Yesterday, I shared a few thoughts on the problems when a person emphasizes faith matters over how that faith impacts how they live their life. Today, we're going back up on the tightrope, but we're going to fall to the other side, and see the problems that come when we emphasize how we live significantly more than what we believe.
One thing I have come to understand in my years of life is that you cannot legislate morality. In other words, you can't pass laws that basically tell people what do to and expect them to do them for the right reasons. Sure, you can perhaps get them to follow the rules, but it doesn't bring about the necessary heart that typically drives such action.
In fact, one of the realities we face as humans is that, the more tightly we are made to follow rules and laws, the more we tend to rebel. That's the sinful nature in us. When we are told to do something or to avoid something, we fight against it. We don't like being told what to do, even if it's the best thing for us.
That's the problem with an emphasis on life over against faith. Sure, it's easier to try to convince people to just do the right thing, but without the mind, heart, and soul understanding and claiming it as its own, it's just law enforcement (and no one likes law enforcement when it happens to them). Simply telling people to do what God says will, in the end, only drive them away from God.
The technical term for this is legalism. It's the other side of the coin from yesterday, and, while it may seem the simpler approach, will, in the end, only serve to cause more rebellion. Like Paul said in Romans, once I knew what I was supposed to do and supposed to avoid, I only rebelled against it more. And that's the last thing we want to emphasize when we talk about faith and life.
No comments:
Post a Comment