It seems that it is becoming increasingly popular to accuse the
Church of Christ of being legalistic and its members, of following
the thinking of the Pharisees. So I decided to step back and ask
myself, 'Is this accusation true?'
Often the accusation of being a legalist or Pharisee is made by
people who don't really understand either term. Just so we don't
end up painting Jesus Christ as a legalist, we need to realize
that legalism is not: A. Fidelity and loyalty to the word of
God: Jesus stressed and taught the importance of absolute
trust in what God has said (Matthew 4:4; 5:17-18; John 5:46).
B. Stressing the need to obey the Scriptures: Jesus also stressed
this point (John 14:15; Matthew 7:13-14; 24-27). C. Linking
our salvation with obeying the word of God: Jesus knew all
about grace and mercy, and yet He deliberately linked our salvation
with whether or not we follow His teachings (John 8:31-32 'If
you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free';
8:51 'if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death'; 12:48).
D. Making arguments based on a detail in the text: (Matthew 22:31-32)
E. Believing that every word in the text of Scripture is important
(Matthew 5:17-18).
Really the only way to define 'legalism' or 'Pharisaism' is to
follow the life of Christ and see what Jesus found wrong in behavior
and attitude of the Pharisees.
Matthew 15:3 'And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment
of God for the sake of your tradition?'; 15:9 'But in vain do
they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men'; Mark
7:13 'thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which
you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.'
Application Time:
I have a very hard time viewing the Church of Christ as legalistic
on this point, for one of the things that turns people off from
the Church, is our virtual lack of "tradition". In the
eyes of many people we are kill joys because we refuse to add
human traditions to the worship of God. We don't baptize or dedicate
babies (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38) there is no coming of age
ceremony for young men or women, or some type of confirmation,
in which teenagers confirm the decision made by their parents,
to follow the Lord. A complete absence of religious festivals,
no special Christmas, Easter, or Mother's Day services (Acts
20:7). The Pharisees placed a tremendous amount of importance
upon prior interpretations made by famous rabbis (Matthew 15:2).
For them, the words or interpretation of some illustrious
teacher became divine law. While a preacher may quote something
said in a commentary or something written by another member of
the church, that same preacher will often disagree and expose
almost the next comment made by the same commentator. The denominations
view the writings of various famous men like Luther, or Calvin
as sacred. And in our own time, one would be sharply criticized
if they disagreed with anything that James Dobson, Charles Swindol
or Billy Graham taught. But if there is one complaint about the
Church of Christ, it is that we verbally oppose even our most
famous evangelists, when we feel that they are teaching error
(Galatians 2:11-13).
The Pharisees tried to place so many rules between an individual
and the actual violation of a command, that one could never violate
the command. This is what they had done with the sabbath day (Matthew
12:1-2; 11-12; John 5:10).
Application Time:
Frankly, if we are Pharisees, then we are doing a very poor job
at being legalists. In fact, in view of the following, the Church
of Christ is probably the most unregulated religious body in the
world. Concerning preachers, we have no official set of human
requirements, no board which certifies or ordains preachers. Some
might complain that we are too loose concerning who can preach.
Any man who knows his bible can become a preacher (2 Timothy
4:2). Take a good look at the Church, compare it with the
denominations, and you will find that the Church of Christ has
fewer rules and in so many areas absolutely no fence between the
individual and the Word of God. If we are truly Pharisees, then
why haven't we tightened up the following areas, like the denominations?
1. No official preaching training program. 2. No official set
of instruction prior to baptism, no standardized test, no official
baptismal service, no official ceremony. 3. No human headquarters,
no official brotherhood watchdog. At this point some might say
that certain papers try to be watchdogs. But in my experience,
even such papers are very limited in their influence. I say this
because, some preacher who is teaching error might be written
up by one of our most subscribed to publications, and yet that
preacher continues to hold meetings, continues to have influence,
and continues to preach, and often is more popular after being
written up then before. While the Pharisees exercised tremendous
control over the common people (John 7:13; 9:22), I find
almost the complete opposite in the Church. People in the denominational
world might worship, revere and stand in awe of their leaders.
People in the denominational world often accept without question
what is taught or at least they wouldn't dare argue with the bishop,
the priest or "the pastor". But in the Church I find
people challenging the teacher in the adult class, confronting
the preacher on various issues, voicing their objections, and
even arguing with the elders. On the one hand people complain
about all the issues and divisions which had happened among us,
on the other hand they complain that we are all walking in lock-step
and that there is no freedom of thought among us, that a person
can't speak their own convictions. Wait a minute. It can't be
both ways. If anything, all the various issues that have arisen
among brethren prove that the Church of Christ is anything but
a group of people under some form of mind control. In fact, some
might complain that our problem is that we have too much free
thought, that any and all topics are dealt with from the pulpit,
that any and all questions are brought up in class, that every
possible side of every possible issue is discussed in some type
of public format. 4. Compared to the denominations, our organizational
structure is very small and very limited (Ephesians 1:22-23;
1 Peter 5:1-3). 5. While we exercise discipline as outlined
in the New Testament (Matthew 18:15-17), we have failed
to add any brotherhood wide discipline. There is no official list
of who is in good standing and who isn't. There is no official
list of sound and unsound preachers. Unlike many denominations,
we have no way to officially kick anyone out of the brotherhood
at large. Members who are withdrawn from, often place membership
at another congregation-without any consequences. I have known
of cases where preachers left their wives for another woman, didn't
even repent, and immediately found a congregation which would
hire them. I believe I could say that in the Church of Christ,
it is almost impossible for a preacher to reach a point where
no one will hire him. 6. While the Pharisees were very concerned
about giving God the exact percentage of all their prosperity
(Matthew 23:23), and the denominations often define the
percentage of their income that members should contribute. I find
the Church having virtually no rules between the individual and
passages like 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 9:5-7.
Denominations conduct seminars on financial planning and offer
very detailed outlines concerning one's giving. Some might say,
if anything our sermons on giving don't go into enough detail.
7. Concerning evangelism: We have no quota system. In fact, one
can be viewed as a member in good standing, without ever having
converted anyone! Most congregations have a very loose and unstructured
approach to evangelism. It is just assumed that people who become
Christians, do so because they love God, and that they will naturally
take advantage of times for bible study and prepare themselves
to teach others (Acts 8:4; Matthew 28:20). 8. The way we
treat new converts is also very unstructured. Many congregations
have some sort of series which they would like new converts to
take advantage of, but this teaching program is anything but forced.
In fact elders will say, 'We would like them to go through this
series, but we can't force it upon them.' 9. Concerning marriage
and when people marry, we have very few rules. In many religious
bodies, one must meet with the preacher and go through an official
series of lessons, before they can be married. In some denominations,
if you are not a member of that group, those in leadership positions
will not perform the ceremony. In other groups, if you marry outside
of their religious body, your marriage is not recognized. I know
that we teach that marrying a non-Christian is not the wisest
thing in the world to do---but when is the last time you heard
of someone being withdrawn from, shunned, or their marriage not
recognized as valid because they married an unbeliever?
Luke 18:9 'who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and viewed others with contempt'
While there are self-righteous people in all religious bodies.
I typically find the average member of the Church, anything but
confident about their salvation. In fact, I often hear that we
are not as confident about our relationship with God, as people
in the denominations profess themselves to be. Yes, in our preaching
we are hard on the denominations, we do rebuke and expose their
errors (Ephesians 5:11; 2 Tim. 4:2-4; Titus 1:9-11). But
anyone who has spent a year in the Church, can testify that we
are incredibly hard upon ourselves. In fact, our preaching rebukes
our members more often than it rebukes others (Romans 2:21).
Frankly, if there ever was a group of people who worried about
their standing with God, who worried about becoming Pharisees,
and who took to heart the admonition for self-examination (2
Cor. 13:5; Matthew 7:1-5)-it is us.
Matthew 23:5 'they do all their deeds to be noticed by men'; 6:1-4. The denominations have their robes (Matthew 23:5), religious titles (23:8-11); perks and privileges for the clergy (23:6); religious hierarchy (23:11-12); they keep people out of the Kingdom of God by not giving them the biblical answer concerning what a person must do to be saved (23:13); they have their lives and calendars full of religious ceremonies, traditions, and human rules which have nothing to do with the real work of the Church (23:23); and the denominations do try to hinder those who are trying to preach the truth (23:29-31). If you want human praise, fame and status then the denominational world is your calling. But in stark contrast, the Church of Christ, and especially being a preacher or elder in the Church, is about as far from 'status' as you can be. The Pharisees loved popularity, and if there is anything that you must sacrifice to become of a member of the Church of Christ, it is the praise of men and human popularity. Our preachers do not wear any official title, they dress like the rest of us, the only authority they possess, is that they preach an authoritative message (Titus 2:15). Since the Pharisees were so enthralled with the "perks", the "material benefits" of being religious, ask yourself, "Where would you find such people today?"