Rules without mercy have disappointing results.
IF life is a test AND faith is required for a passing score,
THEN legalism could be a sign of insufficient faith
BECAUSE rules seem easier. Rules are a crib sheet approach to passing the exam.
At study tonight, we discussed favoritism. It’s unwelcome in Christianity. It exists, but according to James 2, it oughtn’t. The example James gave was giving the best to the wealthy and giving little or nothing to the poor.
A brief 45 years ago, I was in a local high school production of Godspell. One of the numbers in the show is “All for the Best”. Amazingly, I nearly remember the lyrics correctly to this day. As it discusses the plight of the poor versus the rich (and because I’d like to believe the lyrics have caromed from one brain cell to another within my cranium for a higher purpose), I give them to you now.
JESUS: When you feel sad or under a curse; your life is bad, your prospects are worse. Your wife is crying, sighing, and your olive tree is dying. Temples are graying, and teeth are decaying, creditors weighing your purse. Your mood and your robe are both a deep blue. You’d bet that Job had nothing on you. Ah, don’t forget that when you go to heaven you’ll be blessed! Yes, it’s all for the best.
JUDAS & ENSEMBLE: Some men are born to live at ease, doing what they please, richer than the bees are in honey. Never growing old, never feeling cold, pulling pots of gold from thin air. They get the best in every town, best at shaking down, best at making mountains of money. (They can't take it with them, but what do they care?) They get the center of the meat, cushions on the seat, houses on the street where it's sunny. Summers at the sea, winters warm and free, all of this and we get the rest. But who is the land for, the sun and the sand for? You guessed, it's all for the …
JESUS: You must never be distressed
JUDAS & ENSEMBLE: Yes, it's all for the …
JESUS: All your wrongs will be redressed
JUDAS & ENSEMBLE: Yes, it's all for the … [
JUDAS: Someone's got to be oppressed.
ENSEMBLE: Yes, it's all for the best!
James admonished his audience to not show favoritism to the wealthy, those people Judas described in the song. Why would the wealthy be treated preferentially? Well, I can think of a couple of reasons, but they have more to do with selfish gain than spiritual investment.
The Christian ideal, and the task we’ve been set, is to treat everybody impartially. We are to emulate Jesus and treat people with dignity, compassion, and mercy. We get off track when we first weigh the question, “What’s in it for me?”
When James’ audience favored the rich, he pointed out to them, “… you have dishonored the poor.” Then he asked “Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?” In effect, he said, “You’re feeding the hand that bites you!”
Uncomfortably, we Christians often are labeled as hypocrites because we expect people to play by “the rules” (not their rules, but ours, if they are not already Christians), which often are an unwieldy blend of Old Testament commands and man-made expectations. Sometimes it’s an accurate accusation.
Within the Church, the universal body of Christ, a rules-base theology is called legalism. As an expression of Christian faith, legalism is particularly unfortunate because the crux of Christianity, Jesus Christ, came and purchased our indebtedness to these very rules with His life.
Please note that Jesus did not erase the law, but came to fulfill it. Therefore, James reminds us to, “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:12-13)
This distinction is important because there still will be a judgment. It’s something we all have in common. Leave here, go there (wherever there is), and find our lives and actions weighed. One factor that will be weighed is the way that we treat others. Were we merciful? Did we show grace? This begins to sound suspiciously like a parable, doesn’t it? A servant was forgiven a debt or action, then turned and dealt harshly with others. Bummer, right? Well, it’s mean, but it has more eternal consequences, “because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful”.
Finally, we’re at the point where we began.
Imagine our lives are tests of our ability to develop faith in our Creator and to live out that faith in accordance with scriptures.
In my career, I’ve seen that a lack of confidence in one’s actions may result in an unhealthy, highly literal reliance on rules of some sort. Practitioners of a specific discipline can see the spirit of a written rule. A person who is not immersed in that discipline has only the rule. Their application of that rule will be literal because it’s all they have to rely on. Ironically, the people least qualified to make judgments reliably end up appointed as “rule enforcers”. Obviously, somebody prayed for patience and we’re all reaping that harvest.
If we’re immersed in our relationship with Jesus, we’ll be nurturing that relationship. Our lives will be an expression of our faith. Our focus will be so intent that we will not feel we have time or energy to enforce rules. Instead, we’ll want to treat others the way Jesus did--and the way we would want to be treated.
If, however, our faith is not being fully developed, we may become reliant on the rules. We believe enough to rely on scripture, but not faith. The rules seem easier. There they are in front of us. We can easily point them out to people who aren’t doing them as we see fit. And we can tell ourselves that we’re doing God’s will. We’re holding the spiritual purse and dispensing valuable insight about a Creator who is still more an acquaintance than somebody with whom we have invested our full faith.
Meanwhile, if we are legalists, we are a Public Relations nightmare for a belief system that is fully relational. We forecast doom, erode hope, and erect barriers. We are bellicose. Question the rules and you’ve threatened the foundation of our faith. Unfortunately for us, and most lives we touch, we are also stinting with mercy and compassion.
As practicing Christians, much as we might like to grab legalists’ collective collars and see if a good shaking would help, a more likely solution is to love them. We need to keep living out our faith and shower them with the love of Christ as we’ve experienced it. Forgive. Love. Embrace. And quickly intervene if we see them talking to visitors.
