The term “legalism” is very much abused within the Church today. Many throw this term out when they feel that they cannot reach a standard that has been presented to them by church authority. Others use it when Christian peers are living a godlier life than they are and the would-be accuser is unable to reach their standard. Christians begin to create their own standard of ethics based on the way they are currently living rather than on the way the church has taught ethics over the centuries, and then pull out there “priesthood of all believers” pass.

In future posts, I will expound on legalism in more stricter terms (no pun intended), but for now I would like to bring the face of it to the table. When can a Christian call another’s actions “legalistic?” It happens every day, I’m sure. One man calls another a legalist simply because he feels the man is unnecessarily adhering to certain ethics. But what the accuser does not recognize is that there is an even looser Christian that is accusing him of being a legalist.

As an example of a certain ethic that causes tension within the Church, let us turn to Paul when he says that women should dress modestly (1 Timothy 2:9). One would think that this would mean that a woman should not, especially in the worship assembly where we are doing everything to focus on the Living God, dress sexy. This would be contrary to what Paul was commanding! So in this case, how do we determine what is immodest (sexy)? Where do we draw the standard? Or can we? I believe we can, but it must be the pastor who is in submission to his authority, the Bishop, that does this. We simply cannot have variable standards floating around the congregations by anyone who is eager to claim authority. This is why the pastor has a stricter judgement, because he sets the biblical standard by gently convincing the congregation of Christ’s sanctifying truth! This does not mean that no one else can know what a biblical ethic is, it simply means that not just anyone can induce the ethics. This includes those that are pretending to be Bishops over the Internet, calling certain pastors “legalists” for teaching their congregations ethics that are foreign to many of the looser Christians.

If there are loose ethics in a church, then the church will not be unified, unless they unify under those loose ethics, which then turns them away from Christ. Christ says that “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And if you are testing the pastor to see how far you can push your loose standard, then you will reap the consequences. It’s as simple as that! But on the other side of the token, someone that condemns every Christian that does not see the Law as they do and thus provokes the pastor for not “laying down the gavel” will also, in my opinion, reap.

Ethics in today’s society and church are very complicated and not easy to induce with both boldness and grace. Many lean to one side or the other and thus become either to loose or to stern. And many times the stern ones insist on conformity regardless of whether or not their pupils are ready for that particular ethic. This, I think, can be deemed as “legalistic” in some cases. But there are times where a person must obey even if their heart is not in it yet. I used to teach this to x-cons; that they were to refrain from stealing, for instance, even if they thought they were justified in doing it. The heart change will come later!