Couldn't Help Noticing

Are you a legalist?

Legalism is a terrible aberration of true Christianity. It leads more to religiosity than a relationship with the true and living God. I was heavily influenced by legalistic teachings while at college. As a result, I constantly doubted my salvation. By the grace of God, however, I have since been brought under faithful Biblical teaching and have been reformed by God's Word.

However, one of the hangovers from my legalistic past has been my response to sin. I was always taught that sin is best dealt with by setting up guidelines, rules and structures in order to purge sin from one's life. One of the most popular examples of this is to seek out an accountability partner. I often wondered, though, if this was really adding another dose of legalism into my life. Surely, if God's law can't bring about the obedience of faith (2 Corinthians 3), how could Bill, John or Ted?

Though I would absolutely reject that I am legalist, I was greatly convicted by Dominic Smart's little article on the matter (‘Legalism and its Antidotes’ at beginningwithmoses.org). In it, he discusses how legalism still rears its head even in those of us who are thoroughly evangelical. He discusses how our normal responses to sin may actually be a cover-up for the real issue—our passionate love for Christ.

Of course, I am not suggesting that accountability partners should be abandoned. If they are structured correctly and given proper attention, they foster wonderful partnerships in living out the Christian life and are the furthest things from legalism (as Smart implies). But where is it that we put our hope, trust and confidence when it comes to our battle with sin? Human structures are never the final answer. Practical answers are good, but too often they keep us rather than God as the focus.

The real answer seems clichéd but, nonetheless, true. Waging war on sin comes from being truly ensconced in living for the glory of God. There can be no false-piety in that lifestyle. Further, no one can motivate you quite like your loving Lord and Savior.

Smart concludes, “There is nothing like the upwardly-mobile life (a life moving heavenward) to make the legalism of church life clearly apparent and transparently false. It's not real holiness; it never produces the largeness of heart that Christ produces; it has no glory; it gives no delight to the soul; it is so obviously not what you were made for; no-one would have died to save you into that. Live for the glory of God. Therein lies your point and purpose in life; therein lies your true freedom; and therein lies your own true glory.”

That you may be in good health

I've been noticing recently that people are very reticent about praying that sick people will get well. We tend to pray that they will persevere in their illness, that they will get help when they need it, that God will comfort them in their affliction, that he will uphold their friends and family who are caring for them, but it seems like we're scared to pray that they will actually get better and enjoy good health again.

Why is that? I guess we don't want to claim, like some do, that good health is something that we can always have now: 'God wants to heal us, God can heal us (just look at all the acts of healing Jesus did in the gospels!) but we just need to have faith. If we're not healed, maybe we haven't got enough faith.'

We also don't want to claim that there is an easy way out. We've seen people suffer—sometimes for years and years—and perhaps it feels like we're giving false hope if we pray for that because God may not heal them and they may have to endure for years to come.

However, despite these things, I want to say that it is good to pray for good health. Good health is a good thing (3 John 2). Bad health is not a good thing. Sure, God may not grant us what we ask for and we mustn't expect that he will always bring healing, however, we are told, it is right and even proper that we ask (Matt 7:11). After all, he is the one who has gifted humans with the ability to be doctors and other health professionals. He is the one who has made it possible for chemicals to be turned into medicines. He is the one who made our brains and livers, spines and feet. He is the one who is sovereign over our bodies.

We trust in such a great and powerful God it almost seems crazy not to ask!

I really don’t care what I think of me

Some people suffer from low self-esteem. They are so worried about what others think that they are paralyzed into inaction. In people who want to tell others about the gospel, this is a particularly bad thing because, as anyone who has read 1 Corinthians will know, preaching the gospel is a sure-fire way to guarantee your own unpopularity. (Indeed, beware anyone who claims to be a gospel preacher but who also wants to create a good impression on others.)

By contrast, the apostle Paul's self-esteem was so high that he didn't care what anyone thought of him. The apostle Paul's self-esteem was so high, he didn't even care what he thought of him. As long as God had judged him to be faithful in telling others about the crucified Lord Jesus, he was happy, which is why he said, “I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Cor 4:3-4)

In other words, he was looking for a reward from Jesus himself, not from others and not even from his own sense of a job well done. “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” (1 Cor 4:4-5)

This is just as well because Paul wouldn't have had to go far to discover that he was not about to be judged the world's most eligible bachelor. He and his fellow apostles are “like men sentenced to death...a spectacle to the world...fools for Christ's sake.” (4:9-10) Indeed he and his friends had “become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.” (4:12)

That's the problem with people who have incredibly high self esteem. Everyone hates them.

Just a thought

For decades, secularists here in America have battled to get prayer out of all things public—school, government, and the media. On the one hand, they have failed. The recent tragedies caused by hurricane Katrina pushed those who were cautious about using religious language to use words such as “prayer” and “God”. Many news reporters end an interview with a victim or political leader with “our prayers will be with you.”

On the other hand, the secularists have made some ground. There are still many reporters and politicians cautious about promoting religion and thus are left with very little to say in response to the horrific destruction. So, almost without exception, you’ll hear them conclude with, “our thoughts will be with you.” So, a “prayer” for someone has now been replaced by a “thought” for someone.

Have you ever thought how vacuous that statement is? At first thought, it seems sympathetic and sincere. However, when you think about someone thinking about you, you begin wondering how thoughtful a thought actually is. In reality, it is such a helpless admission that this person can do nothing else for you but to pause and consider what a mess you are in. It does nothing to help. It offers no encouragement or hope of getting through the situation.

The real answer is to go back to prayer: Christian prayer. For when we offer prayer to a God who is willing and able to listen to his children calling and respond in love and mercy—it is then that we are really doing something for this person. Yes, many of us here in the States are helpless to physically help those who have been devastated by the hurricane. Yet, we can do something that truly matters and truly makes a difference. We can pray.