Legalism Raises it's Ugly Head Again

It's pretty regular that I hear about people struggling with Christianity and I completely get it. Today was no exception. The problem most people have isn't with Jesus....People like Jesus. He loved people, spent his time with the sick and outcasts, challenged the hypocrisy in the church. The problem most people have is with those in the church.

If you could take the majority of the complaints and put them into a single one it's this. Many churches have a legalistic air about them. Sometimes that comes off as hypocrisy....but at it's heart it's legalism. Here is my definition of legalism...When we believe there is something we can DO to please God....You have to understand for many people there is a goodness that seems right to men....and then there is a goodness that seems right to God....and they are usually very different things....Believing in the goodness that seems right to men is what leads to legalism and the very thing that moves people farther from God and his church.

Here's how legalism in churches works. People in their attempt to please God will adopt standards that God never intended for us to have. For example: They wrongly believe bringing your best to God means getting up extra early on Sunday and putting on your best suit. Or, they might believe that when God says not to defile your body he's talking about not getting piercings or a tattoo. Or, maybe they believe that not drinking alcohol is they way they are going to get closer to God.....all of these things are man's way of trying to please God and to be honest they are a waist of time and energy.

God looks at the inside of us...he looks at our hearts. Jesus gave us two commands that we were and are to follow...These measure the heart of a person and that is what God looks at. Jesus said in Luke 10:27 that we should "love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and then we should love our neighbors as ourselves." (Renner Paraphrase) Seems pretty simple and straightforward.

I am not sure why anyone or church would want to put any more standards on us than those....I am not sure in a lifetime we'd ever be able to truly measure up to that standard....which is why God loved us enough to accept us through his son anyway.

Understand this: There is nothing you can do to please God by looking a certain way, dressing a certain way, or acting a certain way....That stuff is shallow and temporary. God cares about what's on the inside of us.....he cares about the condition of our hearts....are we serving and loving him or ourselves....our we serving those in our lives or are we concerned with how many toys we can acquire? Don't allow legalism to raise it's ugly head in your life or in your church....it doesn't help anyone....