incompatible selfishness
Or I could have entitled this blog, “Castration, going all the way with Jesus” or some similarly uncomfortable picture, but I finally decided on incompatible selfishness, because maybe I won’t get too much flak for the the following content. Incompatible Selfishness is a condition of the soul that happens each time someone makes a rule designed to restrict your freedom in Christ.
I was at an impromptu meeting Sunday night after our interrupted church service click to see previous post and one person there was describing how “really serious about God” people act and behave. It was disheartening once again to hear the Gospel reduced to a list of does and don’ts. No wonder the process of evangelism and many churches struggle for success around the world; we evangelicals have become the modern day pharisees, making rules that add to scripture and make serving the Lord an impossible burden. This is especially an affront to our Savior who clearly states that His freedom is real freedom. It is the most anti-rule statement anyone could possibly make!
For whatever cultural reasons North Americans seem to be the least comfortable with Freedom of any culture that I have ever been a part of in my life. I have heard about 50 sermons on not causing a brother to stumble, for every sermon I have heard on Freedom. But causing or not causing our brother or sister to stumble is an element of the Gospel, whereas Freedom seems to be a central part of the foundation!
Paul talks about this in Galations 5 . . . and he sums up the Gospel as “ . . . we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.” (The Message)
What matters is something far more interior . . . Paul wrote Galations because of the tendency of the church to constantly fall into legislating holiness, which of course is never holy because holiness is something far more interior. Paul continues on calling this legalism a “detour” that is not from God (vs 8) and that these people calling for external rules for holiness are dangerous . . . they are like yeast, just a few affect the whole loaf.
But God has called us to Freedom. Rule-makers and enforcers are the essence of incompatible selfishness, because they are first of all incompatible with the freedom Christ died to bring and second they are selfish mandating all to live at their level of weakness. I hate to say this, but people are not lining up to be given rules of do’s and don’ts, but offer them the freedom that God is about, then lets see what happens! I had 25 college kids in my house for five hours tonight and they each will tell you that they gladly and firmly face ostracism from society and family, because of Freedom, not rules. Christ has come to set the captive free, and that includes those caught in the bondage of man-made rules of holiness. As God said to the prophet Samuel, “I am not like men, I look at the heart.” (Dr D’s paraphrase).
I was at an impromptu meeting Sunday night after our interrupted church service click to see previous post and one person there was describing how “really serious about God” people act and behave. It was disheartening once again to hear the Gospel reduced to a list of does and don’ts. No wonder the process of evangelism and many churches struggle for success around the world; we evangelicals have become the modern day pharisees, making rules that add to scripture and make serving the Lord an impossible burden. This is especially an affront to our Savior who clearly states that His freedom is real freedom. It is the most anti-rule statement anyone could possibly make!
For whatever cultural reasons North Americans seem to be the least comfortable with Freedom of any culture that I have ever been a part of in my life. I have heard about 50 sermons on not causing a brother to stumble, for every sermon I have heard on Freedom. But causing or not causing our brother or sister to stumble is an element of the Gospel, whereas Freedom seems to be a central part of the foundation!
Paul talks about this in Galations 5 . . . and he sums up the Gospel as “ . . . we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.” (The Message)
What matters is something far more interior . . . Paul wrote Galations because of the tendency of the church to constantly fall into legislating holiness, which of course is never holy because holiness is something far more interior. Paul continues on calling this legalism a “detour” that is not from God (vs 8) and that these people calling for external rules for holiness are dangerous . . . they are like yeast, just a few affect the whole loaf.
But God has called us to Freedom. Rule-makers and enforcers are the essence of incompatible selfishness, because they are first of all incompatible with the freedom Christ died to bring and second they are selfish mandating all to live at their level of weakness. I hate to say this, but people are not lining up to be given rules of do’s and don’ts, but offer them the freedom that God is about, then lets see what happens! I had 25 college kids in my house for five hours tonight and they each will tell you that they gladly and firmly face ostracism from society and family, because of Freedom, not rules. Christ has come to set the captive free, and that includes those caught in the bondage of man-made rules of holiness. As God said to the prophet Samuel, “I am not like men, I look at the heart.” (Dr D’s paraphrase).