Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Line Between Helpful and Legalistic
OK - good, your back. What did you think? Good or bad or somewhere in between? I know there is a place for something like this in our walks with God, but is this the right tool done in the right way?
Here is what I think is the "measure" of a Christian.
- love
- joy
- peace
- patience
- kindness
- goodness
- faithfulness
- gentleness
- self-control
Yes, measuring time in prayer, or amount of scripture read can give you an indication of whether you are moving towards those things or not, but that is a little like measuring the ship's speed by the prevailing wind speed. It's indicative, but hardly accurate. You are measuring the means instead of the ends.
I think that is where legalism steps in - when we focus on the means and the by-products instead of the ends. In fact, if you think about it - Christ's earthly ministry is all about that. He discovered (forgive the unavoidable temporal language) that Judaism had gotten lost in a maze of means (temple practices, etc.) and by-products (detailed obedience) concluded that man need to fundamentally change, so by His death, resurrection, and the indewelling of the Spirit, He enabled that.
So, have you fundamentally changed? How do you even figure out if you have? One thing I kow - you will not do it alone.
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