Battered & Bruised: Christianity & Legalism

We were talking to our son about choices: mostly about how life choices can have a great impact on our future. I said one thing to him that I am sure he is tired of hearing: “We want you to do these things because you want to, not because you feel like you are supposed to.”

I am supposed to…

• Serve at my church every weekend
• Attend Bible study
• Not say bad words
• Tithe
• Pray
• Wake up before the rooster crows, light a candle, find a cozy chair, and complete my “quiet time”
• Do devos (that’s Christian-ese for devotional) around the table with the kids
• Pray for my kids all day while they are at school
• Sell all my possessions & live humbly
• Etc
• Etc
• Etc

Can I relieve some pressure today? You are not “supposed” to do anything. Your value does not lie in your list of accomplishments. He loves us even before we acknowledge who he is (Romans 5:8 ). We can stop striving to earn his love. You are valuable just because you are YOU; you are HIS.

I had a friend tell me that she was not looked at for a job at her church because she didn’t do what they felt she was supposed to do. The requirement did not make her any more or less a Christian. This area of service did not change her heart for Jesus or her ability to do the job. But, it did remove her from the list of candidates. She was actually relentlessly serving in other areas that limited her time and ability to give any more of herself without sacrifices her family.

This got me to thinking: Are we placing too many rules, standards, and supposed to’s to the list of how we become a good Christian? Is this bruising our members and pushing them away from the church?

When we get down to it, accepting Jesus as Savior isn’t a supposed to act. Should we accept and love him? Yes. You’re life will never be the same when you do. Should we begin to heal, change, and grow after we begin our faith journey. Yes and amen. But, are we supposed to? I say no. Jesus looks at the intent of our heart. He wants our heart not our actions. The actions, the to-dos, the supposed to’s, those come after our heart becomes his. All those things, they change from “supposed to’s” to “want to’s” when we do them for the right reasons; when we do them for him.

When we do things because we are supposed to, we are doing them for the wrong reasons. Our heart isn’t in it when we do it because we are supposed to.

The best thing my kids can do is follow through on a task I know is good for them because they want to rather then because they are supposed to because mom said. One thing I love about this God of ours, is that our relationship with him isn’t a supposed to thing. If it were, we’d all be robots with no choice. Instead, he designed this whole faith thing into a relationship where he desires us to want to be there not feel like we have to be there because it’s the right thing to do.

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14

There is no set list to follow or a set of rules. You don’t have to do anything to be worthy of your place as a Christian. You are worthy because of him not anything you do or don’t do. When you come to meet Jesus in this life, he will inspire and guide you to change and grow. Not a check list.

The next time someone tells you that you are not worthy until you do that supposed to thing, remember that unrelenting love and unabashed grace are yours for the taking. The only thing you’re supposed to do is reach out and grab it; grab onto Jesus

We are all doing the best we can moving along the road of faith. We were never meant to do all the things on the list. If we were capable of that, we’d have no need for him. Christianity is not a set of rules and laws. It is all about a relationship: a relationship with the One who loves you more than anyone and anything ever could. The One who looked at you and saw that it was good. So many have been hurt by the rules of the Church. I say, NO MORE.

Find His love.

Find His grace.

Stand in His worth for you just because you are YOU.

Run to His arms WIDE OPEN.

Here you will find peace, relief, redemption and grace. It is here that you will want to change, to grow, to be fully you: the you He created you to be.

Don’t do it because you’re supposed to.

Do it because you want to. (Psalm 26:2)

Love & Blessings,

Meg