Complexity part 2: Legalism

It truly is a complex world with complex problems. Yet, many people don't want to face that complexity and make efforts to keep their beliefs simple and comfortable. One of the ways we do that is through legalism. It is a simple cause and effect theology after all. Perform X task, get Y result. Don't perform action A, you don't get consequence B. The why never really comes into it ever.

The problem with that is that legalism looks only at surface behavior, and ignores where our heart is at. Which makes it rather easy to fake. The Pharisees were prime examples of a heartless legalistic approach, yet Jesus told them it wasn't enough. (Matt 15:1-10) Christ tried to tell everyone that the root of our behavior is the heart, so that is what needs to be addressed to truly change our actions in a real and steadfast way. (Mark 7:20-23) Yet thousands of years later people still struggle to draw the line between surface legalism and sincere actions from the heart.

It just seems to be human nature to desire such simplistic answers to complex issues. Even the secular religion of political correctness is very legalistic in its approach when you get down to it. It is about living by a definition, about using the right terminology. It doesn't seem to matter what your intent is, or if you actually mean it. Just as long as you are using the right pre-determined words, and stay away from the established taboo words.

For example, say the problem was a drippy sewer pipe. A legalist sees the symptom and mops up the mess to make everything look clean, because that is the pre-determined way to deal with spills. Yet, they fail to look into the source of the leak. So the problem always returns, so they spend their lives mopping up the same mess. Where a true disciple seeks out and fixes the pipe that is responsible for the leak. It's a more complex solution, which takes effort to hunt down the source, special tools, and training in how to use them. It also requires more time to implement than a mere mop up. Plus, repair jobs are often messy in and of themselves, and make the mess worse before it gets better. However, the result lasts much longer. But, we are not really talking about leaky pipes, we are talking about the brokenness in our heart, and it is indeed a complex thing.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. -Ecclesiastes 3:11

What we must always remember is that holiness is the goal, and not the means of obtaining that goal. It's been said that if you try to be righteous by simple acting righteous, then every impure thought imaginable will go through your head. Which is true, Paul indicated so in Romans 7:5. It's why we need the council of fellow believers who have actually dealt with the issues of the heart to help us, not legalistic white washers who only know how to teach us to fake it. This is a method that requires transparency, which is a scary prospect that makes legalism more desirable to many. It also requires the council of the Holy Spirit, which is another complex issue which legalists ignore. Which we will address later.

The Visual PARABLEist

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