Legalism
happens when we take a Biblical principle and make a practical application to
it, and hold the practical application as the standard for it. For example, we
can look at the verses throughout Proverbs instructing the parents to teach
their children and work that out through homeschooling, then put down people
who aren’t homeschooling as those who aren’t following the Bible. The principle
is for parents to teach their children, but it doesn’t tell us specifically how
that is to be done (there are a variety of ways this can be accomplished.) We
teach our children, and there could be different ways this can be accomplished,
not just one specific way. So, if a family is not homeschooling, but they are
faithfully spending time teaching and nurturing their children, the principle
is being followed. If this family is looked upon as not following Scriptures
because they are not homeschooling, that is legalism. The reverse could also
happen. A family could be a homeschooling family, yet not be spending time
teaching their children what God says and working with them on following the
Bible. I’ve even heard people that are Atheists who homeschool!
This is not a case against
homeschooling! Homeschooling makes the job of bringing our children up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord, much easier. It lends itself well to
teaching a Christian worldview to our children. I recommend homeschooling
highly for Christian parents. But if you choose not to homeschool your
children, you have not broken the law (unless you know in your heart that God
wants you to do this and you are resisting!). The key is to know in your hearts
what God wants you to do, whether homeschool or something else. What Scripture
tells us to do is to diligently teach our children to know God. That is what we
have to obey.
Another example would be
for us to obey the Scriptures and be modest. Being modest really implies doing
the opposite of attracting attention. It involves not making ourselves known by
the way we live and dress, and handle ourselves. There are many ways to do
this, but if we tend to be literal, we will set up standards for how we are to
dress, particularly women. I am not talking about a dress code for school here
either. Some of them have dress codes that are very conservative, and the
school has the right to do that. But when we take that specific dress code and
set it as a standard for what we consider modest, that could be legalism. If,
for example, the dress code says that a skirt or dress has to be 2 inches below
the knee, if we take that as the Biblical standard for modesty and use that
standard on ourselves and our daughters, or even in a church setting, that
could easily become legalism. When we see a woman with a skirt that is a little
above her knee level, we could tell her that she is being immodest, and that
she needs to change her clothing. That would be legalism. But if a person’s
clothing (either guy or gal) is obviously immodest, then that is wrong. Also, a
person could be really flashy looking, with elaborate jewelry or tattoos, etc.
to draw attention to themselves, and when that type of attire is really
distracting, then you know there is something deeper going on in the heart. We
want to represent Christ, and represent Him well, and when we are dressed inappropriately
(where our dress causes attention to ourselves) then we have gone against
Scriptures.
One last example of this is in
the area of evangelism. I remember someone having a poll or a challenge for
people to post how many tracts they passed out each day. I don’t see anything
wrong with that in itself, but someone pointed out that it could lead to
legalism. Johnny in California passes out 20 a day. Susie in Virginia passes
out 50 a day. But Billy in Florida only passes out 2 a day, if he can get out.
Then there are those who haven’t felt ready to pass out a tract yet. Or, Susie
passes out 50 a day, so why can’t she pass out 75 a day? Or, it could be like
another group I was invited to join which required you to pass out a certain
amount of tracts each day, and talking to a certain amount of people about the
Gospel. This sounds like a good idea at first, but if you can’t get the
opportunity to pass out tracts on certain days, you fail the whole event! That
is legalism. The Bible doesn’t tell us that we have to pass out tracts each
day. It tells us that we need to be sharing the Gospel with people, and making
disciples of all nations. That is the command we are to obey. There are many,
many, many ways this can be done. We can give to ministries financially. We can
go on missions trips with the intention of sharing the Gospel. We can go to our
neighbors and share the Gospel with them. We can have Bible clubs for children
in our homes. We can have Bible studies for adults in our homes. We can give
out tracts. We can mail out Bibles. We can talk with people individually or in
groups. The list of ideas can go on. The key is that we are obeying what the
Bible says about preaching the Gospel. It’s not how many tracts you gave out
last week, or how many people you talked to yesterday, although those are
important, but that you did have it in your heart to share the Gospel with
people. The Bible says that we are to love God with all our hearts, souls,
minds and strength, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. How we carry
that out will look different for different people. To say that a certain way
(like passing out 10 tracts a day) is how we are to do that, is legalism. We
should pass out tracts a day. It’s a great way to communicate the Gospel, but
if you don’t use tracts, you haven’t broken the law.
I know a guy who is effective in
doing evangelism, but I have never seen him doing open-air evangelism. I was
puzzled at first because I thought that everyone who is effective in evangelism
does open air. So, everyone does what God calls him or her to do, whether they
use tracts, teach, serve, pray, open air, one on one, door to door, or
whatever. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 both talk about the variety of
spiritual gifts. Not only are there different spiritual gifts, but there is
variety in the way they are used. There is diversity. If we set up a standard
for how a certain gift is to be used or applied, we have suppressed the proper intent of
the gift. We have also set a trap for legalism.
So, let’s obey the Scriptures
using the gifts and talents God gave us, but let’s not set up as a standard,
the specifics for how God wants us to carry those works out. Standards can be
helpful many times, but we have to be careful that they don’t lead to legalism,
or that we don’t hold our particular application of the Scriptures for everyone
else to follow. They might use our applications, but if they don’t, they haven’t
broken the law! We have to remember that for ourselves and one another.
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work." 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NIV
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