I wish to start posting some blogs previously posted on my former blog site. This series of four blogs will cover the topic of legalism. I really hope that you enjoy and benefit from these blogs. I also hope that these blogs spread the awareness that some things must change.
Legalism: Pushing People Away From Christ
First off let me state some background info on myself and where I come from, Between grades 8-11 I attended several Christian schools that were affiliated with the Independent Baptist church. These institutions preached condemnation against me. They felt that my love to worship God through rock music was a sin. They also felt that my desire to study a modern version of The Bible was a sin. My one goal in life is to sort of ‘fight’ this way of thinking. I cannot express to you in words the feelings of anger, pain, depression, anxiety and sadness that these so called “Christians” inflicted on my life. To make matters worse, I also attended a Southern Baptist church for several years. Things were going great there until the “pastor” of the church decided Christian rock and the church did not mix. It is that way of thinking that drives people away from God. I truly believe this legalism is what gives Christianity a bad name, pushes people away from God and eventually leads to people going to hell. (As a side note: I would like to inform everyone that I am currently a part of a Southern Baptist Church plant that is completely un-legalistic and open to the modern worship styles.
Lets take a look at the worship aspect:
Worship is a personal experience and an outward experience. In outward (or group/congregational) worship, all styles of music should be allowed and accepted in a church. You cannot just limit your church to strictly hymns and southern gospel songs. When you limit your worship to such standards you leave out people who could be drawn into a different genre of music. Some churches use rock music to reach young people and believe it or not there is a
growing movement in churches to use hip hop worship on Sunday mornings. We must not be narrow-minded and legalistic in our worship. All types of people and musical tastes should be accepted within a church body.
Lets examine the myth that the King James Version Bible is the ONLY Bible: In my past experiences people have tried to condemn me for reading a modern translation of God’s word. They would say that anyone who adds or takes away from God’s word would burn in hell for eternity. Well I have news for all the legalists out there. The King James Version is NOT the original version of the Bible, nor was it God inspired to be some special/magical Bible. If you want to read the ORIGINAL bible then you must take Greek and Hebrew lessons so that you can interpret the original manuscripts for yourself. As for us English speakers, I suggest grabbing a copy of “The Message” or “New Living Translation.” These must be radical bibles if reading them can send a legalist to hell.
Now one of my favorite topics. How to dress for church: Many legalistic churches have dress codes that the congregation must follow. I praise God that my church is modern and accepting enough that I can wear a t-shirt and jeans every Sunday morning. Some people are not as fortunate as me though. These people are forced to “give God their best” and wear a dress shirt and tie every Sunday (or if you are a female wear a dress or skirt cuz we all know that pants on a woman will cause her to burn for eternity and then some). Again this pushes people away. If someone off the streets wearing a black Sabbath t-shirt with cut off sleeves that reveal his tattoos walked into a church and saw a congregation all prim and proper; he probably would never step foot into this church or any church again, especially if he got awkward looks or someone mentioned something to him.
Movies and legalism: Someone PLEASE explain to me why to a legalist it is wrong to go to a movie theater to see a movie but it is okay to go to a rental store to rent a film. That question has never been fully answered. Some tell me that at a movie theater someone may see you and think you are seeing an ‘R’ rated film when you are really seeing a ‘PG’ film. If that is true the same thing would go for video rental stores. Who knows what you are renting! Is that a copy of Bambi or is it a porno? No one would know. Even if someone was supporting an ‘R’ rated film, who cares? There are some good ‘R’ rated films out there *cough* The Passion Of The Christ *cough*.
My absolute favorite subject: ROCK N ROLL WILL SEND YOU TO HELL!
“Rock music will make you commit suicide”,
“Rock music will lead you on a path of destruction to hell”,
“No rock music can be Christian music”,
“Christian rock music is worldly.”
Those are all real quotes from real legalists. Many of those quotes were told to me several times over by several different people. My favorite argument of the legalist is that Christian rock music is “worldly.” NO DUH! Of course Christian rock music is worldly! Is that not the idea? Take something of the world and make it Christian in order to have a positive influence on young people. Christian rock bands encourage a person to not drink alcohol, to not do drugs, to live a pure and moral Christian lifestyle. How is that harmful? I was after all saved at a Christian rock concert. Yup, I said it! I found Jesus and accepted him as my personal Lord and savior at a ROCK CONCERT! Here is the sad truth. Know what other styles of music are worldly? First off hymns are worldly. Early hymn writers took tunes of bar songs and put Christian lyrics to them to encourage the drunks to attend Church. Southern Gospel is also worldly. In fact it is just as worldly as Christian rock. Those drum and bass beats found in Southern Gospel sound very familiar to me.. oh yes, it sounds like COUNTRY MUSIC. So in other words, Southern Gospel is basically Christian Country Music (with lower studio and production quality). Who would have ever thunk it?! This idea of rock music being against God’s will is totally wrong and pushes people away from having a relationship with God. Remember, next time you see me banging my head and throwing a rawk fist in the air as I drive down the road… I am simply worshiping my Lord!
Entertainment: For all practical purposes, unless a movie or cd (artist) pulls you away from God and harms your walk with Jesus then who cares? What you watch or listen to is strictly between you and God!
To Wrap Up:
When Jesus was sent to earth it put an end to “Religion” and “legalism.” Following Jesus is not about following a set of rules and regulations. Following Jesus is about personal conviction. Study the Bible and pray to ask God how you should live your life. It is not up to a church or pastor to instruct you on how you should live. Through my ramblings and some crazy rants. I would like to thank you for reading this column on legalism. Many more will come on various subjects that young followers of Christ are faced with. I chose legalism as my first subject because I had a monkey on my back that needed to be fed. So much hurt and pain still remains from my experiences in legalism. I pray that I will soon be over it. Until then writing this column was a great way to vent!
