Monday, August 29, 2016
511 - Bad Medicine
Spirituality Column No. 511
August 30, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
August 30, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Bad Medicine
By Bob Walters
“I am astonished that
you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are
turning to a different gospel…” – Galatians 1:6
A “different gospel”? The Apostle Paul must have encountered an
especially vile, foreign strain of heretical non-Christian paganism to call it
a “different gospel.”
No, Paul is simply, forcefully, and
truthfully addressing the Christian church.
His loving injunction here, and the entire point of his Galatian epistle,
is to correct one of Christianity’s most insidious, still-festering, joy-robbing,
freedom-crushing, love-destroying, hate-generating and relationship-blurring
misappropriations of biblical truth.
In a word,
Paul is attacking legalism, a treacherous, confused faith practice still quite
in evidence today. Specifically, Paul is
condemning exclusive Jewish practices, laws and customs which deceptively cloak
Christ’s inclusive gospel of faith, grace and love. Paul even upbraided the Apostle Peter
(Galatians 2:7-14) for dividing the church by treating Jews and Gentiles
differently.
Today legalism can be either misdirected
Christian obedience to ancient Jewish practices, or errant, modern constructs
of “behavior as righteousness.” Either
way, legalism spoils our proper love of Christ and of others, dissolving into
judgmental comparisons of “my” vs. “your” obedience. Hatred ensues; here’s how.
If I am very busy assessing my own
divine standing based on behaviors and actions I think will please God, what I
am really doing is focusing on “me.” Inevitably, if I am busy judging “me,” I’m
going to compare what I’m doing with what others are doing. I either will be prideful in my superiority
or miserable in my guilt. Neither
situation builds a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ or a loving
relationship with others. We become slaves
to other fallen humans, rather than free in Christ. Satan’s hatred breathes near.
Rather than peace, love and hope,
we live in guilt, condescension and fear.
Recently I heard from a life-long
friend concerned about a Christian relative who was approached by other
Christians who encouraged participation in Jewish laws such as keeping a kosher
kitchen. I have attended a Friday
evening Shabbat dinner in a Jewish home and it was quite rich and
interesting. But for Christians to
engage in such practices is possibly quaint, definitely useless, and
spiritually confused.
My friend and mentor George Bebawi,
a Christian brother with Jewish roots, is frequently invited to “officiate”
Jewish Seder meals in Christian homes during holy week. He declines, and if pressed says, “I’ll do it
but only if we follow the law exactly and circumcise every male in
attendance.” That usually silences the
invitation.
Jesus frees us from rules so we can
love freely and obey Him in grace rather than in slavery. Per Galatians 2:21, if we ignore grace,
Christ died for nothing.
Legalism is bad medicine and a
gross malpractice of Christian love.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com) notes that Bebawi will be teaching
Galatians Wednesday evenings at E91 beginning Sept. 21. All are invited.
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