Neo-Pharisee Series: Letter from a Recovering Legalist
April 18, 2008 by widsith
I’ve long had an interest in neo-Phariseeism in the Church and in the different understandings of ‘Pharisee’ and Christian ‘legalism’ that are espoused these days. (I don’t know about you, but I’ve always tended to associate legalism with Phariseeism.) Obviously, Christians who are in regular contact with a Christian community and are aware of this illness within the Body of Christ will have a nuanced take on these concepts, and these are what I’m interested in. Some, such as middle-of-the-road or liberal evangelicals might say that extremely strict and literal Biblical interpretations are legalistic; for instance proposing Biblical and/or extra-Biblical criteria to delineate ‘good Christians’ as opposed to ‘backslidden’ or ‘worldly’ Christians. (I refuse to use the term ‘fundamentalist’ here, because I believe our culture has misunderstood and hijacked this term, when in fact ‘extremist’ is what they’re going for, but that’s a post for another day.) Others, such as members of the Messianic Jewish movement, might tell us that legalism is not inherent in a set of laws (such as the Torah) but that legalism comes in when one trusts something other than or in addition to Jesus Christ for one’s salvation; for instance, trusting in laws or unwritten Do & Don’t lists to earn one’s way to heaven. What does legalism mean to you? What does it really mean? Dictionary.com offers us these choices:
1. strict adherence, or the principle of strict adherence, to law or prescription, esp. to the letter rather than the spirit.
2. Theology.
a. the doctrine that salvation is gained through good works.
b. the judging of conduct in terms of adherence to precise laws.
Here’s one perspective from a ‘recovering legalist’:
I’m sure not many people actually see themselves as hypocritical Pharisees, and for many years I was no different. In many respects the Christian religion has plenty of opportunity for legalism and moralism to flourish, in effect, missing the Gospel partially or entirely. In my case, my Christian religiosity was a perfect cover for hiding the outworking of a particular sinful bent that was ruling my life and still fights in my heart to be the master of my life. I want to share how legalism and moralism affected my life, relationships, and my response to Jesus.
Check out the rest of the article and let me know what you think:
