Grace not Legalism
-Luke 15:32
The trouble is that many of us have trouble with rules. What is so strange is that many times we forget this trouble when we come to church. When we realize our sinfulness we cry for grace but when we see sin in the world we react with rules and judgment. As a church we are in the business of sharing the grace of Jesus Christ and not an ascription to a set of rules and behaviors. Now, that is not to say that we as Christians do not strive with God’s help to better ourselves in discipleship, but we need to stop sticking to our hard and fast rules that make us look judgmental and keep us from being able to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
The central piece of this discussion is that there is a difference between accountability and legalism. The atmosphere of each of us pushing each other on toward Christ is accountability. Legalism is the idea that there is a perfect way to live and that if we just follow the right rules we will always be in the right. By promoting accountability filled with God’s grace we are truly living out in faith what it means to be the church. Simply living according to the rules does not make us a Christian. In fact it leads us to do some very unchristian things. You see when we live by a strict set of rules we look differently at the world. We see the ways our brothers and sisters do not live up to our standards. And all this does is drive them further and further from the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see the biggest element to share the gospel of Jesus Christ is trust and when any Christian betrays that trust through judgment, legalism, and hypocrisy the church as a whole pays the price. We are people of grace and this is how God through Jesus Christ has called us to live out our relationship with Jesus Christ.
