Me: What song are you going to pick Prodigal?
Prodigal: I am looking at all this music that is listed. There are so many, but I think I am going to pick Johnny Cash.
Me: Good choice Prodigal! You can not go wrong with the man in black.
Prodigal: What did you want to share with me today?
This comes from the book You Can Change by Tim Chester
We all have a strong tendency to want to live by a list of rule–it’s called legalism. I was talking to a group of students about lifestyle issues. They kept asking specific questions: What car can I buy? What should I do with my savings? How much should I spend on clothes? They wanted a list or a law. But even if we could create such a list for every occasion, it wouldn’t work.
Legalism is appealing for two reasons. First, it makes holiness manageable. A heart wholly devoted to God is a tough demand, but a list of ten rules I can cope with. That was the motivation of the expert in the law who asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” He wanted to justify himself, to tick the “love for neighbor” box. But Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan blew his manageable system apart. Second, legalism makes holiness an achievement on our part. “Yes, I was saved by grace, ” the legalist says, “but I’m the godly person I am today because I’ve kept this code of behavior or practiced these spiritual disciplines.” One of its by-products is comparison with other people. We check whether we’re holier than other people or look down on those who don’t appear to be as good as we are. No one thinks of himself as a legalist. Such persons just think of themselves as someone who takes holiness seriously.
We all have been legalist at some point in our christian walk. Let’s just repent right now and remember that apart from God we have no reason to think we holier than anyone else.
Proverbs 19:1
Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
