note, is not very happy with this state of affairs.
The problem starts when we turn in on ourselves and view the law as our guarantee of divine favor, our way to stay safe. That’s the very kind of magical worldview that the Jews were supposed to reject. We should, instead, trust that God saves — indeed, that he wants to save — and that his law is truly his Torah, his gracious instruction to those he has already claimed and redeemed. Grace is not lawlessness; it is peaceful, trusting rest in God’s promise that the covenant is secure, from which springs our devotion to his mission for the world.