Legalism

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil."

I thought it was time I addressed perhaps the topic that I am most passionate about. That topic is legalism. Legalism has haunted the church since perhaps its earliest days, and now it is almost stronger than ever. Legalists, as Jesus would define them, are not content with obeying only what God has taught and put in place their own rules, claiming that they are from the mouth of God. Perhaps the best example of legalism in the Bible comes in the form of the Pharisees. As you most likely already know, Jesus despised the Pharisees, going so far as to even call them “sons of Hell”. Yet, for some reason we seem to tolerate legalism today, waving it off. Legalism is a view that at first may seem enticing, even more godly. Here we have a godly group of people, striving to honor God in all they do. But all is not as it seems. If you have ever dabbled in legalism, you know that at first, though it seems hard, you somehow feel more right with God. However, over time, more and more rules will be loaded onto you until they're unbearable. Now, I'm going to jump right in to this subject, so hang on. Legalists will have you believe that every law they invent comes straight from the mouth of God Himself. But no, not at all. Legalistic teachers blind people for years, and some people come out of legalistic churches wondering how they were deceived for so many years. For some people, legalism is all they've never known. And I truly pity those individuals. For so long they were lied to by power-hungry tyrants. If you think that's a bit harsh of a condemnation, let me quote Jesus on this subject. “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.” That's just one passage. Here's another one. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” Sounds pretty harsh, don't you think? A child of Hell... And all this for wonderful people who just wanted to use their traditions to please God, and ensure salvation. He called them pagans. Because they “load people with burdens hard to bear and you yourselves do not the burdens with one of your fingers.” (Luke 11:46) It sounds to me like it's hard to be too harsh with these people. It's time we stopped tolerating this sin that is so abominable in God's sight. If you're wondering why I'm so passionate about this issue or get so angered by it, I'll tell you. I used to be legalistic. And that is why I so despise it. I hate it because it haunts you. It comes back. It comes back to enslave you in the middle of the night, taunting you. “Are you sure you're not sinning? Are you sure this is okay with God?” It comes back to haunt you, and it makes you doubt yourself. Once the seeds are planted, it's so hard to rip them out. In most cases, they will haunt you for the rest of your life. If Satan can't convince you that evil is good, he'll convince you good is evil. If he can't successfully disguise himself as an angel of light, he just might be successful disguising himself as the Holy Spirit, convicting you of things that aren't wrong. He doesn't care how he enslaves you, as long as you're bound. And so it all comes down to this for legalistic teachers, ultimately: Who are you to tell me what is right and wrong? Who are you to tell me Christmas is evil? Who are you to tell me movies are evil? Who are you to tell me modern music is evil? Just who do you think you are? You mean to tell me that I have to keep a commandment or tradition that you invented to be right with God? How DARE you? How dare you blaspheme the holy name of God by claiming that you speak His words? How dare you try to enslave me? There are no traditions, no man-made rules binding me. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” How dare you lie to me for all this time about the true standards of God? How dare you try to control me? I am free. I'm free. So to conclude, run wild and never look back. Live in accordance with God's word, yes, but never let a mere man control you. Live in the way you were made to. You were born to honor God, to enjoy life, to bring glory to Him simply by enjoying the gifts He's given you. So go watch a movie, go play football, go blast contemporary music. Give a legalist a heart attack, since hugs are evil. That's what I have to say to people recovering from legalism. To all legalist teachers and those who promote legalism: Shut up. Just shut up. Don't even say another word. Don't you DARE speak your own words and claim they're from God. So before you condemn football, movies, music, theater, youth groups, women who wear pants, non-patriarchs, Christmas, Easter, Disney, entertainment, video games, C.S. Lewis, dancing, modern music, people who don't use the King James Bible, the Olympics, public-schoolers, dating, superheros, electronics, people who don't use head coverings, or anything else, just shut your vile, blasphemous, self-righteous, hypocritical mouth. Just shut it. For too long now, you have oppressed the people of God with laws that came from your own dark heart. And He will not stand for it. In the name of God, you shake your fist in His face and say: “I know better than You. I have power to decide right from wrong.” Go ahead, persist in your paths leading to death. Christ would not tolerate the Pharisees, and He will not tolerate you. In your quest for truth, you create lies. In seeking to open peoples' eyes, you blind them. You are the blind leading the blind. I'm gonna' call out specific denominations. Fundamentalist Baptists. You guys are the big players, those who crush the people of God. You weigh them down with burdens that God, whose burden is light, never put in place. And I'm speaking to Fundamentalist teachers mainly here. Just stop. Shut your ignorant mouth. Begin to know the God you preach so much about. Then and only then will there be the peace you long for in your congregation. Before you condemn one more group of people, one more individual, why don't you take an honest look at yourself? Before you call someone else a child of Satan, why don't you consider who you live for? If you do truly live for God, why not represent him better? Before you level your ultimate insult of telling someone they've compromised, consider the fact that you regularly compromise with Satan. It's time fundamentalists either get on the train or get hit by it. Another very legalistic group is Messianic Christians. Don't get me wrong, I love these people. However, it is absolutely not acceptable that they forbid so many things that God approves of, and command so many things He doesn't require. “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8) “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17) Another group I'm going to call out is many Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. Don't get me wrong, I love these people too. But as someone else put it, many of these pastors are “control freaks and pulpit bullies”. This describes very well pretty much all legalistic leaders. Yet another group I see legalism in is reformed Baptists. These people are probably second on my list of most legalistic. I have personally watched some of these dear people go from being some of the most awesome, unique, fun-loving, God-honoring individuals I've ever known, to being cold, heartless, calloused, hateful, overly analytical, God-obsessed (and by this I mean forsaking even life itself, which He absolutely does not approve of; we have all of eternity for this) freaks. And it hurts for me to watch transformations like this. I myself know two specific individuals that have gone from being some of my closest friends to legalists. They think joking is evil. They think being too happy is evil. They never smile. They analyze movies, books, and everything else until they can't even live anymore. This is why I so despise legalism. I've felt its cold chains wrapped around me, its hands around my neck until I could hardly breathe. And so I ask you, no, beg you... Do not fall to legalism. It is perhaps one of Satan's greatest weapons. It's a pit that is so difficult to climb out of you might lose all hope. To legalistic teachers, I think you should repent. Even Pharisees were born again. To those of you already involved in legalism, it's not too late. God's light can penetrate even the darkest prison, destroying the walls of hopelessness. I'm a witness to it. I'm just now learning to embrace this world, this life, as broken as it is. Though it's far from perfect, it's all we have. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.”