What a way to start uh?? But this is simply because I cannot stay quiet at the fact that many of our young adults, young people are disenchanted with church not by the fact that we might have disagreements in theological stuff but many of them are leaving because of dear old "saints" that are hurting them with words and even glances of "righteousness"...
There are many things to talk about in legalism, for it is a lifestyle that runs people's lives like a little general..."You should not listen to that...you should not wear that...you better not do that...you better not even think about saying that out loud..."
I have a problem with that...Do you?? I just can't fathom the fact that no matter what I do I am always not good enough...I fall short....and that actually is true, but it hurts even more when someone is right there to tell you that you failed... The fact is that no matter what I do to try to be good, the Bible tells me that I can't because, "all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23)
So, that is my point...If we cannot be completely good, why are some people so entrenched into the idea that you have to live a certain way to earn "holiness"? The fact is that I also believe that we need to understand what is at stake here...No matter what I do, I am not good enough, but there actually has to be some kind of fruit from our understanding of God's grace...and therein lies the conundrum...
I have had the opportunity to see both sides of the equation (legalism and grace) into action...I know that there is a constant battle to see more people behaving the right way vs. the people who understand that they can't do it by themselves so they let go of everything that tied them down and go the opposite way... I've seen people hurt shooting hurtful words and critiques against the other side...One sees it one way, and the other sees it in another way...
I've seen churches being disrupted and divided by the fights...I've seen christian brothers and sisters fight over simple, banal things like food and dress...I've seen people riled up against each other and I always just shake my head in disbelief...
No, I am not perfect and sometimes I am part of the problem, but I have come to the conclusion that a balance is needed...For example, if the problem with how people dress in church would be as important for salvation as the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then I would understand the legalistic point of it...But in the big scheme of things, dressing is not an issue of salvation... of course, people could make a case for you know the need to be humble in everything (including the dress) to show that we care for God, but that is not the main issue in salvation...The main issue in salvation is that we are saved by what Christ did and not by how we dress!!!
And some of you can say, "yes, you tell them...grace is what we need"...but also, we have to look at the whole picture in the Bible that also tells me that I have to be careful with what I do, for whatever I do has consequences that can impact my "weaker" brother (see Rom. 14), so that basically I need to be careful with how I dress too, so that I may not harm others who are not as strong in the faith as I am...
This is just a start at understanding how to find a balance...we will probably never find a perfect balance to our actions, but the only thing that we have to keep doing is reading the Word of God and praying that He can give us clarity to find balance...These are simple thoughts, that have crossed my mind lately....
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