The Personality of Legalism

There are legalists in every spectrum of Christianity. You can't just point your finger at every person that lives by a stricter set of personal guidelines than you and throw the label at them. Holiness is a personal walk just like faith; there are no two people that are alike. However, it is important that we know what it looks like so we can keep from falling into it ourselves. The first dilemma that we run into is that nobody wants to be a legalist so even the people that fit every quality of the word live in continuous denial of it. To keep ourselves from being bitter name callers we must go back to scripture, find the legalists mentioned there, and study their traits. In Luke chapter eighteen I believe we find everything we need straight from the mouth of Jesus to get a good idea of what the personality of legalism looks like. I fear that it is more common than most would care to admit. Let's take a look...

Luke 18:9-14 (KJV)

[9] And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: [10] Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. [11] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are , extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. [12] I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

They Trust in Themselves

Verse nine puts the first nail in the coffin when the Holy Ghost inspired Luke's commentary on who this parable was directed toward. Jesus, knowing the heart problem in the legalists, directed this parable toward "certain which trusted in themselves." The legalist claims a devotion to Jehovah but faith is the only thing that pleases Jehovah. This man was dressed right and walked right, verse ten even tells us that he was going to the temple to pray, but his confidence was in the power of his own flesh. When verse eleven begins Jesus reveals to us that even the prayers of a legalist are directed toward his own flesh when he stated that this Pharisee "prayed...with himself." Thats a pretty stark contrast to the men we know through scripture who prayed "in the Holy Ghost." The legalist will tell you that his faith is in God but he lives a life that contradicts this lip service. Whenever you find a man who's spirituality produces pride and self satisfaction you find a man that is trusting in himself and not God; you find a legalist.

They Believe Their Form of Faith is Superior

This parable is not about a religious man and a lost man; this parable is about two believers that are both headed to the house of God to worship. Jesus tells the story in such a way that he draws the mind of the legalist to assume the worst about a man that Jesus knew would be the hero of the story. No legalist wants to hear that the publican in the story is the real spiritual man. So we have two Christians, if I may borrow the word, and one is assuming his form of Christianity is the superior form with the superior methods. This legalist is so convinced that his way is better that he even thanks God at the end of verse eleven that he isn't as bad off spiritually as the other man of faith. Whenever you find a Christian who believes that his personal form of Christianity is superior to all that don't meet his standard you find a man who's faith is in his own performance and not God; you find a legalist.

They are Defined by What They Do and Don't Do

As this Pharisee began his prayer it was not "our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name." He lifted his chin high and reminded God of all the things that he did not do! I imagine if he had been given a pulpit that his preaching would have probably consisted of a lot of this, too. Just as soon as he finished there, he was so pleased with himself, that he went on to remind God of all the things that he DID do. I imagine his long list of good works wasn't just reserved for his private prayer time either. Everything that this man was revolved around what he did and didn't do. Never a mention of grace, never a mention of God opening his eyes and ears, never a mention of God strengthening his faith or establishing his heart, never a mention of the cleansing work of the Spirit. No, just look at what I can do and look at what I can keep myself from! Whenever you find a man that is obsessed with what he does and does not do you find a man that believes in a works based spiritual life instead of a faith based spiritual life; you find a legalist.

They Devalue Others

Luke told us that Jesus was addressing those who had their confidence placed in their own self but he quickly followed that with the other primary defining characteristic of a legalist; they "despised others." This word "despise" literally means to devalue or "make of no account." When a man turns legalistic in his thinking he quickly becomes the judge of others and he isn't a very fair one. In order to maintain his confidence his primary passion becomes picking other people apart. We see in verse eleven that at the very introduction of this Pharisee's prayer he thanked God that he was not as other men were. As he closed that thought he narrowed the focus down to the closest person he could get his eyes on and that was the publican. Was he burdened for the publican? No, rather, he profited from the inferiority that he believed the publican to represent. Without anyone to compare himself to his life would carry very little meaning. The legalist is a vain elitist and always a gossip because his confidence depends on other people being wrong. Whenever you find a man that can't quit critiquing, criticizing, and gossiping about other people you find a man with blatant disregard for the grace of God; you find a legalist.

There was one man who went home justified at the end of this story and that was the humble, broken publican. The poor, wretched publican was a nothing, a nobody, with no confidence in himself. He was broken because he knew God. He was humble because he knew himself. Jesus wasn't interested in the man who had it all together. Jesus was interested in honesty. The minute we enter into denial about who we are and what our flesh is we, too, can enter into legalism. Legalism is deadly because it is a cause of it's own that works directly against the only cause that matters; faith in Jesus Christ and His completed work.

Dropping Standards: Not Always a Bad Thing

I've not tried to hide the fact that I used to be very outward focused on my ideas about what spirituality was supposed to look like. Over the first decade of my Christian life I acquired a long list of things I decided that my family would and wouldn't do from avoiding modern Christian music to not having a Christmas tree. Many of these things I find myself smiling about today. Of course, we still hold firmly to the convictions we have against clear cut areas of sin but natural growth and spiritual maturity have lead us to drop many of these opinion based, personal preferences down to a place of less importance in our lives. I've personally been the one to jump up and down about people who "threw all their standards away" and now the topic seems a lot more complex. Are there some times when dropping some standards might be a good thing?

One of the first areas that springs to mind is young people reaching adulthood and leaving home. Countless times I've watched the children of pastors, preachers, and missionaries leave home and "throw all their standards away." I've watched onlookers shake their heads, run them down, and start discussions in prayer rooms about how much these young hopefuls backslid and dropped the ball when they left home but is that really what happened? Very rarely, and usually only accompanied by extreme spiritual discouragement, have I seen a Christian take a conviction that God put on his heart and just lay it down and walk away from it. The case with many of these young people is that these supposed standards were never theirs to begin with. Once they stepped out from under the pressure of mom and dad the importance placed on these areas, whatever they may have been, fell away. Sure, this can be a dangerous time in this young adult's life but it is also crucial for their personal walk with Christ and its development. The real problem is that if a heart issue did exist in the child before it left home that we were all too satisfied with the facades to ever spot it. Now, for the first time in that young person's life they are being who they truly are and ultimately Jesus has something He can actually work with. There is no high premium in scripture for hypocrites no matter how much religious training they exemplify on the outside.

The next area that comes to mind is just plain and simple spiritual maturity. Take my little girl for example. When she first started talking and conversing with people she was not allowed to use the word "hate" at all. A two year old cannot fathom the gravity and weight that such a little word like that can carry. Now that she is fixing to turn five she uses the word nearly weekly as she tells her mommy "I hate that you hurt your finger" or "I hate that we aren't getting to see Grandma today." My little girl didn't digress morally because she began using the word that she originally had been taught against. No, maturity gave her the balance she needed to move forward and learn to use that word correctly. Many of the preferences I held to in the first season of my spiritual walk kept me out of a lot of trouble and helped me to grasp the importance of purity. Many of the standards I held drew strict lines in the sand to keep my flesh from areas that I had not developed temperance to handle. I'm not crawling any more though. In fact, I'm not even toddling. As a Christian I am now on my feet walking and eating meat. Do I have a lot to learn? Oh, of course! Until the day I die I'll have a lot to learn but I can now discern things that as a weaker Christian I was "not able to bear." This example holds true in my own home where many of the gates we put in front of the stairs, the padding we placed around the brick on the fireplace, and the locks on the kitchen cabinets are now gone simply because maturity has deemed them no longer necessary for my children. This same sort of scenario exists in the spiritual relm.

The last area that comes to my mind is religious peer pressure. I've been on the receiving end and on the giving end of this one. New believers need to be discipled but there is a fine line that can sometimes be crossed when we take areas that may be common practice to our particular genre of Christianity or to us personally and prioritize them over the black and white areas of scripture that actually need to be taught. The intentions and motives behind such practices are not always bad but it is dangerous to say the least because it can easily become a "grievous weight" or an area of bondage in that Christian's life. Everybody wants to fit in with the Christians after they get saved but the bar must be set as Christ and revealed as a level no man has reached! These standards that carry political weight in an assembly are most always bringing glory to a man somewhere that is thought to be the bar. Once a person loses faith in that man or manmade system these types of standards always come down because they were a result of pressure and not spirituality. At this point, a man can rebuild on the right foundation and have a real grasp of who God is. Just because one of these brothers or sisters doesn't recover and land exactly back where we are on all of our personal preferences doesn't mean he or she isn't right with God and no longer deserves respect. In fact, what you see on the outside now is what was probably in the heart all along. The only difference is that this person is no longer afraid of what you think about them. Keep in mind that we have our own spirituality overvalued when we use it as leverage to look down our noses at anyone.

We feel safer when we think everything has to be black and white but the beauty of grace is how personal it is. Most of the time it takes a lot of private prayer and meditation for God to be able to reveal to me exactly where I am. I tend to be biased towards myself and my view of who I really am usually winds up clouded. When I realize the immense amount of effort that I have to exert just to sort through my motives, my crutches, my vices, my insecurities, and all of my intricate internal workings I quickly realize that it would be absolutely impossible for me to look at you and know where you are in this process. As Christians we just have to love each other and trust that the Father is doing the necessary work in each of His children's lives. In every one of the above scenarios we find real people with real needs for love and friendship. We will either be the friends these people need or we will allow our own selfish agendas to cause damage and hurt and no good ever comes from that. When our motives are wrong we will often be quick to misjudge the motives of others. Romans two abrasively reminds us that it is the goodness of God that shapes a man and that we should be careful not to despise His long-suffering nature. Mine and your lives are like 1,000 piece puzzles that the Master is assembling. Unfortunately, the onlookers around us usually only have a clear view of three or four of those pieces at a time. 

Symptoms of Flesh Powered Religion

We have an epidemic in our churches that is ravaging us like a violent disease but making us dangerously numb to what is happening in the process. The problem dates back to being as old as the New Testament church itself and stands as an issue that aroused the apostle Paul like nothing else we ever saw him write about. The problem? Flesh powered, performance focused, eye pleasing religion.


Whether you attend Lakewood Church with pastor Joel Osteen or the strictest of fundamental Baptist churches, the problem is here and Paul told us how to spot it. First, you have to understand how the real spiritual walk operates. The first step is salvation by grace through faith. Next, growth and spiritual maturity comes through a purification process called sanctification which is performed by grace through faith just like salvation. The product of this process is holiness which is defined as "purity of heart and motive." This is where many of the early, New Testament Christians who were converted out of the Jewish religion really missed it and inspired a host of others to miss it, too. They believed that you could take a list of rules and regulations and, with the power of human flesh, accomplish spirituality. Just like many believe that salvation consists of nothing more than a simple decision with no draw from Jehovah and no convincing from the Holy Spirit, many also believe that the workings of God are not necessary for sanctification and holiness. Removing the grace of God from sanctification leads to an outward focused performance of the flesh that is designed to bring man glory. Remember, whatever authored your spirituality will always get the glory for it.

Peter showed us in his first epistle that true holiness always produces unfeigned love of the brethren. Paul, with the help of the Holy Ghost, revealed the fruit of the Spirit to us in Galatians five to even further show us the peaceful, loving nature of a spiritual man. In the same chapter where the fruit of the Spirit is listed in conjunction with faith based spirituality a list is also given that reveals the works of the flesh in conjunction with flesh powered spirituality. This list was given in the context that if you rely on the flesh to power your spirituality that these are the sorts of things you can expect to find IN YOUR CHURCH. This is not a list that our elite group of Christians are free from but rather this is the list of symptoms that, once analyzed, diagnose us as a very sick group of individuals in need of the purging fires of revival. Let's break down the list found in Galatians 5:19-21.

1. Adultery and Fornication. God recognizes these as two separate sins but they represent the same heart problem. We all know a preacher or a missionary or a Sunday school teacher or an upstanding church member that has fallen prey to these physical sins and many kept right on preaching, teaching, and singing with the same charisma and people skills as they always had without ever missing a beat until they got caught. The reason? Because the only spirituality they had to begin with was flesh powered and sin has never stopped the flesh from being a top performer. These sins can be active in the mind as well even if the body isn't acting on them. If you are a Christian man accessing the internet to read this blog post statistics are staggering that you have accessed pornography intentionally sometime in the last six months. How interested are you in honesty?


2. Uncleanness and Lasciviousness. These words mean luxurious, wasteful, and indulgent with unrestrained carnal desires. It means that while the world hurts we spend ungodly amounts of money on comfort and ease and entertainment. It means that we host revival meetings at our church multiple times every year while consistently ignoring the community. It means that we have preachers, pastors, and singers that actually use ministry as a means to live lavish and lazy. It means that once a week we sooth our conscience with "soul winning" activities while extinguishing our burden with selfishness the other six days a week. It means we can't afford missions giving because our Netflix account might have to be cut back. It means that we live our lives without any real burden because the flesh is only interested in the work that others can see or read about on Facebook.


3. Idolatry. This is the simple adoration of anything that fills that place of passion in our lives where God belongs. This manifests itself before church starts and after it closes when all we can talk to our brothers about is Friday night's ball game or Saturday's hunting adventure. In a more complicated light, this also includes the manufacturing of a version of Jesus that is contrary to who He is in scripture and a commitment to that version of Him rather than to the real One. This fruit of the flesh is evident when we use our religion to pin medals on our chests and forge crowns of glory for our heads while pretending to do it all for Jesus. Idolatry shows itself when we serve God with our form and show disregard for anyone who may shed light on how our form is wrong. Worship of the true Jesus is hungry for truth while worship of ourself and our religion will avoid it because flesh is in the drivers seat and it doesn't want out.


4. Witchcraft. This comes from a greek word pronounced pharmakeia which is where we get our word pharmacy or pharmaceuticals from and is defined by the use of and administering of drugs. Whether its sleeping meds, pain killers or unrealistic amounts of caffeine that is being abused to obtain our ups and downs it is proof that flesh is what we are leaning on. (Note: I am talking about chemical abuse and not medication that you actually need.)


5. Hatred, Variance, Wrath and Strife. These words all paint a grim picture of a people that have forsaken the biblical principles of loving their neighbor as themselves and are incapable of getting along with each other. The word religion is defined as "the outward practices" of your belief system. First, our flesh convinces itself that its own outward practices are superior to Christianity around it and then it uses that superiority complex as a license for condescension. We fight, argue, bicker, name call, and throw people and groups completely away all for the sake of exalting ourselves. True spirituality produces humility while flesh powered spirituality produces hypercritical arrogance. If we had half as much truth as we think we had we'd be in the ditches with our brothers, with tears in our eyes, trying to share it. You have to actually love people if you are going to help them, though, and the flesh is not capable of real love.


6. Emulation, Seditions, and Heresies. This word emulation is defined as what happens when people make spirituality into a competition. This word is defined, whether in Greek or English, as passion or zeal for a thing or cause that stands separate from the gospel. Whether it is one of the many Methodists that have ran me off of their front porches because I'm a baptist or whether it's the fist pumping fundamentalist in front of an ecumenical shouting about old time religion, this competitive, elitist, self absorbed mind set reveals a form of spirituality governed by the flesh and not the Holy Ghost of God. Seditions and Heresies further carry this same point when this word "heresies" is defined as people dividing into "sects" and causing unity to be destroyed over "differences of OPINION." It's one thing to break fellowship with a group of Mormons who do not believe Jesus is God but it is an entirely different problem when you cause discord and division over your personal, extra-biblical preferences.


7. Envyings and Murders. Envy is defined as that uneasiness we feel when we know we have been outdone or are in the presence of someone who we feel that we cannot outperform. The reason so many preacher's fellowships, camp meetings, and recreational conversations among Christians are filled with us overanalyzing the lives of others, making presumptuous assumptions, and judging motives of men and ministries is because our flesh is envious and insecure. Flesh powered spirituality cannot rest in who it is in Christ because it is not dependent on Christ to begin with therefor it MUST rely on lifting itself up and tearing others down. Murder is a literal, malicious killing of another human but Christ told us that if we allow things such as envy to lead us to things such as hatred that murder has already occurred in the heart. Holiness is purity of heart but the flesh isn't capable of such an innocence.


8. Drunkenness and Revellings. Intoxication with strong drink and the problems it brings is a serious issue that many church goers feel they are free of but drunkenness is painted all through scripture as rebellion and stubbornness toward God. When a man wanted to shut God out and numb himself from conviction alcohol was an easy way to accomplish that. Today our churches are inebriated with self. We are drunk on the books and teachings of men and whenever God attempts to change us we can't really even hear Him. Revelling is described in the Strong's Concordance as men who used drunkenness to honor a false diety. The flesh has its gods, the flesh is intoxicated with willing ignorance, and the flesh is revelling in its cause.


Why have we become so easily satisfied with facades? I believe at the heart of flesh powered religion is a desire for measurable spirituality. We want to be able to look at a person and somehow judge how far along they are while also being able to display our superior place of growth for all to see. The fact is, though, that spirituality cannot be measured. a rebellious, cold hearted Christian and a newly saved grown man that is spiritually that of a fumbling toddler may display some of the same outward characteristics. Two Christians that are both spiritually equivalent to a preschooler may have extremely diverse strengths and weaknesses that conclude nothing of where they are on the Christian walk. A Pharisee that isn't even walking with God may display all the outward signs of a seasoned, mature Christian while some men and women of great faith may not ever take on any religious facades that stand them out of the crowd for you to see. Ultimately, though, our carnal flesh loves externally focused spirituality that is powered by the flesh because it provides them with something to hide behind. If Christianity is satisfied with facades then a woman can lay around the house, neglect her husband, neglect her children, watch TV all day and read romance novels during the commercial breaks and, as long as she meets the outward criteria when she leaves the house, we are satisfied. A man can live carnal and selfish, waisting all the family's money on hobbies, but be bold at church with all of his learned, religious vernacular and we are pleased. The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons. The word person, as Ive stated before, means "a mask" and its where we get our word persona. Your persona may satisfy you and your church but God doesn't buy that version of you. Real spirituality comes from a heart of faith and doesn't always fit the cookie cutter holes we like to push it through. I've lived both lives. I've lived religiously busy for the purpose of showing some up while oppressing others. I know what its like to surf through a man's wife's Facebook pictures so I could try to judge her spirituality by what she wears. I know what its like to pick up my phone and call someone to gossip about what I've found to be questionable in the life of someone around me....all to the banner of "holiness." The ditches on both sides of the road are lined with people that have been hurt deeply by this lifestyle. It isn't doing anybody any good and it doesn't have to continue. Walking with God is a lot deeper than such a mindset as this and Paul paints it for us in the rest of chapter five. May God have mercy on us.


Galatians 5:22-26 (KJV) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. [24] And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. [25] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. [26] Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."

Recognizing and Recovering from a Cult

Most of the time when the word “cult” is heard the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and groups such as those are what come to mind but many who have been spiritually abused in church don’t realize that they were in fact part of a cult. Just because a household name such as Baptist or Methodist is on the sign does not keep an oppressive man from taking the leadership position and turning that assembly into a cult.

 

What is a Cult?

After digging through two or three secular internet sites, a couple of psychological web pages, and a few Christian outreach ministries I found that most all of them had the same basic characteristics listed to help people identify what exactly establishes a religious group as a cult. I’ve handpicked six areas that I feel are most important but you can feel free to further search this area out on your own.

1.       Leadership that cannot be questioned. A cult is ran authoritarian style. The leader constantly reminds his followers how he knows things that they don’t, has seen things that they haven’t, and has affirmatively heard from God on things that are not “black and white” in scripture. In fact, the idea is handed out that you cannot correctly understand the scriptures on your own without his guidance.

2.       Mind altering practices. You slowly become disconnected from reality because so many twisted facts are constantly handed to you. The leader seemingly has great insight into people and groups outside of his own and outright lies are passed off to you to keep you from attempting to fellowship with those people and ever see the truth for yourself. The leader often uses mystical techniques to try to portray a relationship with God that you are not capable of having. The majority of his teaching revolves around his opinion on scripture rather than biblical principle itself. Rather than spiritual growth happening naturally for members of the group they are immediately told how to act, think, dress, and live upon joining the group and affection is given or withheld depending on performance. If one member of the group is really meeting the leader’s standards he will be publicly awarded and petted on while those who fall behind are publicly humiliated. Peer pressure is often a cult’s most valuable tool and no real love exists.

3.       Elitist mindset. The group is often held captive by the leader because he has them convinced that no other church in possible driving range can compare to how holy and pleasing to God his methods are. Cults usually do not fellowship with any other churches because no other group ever seems to measure up. The leader is never open or honest about his own downfalls because he doesn’t believe he has any. A large percentage of his teachings is self focus, self glory, and self satisfaction.

4.        The Cult becomes your family. People that are not under the constant brainwashing tactics of the leader can easily see the problems and those are exactly the kind of people the leader does not want you fraternizing with. The cult will either keep you so busy that you don’t have time for those sorts of relationships or it will influence you into breaking fellowship with those outside the group for supposed spiritual reasons.

5.       Money is usually always a driving factor unless the leader himself believes his own deception.

6.       Leaving is never an option. Those who leave are lied about to the extent that all their relationships with people inside the group are usually lost once they depart even if that means breaking fellowship with blood relatives. Fear tactics are pressed so heavily that most are too afraid to take the initial step of leaving because they have been told that Satan will be unleashed on their families. Once a person leaves everything from flat tires to sick children is labeled the “judgment of God” to all who remain to keep them from wanting to leave.

 

What Have They Done to You?

Probably the most damaging thing a cult does to an individual is to keep that person from thinking for himself. Magicians use the distraction technique to keep your eyes on what doesn’t matter while they manipulate reality. Cults keep you so busy on what does not matter that once you successfully break away from the cult it is actually embarrassing to realize how much truth in scripture that you missed and how many problems you made excuses for. Every human mind is capable of falling into such traps and the fact that you have been there is going to make you stronger. It is of utmost importance for you not to wallow in the guilt of what you have partaken in but rather to rest in the truth you have discovered and to make right the things you have done to hurt others. Let your life become a story of grace and redemption as the Spirit of God leads you to truth and allows that truth to make you FREE! The Bible is for you to read and for you to understand. With all the crooked teachings, manipulative doctrine and brainwashing that you have experienced your mind is going to be reeling in shock and confusion. It is natural for you to want to give up on church and strike out on your own but no healing will come from that. You are likely more injured than you realize and you need real help from real people who are real Christians and know the real Jesus. Submerge yourself into the word of God. Put the books down for a while and just let God walk you through His word. Galatians and Romans and a study on faith based salvation and faith based spirituality will be life changing for you.

 

What Happens When You Leave the Cult?

A real group of Christians with the love of God in their hearts will go after a backslidden saint but this is most definitely not the case with cults. As was stated before, there is no real love in a cult. As soon as you stop seeing things their way they will push you out and ostracize you. Your name becomes mud as you become the next one who is lied about. Embellished stories full of twisted facts are quickly passed out to other members of the group and instead of your phone ringing with sounds of tears and hurt on the other end you hear the silence that so many others before you heard. You get to watch as people who you viewed as family, people you served and were benevolent toward, people you laughed and virtually lived with forget about you and move on as if you were never there to begin with. The few who don’t forget you just stay close enough to watch the awaited judgment of God destroy what is left of you. There is enough injustice in this picture to drive a normal human nearly out of his mind. The hurt is almost unbearable at times because it is inconceivable to think people who love you could turn on you in such a way and even more painful to realize that those people never understood love enough to truly love you to begin with. Pity them, pray for them, and never hold anything against those other deceived members. Reach out to them when they hurt, love them when they hate you, and be thankful that God is longsuffering toward each and every one of us.

 

How Do You Move On?

The key thing I would like to make clear to you is that there is nothing to be salvaged behind you in a cult because you never had anything there to begin with. Now that you are embracing faith and developing a real walk with the real Jesus you must trust Him to do for them what He has done for you but you have no way of knowing how long that may take. If their hearts are hard enough they may never heed His draw. The key to survival is forgiveness; true forgiveness that only Christ Himself can assist you with. Once you reach that point the next vital point is letting go. Place the ball in their court. Tell them that you have no hard feelings, that you love them and even miss them. Make them aware that they can reconnect with you in a respectful manner any time they wish and then, as if they were a balloon filled with helium that you got at the local fair, let them go. Only the Holy Ghost of God can change a man so don’t think you are going to be able to fight it out with them and make them see the light. If you attempt to “talk it out” with them they are going to draw you into nothing but more confusion with their fact hiding, story twisting, mind games and you are not capable of reasoning with that sort of individual. Pray for them but let them go. Trying to continue to force some kind of relationship that they are not ready to be real with is just going to cause your family unnecessary pain. You must forgive them, you must weed out every root of bitterness, but it is absolutely vital that you not daily torture yourself with what they are thinking, doing, and saying to and about you and your family. There is life on the other side. Take those lead ropes to your life out of their hands and give them to Jesus. As long as un-forgiveness and bitterness have a place in your heart the cult leader from your past will still have a hand on you. Know the truth, rest in the truth, and let it make you free.

Forsaking Doctrine to Stand for Truth

When it comes to religion there are few things that we fight over more than doctrine. A thousand years ago Christians died for their doctrine while today Christians kill for their doctrine. I’m interested in being right! I don’t want to live my life in error but I can’t ditch Bible principle for Bible principle. All the doctrines of the scripture are pieces that make up the whole puzzle but often times we pick and choose pieces that we like while throwing away other essential pieces in order to beat our brothers to the finish line. There is a key doctrine that all doctrine hinges on and it makes most Christian’s skin crawl to even talk about it. It’s the doctrine of love!

 

Have you ever dreamed of sitting down with Jesus and asking Him what the most important commandment in the Bible was? Or maybe even the most important, top two? Well, somebody beat you to it and here is the answer Jesus Christ our Lord gave. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” See, and you thought I was kidding when I said all doctrine hinged on it. You have it right out of the mouth of Christ that loving God with EVERYTHING you are and loving your neighbor with the same tender care, admiration and regard as you have for your own self is the key to all of the Bible’s principles! Can you just imagine sitting down with Jesus and saying, “Lord, that guy I used to hang out with turned out to be a compromiser but I sure showed him! I don’t even call and talk to him any more!” Boy, we are really standing aren’t we…

 

I Corinthians 13:1-3 (KJV) “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

 

My, how those words sting! Do you ever wonder why, even though you walk a straight line, live a sacrificial life, dedicate all your free time to service and study and prayer, and are faithful to church every time the doors are open, that you still haven’t found that “rest” and “peace” and “joy” that the scriptures speak so flagrantly of? Sometimes I think we’ve gotten so bent on STANDING that we’ve forgotten how to walk! We wonder why we can’t get people interested in coming to church with us and why, when they do come, they race to their cars after service and it’s because people can tell the difference between someone loving them and someone trying to “fix” them. God help our wicked arrogance!

 

I Corinthians 13:4-8 (KJV) “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth…”

 

It’s difficult to convince the world that we are a people whose entire existence revolves around a rebirth through love and forgiveness when those are the two commodities we dispense to others in such stingy portions. Oh, sure, we love our church family, that is, until they say something we don’t agree with or do something to hurt us. We love that church down the street from us but they’ve got so many problems that we don’t even bother praying for them, in fact, we are happy at how they are failing! We love our lost family members but they are just so wicked that we can’t go around them. We love those people who have left our church but we are just sure they missed God’s will and don’t mind discussing it since they aren’t around to hear us. We love those backslid Christians that fell by the way so much that we just can’t wait for them to encounter God’s judgment so we can say “I told you so!” We love those people that did us wrong but that doesn’t mean we have to smile or wave when we pass them in town! I mean, after all, God understands how wronged we are and, besides, we’d be compromising if we reached out to those sorry rascals! Like little children anticipating Christmas, we can’t wait for judgment day in Heaven so everyone can see how wrong they were and how right we were!

 

Oh, we are straight as an arrow, alright, but we are stuck fast in a dead tree a long ways off from the mark God aimed us at. If we had just half of the discernment we claimed to have we would KNOW how much all those people around us needed to be loved. When Jesus spoke He preached doctrine! He was a Man of doctrine because He is the God of doctrine! Ever wonder why the Bible tells us that they were “astonished” by His doctrine? My guess is that because while they were living in a culture driven by bondage, oppression and crooked religious hierarchy Jesus was teaching “For God so LOVED the world that He GAVE…” Funny how loving and reaching out are inseparable. God help us not to forget love. God help us not to forsake doctrine. We can stand without love but not for very long...

 

I Corinthians 10:12 (KJV) "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

 

Unrighteous Holiness

If I were to just ask the average man what he had to do in order to be a God pleasing Christian I imagine a list would begin of all sorts of do's and don't's. The common myth seems to be that we are in charge of our own righteousness but there's a tremendous amount of fallacy in that line of thinking.

 Isaiah 64:6-7 (KJV) "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. [7] And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities."

 Even since Old Testament times man's attempts to accomplish righteousness hasn't gained much respect from God. What's the key, then?

 Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

 Faith. How many Pharisees lived empty, routine lives, modelled after men in the supposed name of God, entirely without faith. Once we locate a Spirit filled, God believing man we take on his lifestyle in hopes of attaining his favor with God. How does he preach? How does his wife dress? What version of the Bible does he use? Which places does he frequent? Which places does he avoid? Pretty soon we've got ourselves a pretty, little, religious life built on a lot of effort and not an ounce of faith!

 Galatians 5:6 (KJV) "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."

 This word "circumcision" represents the law but you can throw any conviction you have into this formula. Whether you drink beer or don't drink beer, whether you dress sleazy or modestly, whether you listen to country music or not does not avail you any thing in the eyes of God! No, only "faith which worketh by love." Did you see that? My faith in God and my love for God is going to drive me to make intentional decisions about how I live my life but the lifestyle itself is not what makes me a successful Christian! I can live a clean, separated lifestyle and be a hell bound fake or a self worshipping Pharisee but my faith in God will make me a real Christian!

 Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

 Every bit of fruit my life could ever bear, every single life I could ever hope to impact, every single soul I could potentially ever see saved...substance...evidence...proofs, these are, of where my heart lies. A religious lifestyle void of faith is the biggest threat to the cause of Christ! We will spend a life like that hurting people and laying waste to real opportunity while a separated, sold out, life of faith will make every person it comes in contact with hungry for more! Paul listed off all of his credentials in Philippians chapter three as he described how blameless he was by the law's standard, how educated he was in religion and how respectable he was in the brethren's eyes but what did it gain him? Hear his words...

 Philippians 3:8-10 (KJV) "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, [9] And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: [10] That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

 Do you know why most of us live depraved Christian lives filled with insecurity and secret sin? Do you know why every little storm knocks us off of our feet? Do you know why we have to busy ourselves with vain, religious, busy work in order to feel like we are even worth anything???

 Ephesians 6:16a (KJV) "Above all, taking the shield of faith..."

 We are supposed to be wearing armor and the key to the whole suit is the shield! Faith! What kind of Christian life are you living? Are you a powerless imitator of religious exercise or are you a humble, child of faith?  

Why I Quit Judging People

I used to hate it when people would quote Matthew 7:1 at me but that's because deep down inside I was convicted by those provoking words. I thought I had arrived in my Christian walk and was very pleased with my career as a critic of all who didn't measure up. It's amazing how faithful God is to His promises, though. Sure enough, it happened. God's love set the stage for me to be judged as I had judged others and it turned out to be one of the most liberating experiences of my entire life. God broke me with the perspective He gave me and it set me free!

Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

I had never pinned the words of Jeremiah on my own life before but as I watched people who were dear to me tear me down and throw me away I realized that the picture they were painting was of ME! That was precisely who I had been for the past ten years of my life: righteous in my own eyes but deceived by my own heart! As I began reading the Bible with a humbled heart instead of filtering the Bible with my preconceived notions I found that it was ME who didn't measure up. Sure, I had all my religious ducks in a row, I had all the right stands and convictions, I was even pleasing in the eyes of those around me but my works were fighting God for His deity! God wasn't nearly as impressed with me as I was! Paul closed out the first chapter of Romans with a pretty nasty list of sins as he described those who live life for the flesh. The list included everything from fornication, malice, debate and envy to covetousness, deciet and haters of God. As we read through this extensive list our minds wander to those we know who live out of control with these issues. Before you know it we are beating our chest in the temple court thanking God we aren't like those people only to be slapped in the face with the opening lines of chapter two...

Romans 2:1-3 (KJV) "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. [2] But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. [3] And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?"

As those critical scales fall from our eyes we can shift back to that list of sins at the end of chapter one and, rather than think about the worst of the worst, we will find where most all of them still exist in our hearts today! As I realized how weak I really am to sin and it's grasp, how unstable I am without God's daily mercy, how deceived I was keeping myself to my own current nature and how little I really knew about my fellow man I laid my Pharisaical garments aside, I repented to God for how I'd tried to do His job and I apologized publicly and personally to those I knew I had hurt.

Romans 2:11 (KJV) "For there is no respect of persons with God."

The word person here comes from a Greek word that literally means "a mask that you wear." Our reputations with people are very easy to manipulate with all sorts of facades that we put on. We shield our hurt with humor, hide behind our pride, take on attributes in order to fit in, shade the truth in order to make our character more digestible and all of that combines to make up our "person" but God doesn't buy that version of me. While I'm calling out my brothers and sisters for how they dress, what they post on Facebook, what they've done in the past and where they go to church God knows all the "little" sins I'm hiding. He saw me snap at my wife, act selfish towards my children, sleep my prayer time away, lust when nobody was looking, live arrogantly toward those behind me....and, oh, how the list could go on. Paul assured us in verses thirty-three and thirty-four of Romans chapter eight that the only one who could condemn a man is Christ and that was after he had already promised us in verse one of the same chapter that Christ wasn't condemning anybody who walked after the Spirit! We have liberty from God to walk, stumble, grow, struggle, learn and live but we step way off of our path of safety and give up that liberty when we try to do the job of judging our fellow man. Further more, we apply pressures to the lives of real children of God that is absolutely undue! We apply pressures that may momentarily achieve our carnal, religious goals but wind up frustrating and stunting the real growth in their lives. We have no right or licence to do such things! The world is hurting and desperate for answers but false perfection, critical condemnation and self righteousness is hurting the cause. My, how we worry ourselves with the downfalls of others when we don't even really know our own hearts! How arrogant it is for us to be so self satisfied when God is not decieved at all about our current condition! Are you brave enough today to sit down with the book of Romans and ask God with an open heart to let you see as much of yourself as you can handle? What's it going to take to break you of judging others?