Opposite Extremism

Many people have a fear of becoming like one of their parents if they possess toxic traits. Some may even make a deliberate effort to do the exact opposite of their parent's patterns. However, I have learned that the greatest wrongs are seldom a perfect 180 degrees from the truth. That is how they disguise themselves as seeming true after all. So if said behavior is only 90 degrees off the mark, we will be just as far from the right path as we were before doing a 180, just an opposite extreme form of it. Sometimes the church falls into these patterns as well, so any extreme is often just as much of an incomplete truth as the opposite extreme. Overcompensating one detail will never replace the absence of another. No matter how much more important we may think it is. That is sort of like saying the back wheel of a motorcycle is more important than the front one. Without both, you’re going nowhere.

““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” -Matthew 23:23

A good example is the environmental issue. With so many taking the issue to neo-pagan extremes by treating the earth like a goddess. It has led many in the church to go to the opposite extreme and treat the earth with utter contempt. Instead of the more balanced idea of being good stewards of all that God had given us. (Deuteronomy 26:1-15, 1st Corinthians 10:24-26)

An example that hits closer to home is the obedience vs love debate. Many insist that the ultimate goal in Christianity is righteousness and discipline. Yet when you emphasize it to the point of neglecting love, all you can really do is define it, and then criticize people when they fail. This discourages more people than it saves for the simple fact that any submission to bullying ultimately lacks sincerity. (Matthew 15:7-9) A broken person naturally struggles with discipline, but it's love not definitions, that repairs the foundation that enables obedience. 

This extremism has only inspired some to overemphasize love in response. It also has led people to redefine love as acceptance, approval, and validation. On the surface, it may seem like a good thing, but on closer examination, it falls apart. If a child tries to stick a paper clip in an outlet. Is it the parent who accepts this, or the one who doesn’t that’s the more loving one? If someone wants to try cocaine for the first time. Is it the one who approves or disapproves that is the more loving? If someone wants to make a hasty life-altering decision. Is it the one who validates without question that’s the more loving one? Or is the one who says let’s talk about and examine this more closely first? In the end, love without any discipline only becomes permissive of self-destructive behavior.

Self-indulgence tends to set off the legalists who often just resort to mockery of the lost. Leading the other side to fight mockery with their own mockery of their systematic ways. Yet both sides seem blissfully unaware of what the Bible says about this practice. Psychology even confirms just how ineffective this tactic is. They call it The Framing Effect. The idea is that information is often gauged more by how it is presented, instead of the validity of facts. Yet the Bible has told us all along, that truth is not a free pass to be impatient, unkind, and rude. (Galatians 6:1) Ultimately every dimension of truth must be upheld, or it’s only a half-truth, and a half-truth can be just as destructive as an outright lie.

I dare say much of this extremism comes back to comfort. We emphasize the parts we are comfortable with and feel confident in. Yet neglect the parts we dislike or struggle to understand. This is not how you grow, or engage discipleship. So I urge you to stop and take a long hard look at yourself and your actions. Then ask the LORD where you may be neglecting his complete truth.

The Visual PARABLEist

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, -Psalm 1:1

The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.
He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame. -Proverbs 3:33-35

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. -Proverbs 9:7-8

Religion VS Relationship

You have probably heard this counterpoint before. Instagram in particular is full of posts touting that it’s about relationship, not religion. These posts inevitably get bombarded with negative comments from legalists as well. Yet if we go back to the origins of the word, religion literally meant reconnect or to bind. So the concepts are not nearly as mutually exclusive as we are assuming. So it’s kind of a pointless argument that the uninformed engage in. One thing I think the legalists fail to understand is that holiness is not simply a do as God says or be destroyed standard. Rather a follow to better understand God standard. Holiness is the personification of his very character and nature after all. A relationship starts there. When we don't acknowledge this detail, the gospel often becomes devoid of good news.

The real question is, why are so many trying to redefine religion into a cold systemic checklist that doesn’t value sincerity in practice? More importantly, why can’t they see that they are repeating the same mistakes as the Pharisees did as a result? (Matthew 23)

Human Nature likes things cut and dry
This mortal tendency to systemize may seem innocuous enough, but did not God say in Isaiah 55:8 “Your ways are not my ways.” So isn’t this ritualization of religion just humanity trying to interject his lower ways into it? This formulation of religion has had many negative trickle-down effects. Since sin is merely a definition now, and not a symptom of our own brokenness. We merely judge by mere appearances. (John 7:24) Since we are judging by mere appearances we have turned repentance into a surface whitewash. Since we think repentance is but an external manifestation, we never examine our own hearts and motives, let alone others. (Matthew 7:1-6) Since we are leaving our hearts untransformed, we have nothing to offer the lost and brokenhearted, other than how to fake it for the sake of human approval and acceptance. But if we understood any of that we may actually feel compelled to get involved with and care for the lost, not just correct them. Of course, Biblical love like this is challenging and messy, who wants that? This is what people think of when we say religion anymore, but it’s not true religion, but a mere platitude. It’s a counterfeit that serves man’s comfort and convenience rather than honoring God’s will of do unto the least of these. (Matthew 25:31-46)

Keeping God at a distance
There are a few instances in scripture when a mere mortal finds himself in the literal pressure of God. Only to be overwhelmed by awe, fear, and utter humility. Isaiah 6 is but one example. Let’s face it, all our pretenses of religion and surface righteousness would just crumble to dust in the presence of the living God. Yet if we keep God at a distance, and don’t actually reconnect or bind ourselves to him in a relational way. Or allow him to burn us clean as God did for Isaiah. All our illusions, hollow traditions, and humanized religion remain unchallenged. Just the way the prideful who only wash the outside of the cup like to keep it.

The Bible is a very poetic love letter to his children. Yet in our lowly structured ways we have cut the very heart out of it to better suit what we think religion should be. Yet we kid ourselves into thinking this disrespect actually pleases God.

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” -James 1:26-27
The average legalist typically only values one of these three points ironically enough.

The Visual PARABLEist

2 Corinthians 3:13-18, Luke 6:39