(Romans 12:2)
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
(John 17:14-16)
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
(2 Timothy 2:3-4)
Something that I've been thinking over for a very long time is the idea of being counter-cultural as a Christian. From an early age, I was taught and believed from Scripture that we are called to be different, that we don't have to do things the way that society does things. One preacher used the word, "antithetical". I still believe that. I don't believe that we should conform to society and modelling our faith and worship after what is contemporary and popular.
However, I see things I used to believe as being in addition to the cross of Jesus Christ and the word of God. There were teachers and preachers who have deviated from truth by adding their own ideas of what being "counter-cultural" means. I have personally been tempted by the idea that we have to create our own culture and way of life, outside of Scripture but based on so-called "Biblical principles". A "new way". This involves eschewing healthcare, fashion, employment, dating and a thousand other things. It involves, very simply, the idea of "do's" and "don'ts". A lot of things are taught that are simply not in Scripture. They may sooth itching ears but we must remember that we are not supposed to add a jot or tittle beyond what is in the Bible, no matter how tempting that may be.
Whatever the world does, we may "try" to "do differently". For example, the Pharisees created their own value and culture system very different from that of Roman and Greek cultures, but it was a culture nonetheless and no less worldly, but built on pride, human achievement, arrogance and the desire to think of oneself better than others, rather than others better than oneself.
We see this in various church history movements as well. The "plain" Christians of the past created their own "plain dress" and culture. They made rules and regulations of it, so much so that those man-made ordinances overshadowed the preaching of the gospel. It wasn't just about Jesus, it would about Jesus plus... plus a culture, a way of life. For example, dancing, reading novels and playing cards were considered things a faithful believer should never do. They had good reasons to do them, but then when they passed on their faith, it was not the sincere faith in the cross of Jesus Christ and a living relationship with God that got passed down, but these restrictions. These restrictions deviated from the original purpose, that is, to free oneself of addictions and distractions to follow God. But when the following of Christ is taken out of the equation as it usually is, then these rules just become useless, pointless, and harmful.
We should never let ourselves get to the point where we sit down and think, "Well, the world does things this way. How can we do it differently just to be different?" Just because we're radical doesn't mean that we're any godlier or any more righteous. Sometimes, Christians can be so arrogant as to come up with things that are offensive to our consciences and to the human belief of right and wrong, and just because we are opposed, think we are being persecuted for righteousness sake. Our morality becomes all upside-down. We thrive on arrogance and pride, rather than on "serving as Christ served" and "thinking others better than ourselves".
What does the Bible say? Just take a look at Colossians 2.
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23)
Paul immediately goes on to say:
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
(Colossians 3:1-4)
To be legalistic is then to be worldly, despite our every effort not to be. If we are truly not to be conformed to this world then we must not conform to legalism and the fleshly faith built on rules and regulations, ordinances of men that concern things of no heavenly, eternal value. If we were "risen with Christ" then we seek something far greater, far better, that transcend and supersede religiosity and outward faith.
Legalism is like whitewashing a tomb.You can put on certain Christian clothes, quit your job and get another more "holy" job, change the way your children are educated and so forth, but that can do little to make you an actual follower of Jesus with a real, living relationship with God and the Holy Spirit working in your life. Jesus, however, changes us from the inside out. He doesn't come into our lives to renovate it, to make us look better. In fact, we are too full of mold, rot, sin and decay to be redeemable in our natural state. We have to completely die and be reborn. The old has to pass away and be left aside, and a new creation "started from scratch".
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
(Matthew 28:19-20)
The final nail on the coffin of this spirit of legalism is the fact that we should ask ourselves the following question - if someone were to come to Christ, what would we teach them to do? Do we say to them - you have to stop doing this, stop doing that, eat special food, wear "holier" clothes, observe this rule and that regulation and so forth, or do we teach the commands and doctrines of Christ. When we allow mixture in, our own man-made teachings to defile the truth, then we are doing God a great disservice.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
(Matthew 18:6)
Jesus spoke this about physical children, but we should also have the same responsibility towards those who are "babes" in Christ. We should say, "Hold it! Am I teaching everything Jesus commanded, or am I forgetting to teach those and teaching my own ideas and so-called convictions instead"?
I have been exposed to preachers who teach that there are only certain types of music and certain types of musical instruments to be used that is "holy", only certain terminology we must use even to refer to God... basically a formula to do the right thing through which we can, if not achieve holiness, than greater godliness and spirituality. We stop being led by the Holy Spirit and stop letting the Holy Spirit work in people's lives when we do all these things. Instead, we do a great injustice to Jesus and to the gospel by causing others to stumble under the weight of our petty demands. Beware the leaven, indeed!
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
(Matthew 23:13)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
(Matthew 23:15)
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
(Matthew 23:4)
But what Jesus calls us to do is die. Let go. Give up even our over-zealousness and initiative. Let ourselves be humbled. Just as Jesus said,
""For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak." (John 12:49 NASV).
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Matthew 11:28-30)
At the end of the day, legalism is a cop-out. It is a poor attempt at holiness, a cheaper, lousy substitute that has no resemblance to the real thing. All those man-made rules are easy and achievable compared to the real cost of discipleship. Perhaps in our hearts we yearn for something a bit easier than the real sacrifice God would have us make. And that is what we much teach - discipleship, obedience, genuine sacrifice.
The cross is laid on every Christian. It begins with the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with His death—we give over our lives to death. Since this happens at the beginning of the Christian life, the cross can never be merely a tragic ending to an otherwise happy religious life. When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow Him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at His call.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer in "The Cost of Discipleship"
We need to be on our knees praying for God to redeem souls and transform lives through us. We need to pursue the real holiness and forsake sin, selfishness, worldliness and the like. Yes, there may be little initial difference between true and false godliness but it is by the fruit that we know what is genuine.
After more than ten years of learning to be a disciple (and failing, as we are all prone to doing), I have learned to be cautious and to separate the "wheat" from the "tares". I was sincere, yet immature. Yes, we could be on a walk with God and yet be imperfect and think imperfectly. As one popular Jewish song goes, "Bound to stumble and fall, but my strength comes not from man at all". We need our minds renewed by the word of God.
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
(Micah 6:7-8)
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
(Proverbs 3:5-7)
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
(1 Samuel 15:22)
Finally, another "test" we can apply is simply to do look at whether through this or that action, we are loving, serving and edifying others. Legalism is always connected to self-absorption and selfishess, but the cross of Jesus Christ is about genuine, sacrificial love. Do we put barriers between ourselves and others, cause divisions, or become judgmental? Then it is not of God, because it does not bear the fruit of the Spirit. Obsessing over the works of the flesh blinds us to the needs of others and the ways God would have us serve them. We become very "busy" pursuing "holiness" and perfection, like trophies to be admired, but are not fit vessels, sanctified to be used by the Master.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
(John 13:35)
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
(Matthew 25:35-36)
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