The Antidote to a Legalistic Church Culture

What does it mean to have a grace-centered church?

We all want it. We want to experience at church the compassion and patience of Christ. We want people to be gentle and kind with one another. We want the broken to come to Jesus and be embraced and loved.

It is common for Christians to praise grace in a church culture, but it can also be common for a church to lose the call to obedience in devotion to grace. "Jesus loves you no matter what" turns into, "so he will never call out your sin or command you to do something that might hurt." Luther considered the weighing of Law and Gospel to be the ultimate matter of wisdom in the Christian life. How do we weigh grace and obedience?

Usually we call an ungracious church legalistic (meaning, the tenor of the church culture primarily values keeping rules and meeting expectations). But understanding legalism’s source and motives can really help us guard a true spirit of grace in a church's life. One of the classic statements on legalism comes from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth:

"I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" (1 Corinthians 4:6-7)

We learn three important truths about legalism and a culture of grace from these verses.

(1) Legalism means going beyond what is written.

Paul's rule of thumb for the church in Corinth was to not add to God's word, not "go beyond what is written". The commandments of the Lord are simple and not burdensome (1 John 5:3). This is because God's heart is not primarily about law-keeping, but about communion. He wants us to experience communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit, and communion with each other. "What is written" in the Bible is only there to serve this purpose. We obey the Bible because we trust that God is better at relationships than we are.

But the heart that sees God as primarily concerned about "righteousness" (following a legal code), will have a tendency to expand that legal code. "If God is pleased with sobriety, how much more pleased will he be with teetotaling?" But really God is pleased with sobriety because drunk people are not good listeners, are often violent and sexually immoral, and are self-absorbed. They don't bestow honor on others with a sense of dignity. Drunkenness doesn't lead to loving communion with God and others. But does a glass of wine at dinner lead to communion? Often yes, so much so our Lord communes with us over wine. There may be reasons for teetotaling that do come from love and lead to communion, but the goal should not simply be to stay a safe distance from evil.

The legalist is not concerned about what cultivates communion, but his ultimate value is doing what is "right". That is why often in legalistic communities people feel isolated and unknown. They don't believe that being known and loved is God's deepest priority. At his deepest heart, they believe he cares about whether you met the demands of his Law.

To avoid legalism, it is a good exercise for a church to ask itself regularly, "Does the Bible really say this is forbidden? Or does the Bible really say this is commanded?" If not, then freedom. God is not excited about law-keeping unless it results in love. Outside of what is written, focus on loving God and loving people. These are the Lord's deepest desires.

(2) Arrogance is the result of legalism.

In these verses, Paul also says that legalism leads to arrogance. He tells them to resist legalism, "that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." The very act of going beyond what is written is an act of arrogance. Who are we to add to God's law?! Do we think so highly of our spiritual wisdom?! The legalist makes laws, then obeys their own laws, and then think they are superior to those who don't.

(In writing this last paragraph, I realized my own propensity to speak of legalists as "them", as if legalism was not in my own heart or church. Is there not a sprouting of arrogance in this very article as I judge others when I actually do the same things?)

This multiplying of laws creates a community of people who see themselves as law-keepers, but who are not learning communion with God and others. In fact, it is generally in those areas where they are weak (the de-emphasized areas of their law making), that legalists actually need to learn how to love. If you are disciplined about attending worship on Sunday, but are unable to weep with those who weep, then God's goal of communion would have you work on your emotional life instead of working on more rules for the Lord's Day. If I insist on speaking the truth, but am clumsy in gentleness, what parts of the law should I really be elaborating on?

Legalists generally add to what is written in areas close to their gifting. A pietistic legalist may emphasize daily devotions, while neglecting hospitality. A social justice legalist may emphasize caring for the broken, while neglecting the discipline and discipleship of their own children.

Also, legalism cultivates arrogance because it creates laws that avoid dealing with the heart. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is constantly dealing with the motivations of the heart: anger, lust, dishonesty, people-pleasing, worry about the future, a judgmental spirit. For example, legalism at women's modesty can be a way of not dealing with men's lust or lack of self-control. Or legalism in tithing can let my heart believe the other 90% is mine.

When anyone honestly deals with the sins of his own heart, the result cannot be arrogance. It might lead to sorrow, or even despair. But it can't lead to pride.

So what was Paul's antidote to a spirit of arrogance in the Corinthian church?

(3) Grace (a free gift) is the only remedy to arrogance.

Paul's answer is for us to see all of life as a gift. "What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" The humble receiver of an unearned gift can't be arrogant, but only grateful. The grateful are always humble.

The more we understand life and salvation as a free gift, the more we'll cultivate communities of grace. A gift assumes relationship. It means there is an other (the one who gave me the gift). It means kindness and thoughtfulness. It means generosity and sharing.

I have often thought of a life motto for myself (that I might expand on in another article): to receive all of God's gifts with thanksgiving. Everything we have comes from him. My body, my breath, my natural gifts, my church, my possessions, my relationships, my work, my home, my food, my pleasures—and above all Jesus himself. We all have far more than we deserve. Who then can boast?

The laws of God are there to help us receive these gifts well. That is what it means to have grace define our spiritual life through and through.

The grace of Jesus not only assures me that I am loved even though I fail to keep God's law (he died for my sins). It also gives me the security to be convicted of my sins that are keeping me from God. (He wants communion with me!) It also will offer me the tools to learn how to communion with God and others (this is always the goal of the true law written in God's word.)

Grace is the message that God wants relationship with us, and he delights when we have relationship with each other too. The ultimate aim of God's laws is not that we attain the status of righteous law keeper, but that we enjoy these relationships. When this is the goal of our spiritual life, and we learn that such communion can only be received as a free gift, then our church will know a culture of grace.