Sometimes it seems like Christianity is too much of a list of rules. Religious people tend to like rules. Why? Here are a few thoughts.
First, keeping a list of rules is mentally easy. Following rules is simple. No thought is required. While it might be burdensome, rule-following lets other people do the thinking for you. All you need to do is conform.
Secondly, keeping rules makes you feel religious.
My negative thoughts on rule-following come from experience. My early Christian life had some legalism. It seemed good way to stay Christian and avoid sin. But as years went on, I realized its insufficiency.
Dangers of Legalism
1) Outward conformity to religious rules imposed by other people does absolutely nothing to change your heart and mind. You can look good while hiding evil thoughts. But God knows your thoughts.
2) Rules made by man do not work very well in preventing sin. As a pastor, I noticed that if someone wanted to sin–they did it. Fine print in a rulebook was given little if any consideration in their choice to sin.
3) Man-made rules cannot cover everything, or even most things. There is no way that a group of people making rules in a certain room at a certain place can anticipate what you are facing in your world.
4) Legalism could lead to pride, and this is the worst thing. Rule-keeping can make you feel superior to others, and this is a terrible sin. Legalism does not necessarily lead to pride, but is a fertile breeding ground for it.
5) Legalism tends to grow. It starts out small and seemingly harmless but can grow imperceptibly into becoming a whole system that takes over our relationship with God.
Jesus warned against it.
Mark 7:5-8, “So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?’
He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men’.”
Jesus condemned any tradition of man that obscured the commands of God. It can happen! This seems outrageous but is actually a powerful tendency that needs to be opposed. It’s almost addictive.
At root, legalism is immature. It’s childish. It has its attractions (as it did for me early on) but once its deficiencies are seen it should be laid aside in favor something else. And what is that ‘something else’?: a vital relationship with God that comes from the inside out. Paul once said, speaking of the spiritual life, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me,” (1 Corinthians 13:11). He left behind the childish legalism and grew up into a robust and mature relationship with God.
We see this progression in the early church. In the book of Acts, during the time of its great change from a primary Jewish to a primarily gentile Christianity. There was concern that the gentile Christians might be too loose in their morals. A transition plan was decided on (Acts 15) with only four rules required for the gentiles to follow. Only four! This rules-lite standard produced encouragement from those who heard of it. It was good and right for its time. But after this transition plan served its purpose, it went by the wayside in favor of fuller life in the Word and Spirit.
We, too, like the early church, need to progress. There may have been a time when some man-made rules were helpful (and were probably made with good intentions) but were eventually exposed as insufficient. We needed to move on.
So, what do we replace the rules with?
Outward conformity to manmade rules is to be replaced by reliance on God Himself. Specifically, with the two main sources of moral guidance for his followers: the Bible and the Spirit. Two internal compasses. Those become our guides rather than the pages and paragraphs of a rulebook.
The Bible as our guide. The Bible is not human tradition, but God’s primary revelation of who He is. A mature Christian has an ear for what the Bible says and puts it into practice. The Bible is a what scholars might call a ‘primary source’–we know the facts without the middleman (i.e. human beings making rules at a meeting). Yes, there are some ‘do’s and dont’s’ in the Bible for those saved by grace–but they are from God. They are not subject to social trends or current human obsessions. We need to know the Bible and internalize its truth.
The Spirit as our guide. Christians also have the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes when we are saved. We have the Spirit and need to listen to Him. When we listen to the Spirit we will receive moral guidance and know what to do when we encounter unforeseen temptations and challenges in this rough world.
These two sources of moral guidance–the Bible and the Spirit–are far better than any manmade rulebook. They are good, right and will keep us from the dangers of legalism. Being guided by God will keep us from the childish need to rely on other people to tell us what to do. Moral navigation of this sinful, complex world requires Bible and Spirit within. Let us put legalism behind us.