Here on the World race, we encounter a lot of what we like
to call “legalism.” With frustration, annoyance, and an air of superiority, we
speak of those things that bog down many Christian believers – rules,
regulations, law. We refer to legalism in regards to attitudes about drinking,
body art, heartless tradition. But legalism takes many dangerous, subtle forms. The Pharisees didn’t know they were bound, they were doing their best, convinced that they knew the best way to serve God.
I feel that, in my own heart, I place the label of legalism
on cultures that are more strict, people that are more subdued/quiet/hesitant, situations
that are more structured than I prefer to have things.
There is a lot of legalism in the world. But there is also a
lot of legalism in me.
Recently, I have been exploring the whole
look-at-the-plank-in-my-eye-before-the-spec-in-others thing. I have discovered
that very often when I think negatively toward others about a specific thing,
it is because I am hiding from thinking negatively about the reality of that
very thing within myself. And the more angry/judgmental I get toward others,
the more prevalent the issue probably is inside of me.
Here is the thing about legalism: we all do it. We are all
guilty of it. We train our minds to only see God revealed in certain ways,
situations, things. We idolatrize a musician or a pastor. We get stuck in the
familiar pattern of worship styles and valuing certain spiritual giftings over
others. We hold dear our expectations of life, love, service, and worship. Our
personal experiences, the parameters of our clearly defined community, and our
spiritual preferences hem us in. We walk in legalism. We have made new laws for
ourselves and push them on to others. We have adopted and committed to a rule
book, outside of which God is not welcome. We have trusted in our playbook,
mistrusting of anyone or anything that doesn’t move where they are supposed to.
We, internally, have a list of places and ways in which God can show up that
enslave and shackle us.
Our God is too great to be boxed; too mysterious to be
known; too knowable to be ignored. The Spirit of Christ is a wind. It is not
seen, but it encompasses. It cannot be captured, but is unmistakable when
present. It changes atmospheres, but isn’t defined by atmosphere.
We need to re-think our attitude toward legalism. Holding on
to our experience as higher truth, to our knowledge as greater revelation, and
to our perspective as unshakable understanding is exactly what caused the
Pharisees to misunderstand Jesus. Legalism is missing the gospel because it
does not match my definition. Ignoring Jesus because He looks different than I
expect.
Freedom means that Jesus is everywhere, in ALL things. This
is the most beautiful truth I have discovered on the World Race – that God is
simultaneously the same everywhere and manifested in more variety than I could
ever imagine. I want to be everywhere that God is, to experience every shifting,
every manifestation of the Spirit that is possibly available. Legalism is
binding, controlling, comprehensible. Freedom is boundless, limitless, undefined,
and uncontainable. To be in it all, I must lay aside the legalism I myself have
adopted.
