The Christian trump card.....

       We have a Christian trump card!  A card that we like to play in order to effectively end arguments and debates that we find ourselves in.  A card that we also use to fight against conviction from God and to refrain from having discussions with others about the choices they might be making.  What is that trump card.....  legalism!  Countless times in discussions I have been in with others either I or they have used the phrase, "but I don't want to be legalistic" and that seems to effectively end the conversation.  We also use the trump card to avoid conviction from God especially in the areas of entertainment, possessions, finances, dress, etc.  We feel that God is calling us to make changes, big or small, in these areas and as a way to avoid that conviction we think and/or say, "but I don't want to be legalistic."  The other way we frequently play this trump card is in discussing difficult issues with another person and we begin the conversation by saying, "I don't want to sound legalistic, but...."  I believe that the legalistic trump card instead of guarding us against legalism actually hinders our growth in Christlikeness and thinking carefully and deeply about how the Gospel ought to impact every area of our life.  

       What is legalism?  Legalism is the process by which we define our relationship with God by the rules we follow.  Our relationship with God is defined by the things we avoid.  If we don't drink, sleep around, cuss, watch R rated movies, dance, gamble, etc then our relationship with God is good. However if we, or anyone, does those things we become judgmental and assume there is no way that person is in a relationship with God because of the things that they are doing.  Legalism is based upon works and we should rightly rebel against any system of thought that moves our relationship with Jesus away from grace.  "For it is by grace that you have been saved, that not of yourself, it is a gift of God lest anyone should boast."  We are right to argue vehemently against any form of legalism  because it is not the Gospel that Scripture proclaims where we are saved by grace.  However, our fear of legalism has made it so that any rule that was promoted by those who practiced legalism we assume to be a legalistic rule in which we no longer have any need to follow.  The difference between legalism and the deeply thinking about how the Gospel impacts every area of our life is the starting place.  

      In legalism the starting place is the law.  We start with the law and we become so afraid of offending God or harming our relationship with Him that we focus a lot on the rules.  There is an underlying belief that God will love me more if I do the right things and avoid the bad things and that if I don't do that God will love me less.  In deeply thinking about how the Gospel impacts every area of our life we start with the Gospel.  We start with the truth that we are saved by grace through faith alone.  We believe that after we put our faith in Jesus that God cannot love us more or less than He does right now.  We believe that on the cross Jesus took our sin upon Himself, and gave us His righteousness.  We believe that He paid the debt we owed and took the wrath of God against our sins upon Himself.  We start with the cross, we start with grace and that makes all the difference, even if we come to the same conclusion.  

       Let me give an example using movies.  Legalism begins with the law by looking at the commands that God has given us (do not murder, do not commit sexual immorality, etc) and if a movie contains the things which God commands us to not do they come to the conclusion that it is sinful to watch those movies.  Gospel thinking begins with grace and the cross.  It affirms that watching a movie or not watching a movie will not change my eternal standing before God.  It affirms that if I refrain from watching this movie God will not love me more and if I watch this movie God will not love me less because our justification is not tied to our behavior.  Sadly, that is often times where we stop.  However, because the nature and magnitude of the Gospel we must go further.  We must begin asking questions such as; what is my motivation in watching this movie?  How does my freedom to watch this movie work with my understanding that not everything is beneficial for me?  How my freedom to watch this movie work with my understanding of not causing my brother of sister in Christ to stumble?  Will watching this movie help or hinder me in thinking about life the way God desires me to think about life?  Will this movie help me pursue Jesus or not?  Will this movie help me in becoming more like Jesus?  Why is it that I so badly want to see this movie?  Deeply thinking about how the Gospel impacts all areas of our life might bring us to the same conclusion that legalism might lead another person too, however that does not make it legalism.  The Gospel is to big, too beautiful, to magnificent, to glorious, to not impact every area of our life.  It should impact not only what we watch and listen to, but also how we watch and listen.  It should impact how we spend our money and how much we pursue material possessions.  It should impact how we dress, how we talk, and much more.  Too often I desire to live a Gospel life that allows most of these areas to remain untouched, but the Gospel doesn't allow that to be an option.  The Gospel did what the law could not.  The Gospel changed us from the inside out, but it is indeed changing us on the outside.  

       We need to be careful to not confuse legalism for deeply thinking about how the Gospel impacts all areas of our life.  They may, or may not, come to the same conclusion but where they began makes all the difference.