Confession of an anonymous legalist

332 confession of an anonymous legalist“Hello, my name is Tammy and I am a“ legalist ”. Ten minutes ago I was condemning someone in my mind. ”I would probably introduce myself in a similar way at a meeting of the“ Anonymous Legalists ”(AL). I would go on and describe how I started with small things; thinking that I was special for keeping the Mosaic Law. How then I started looking down at people who didn't believe the same as I did. It got worse: I began to believe that there were no Christians other than those in my church. My legalism even included thinking that only I knew the true version of Church history and that the rest of the world would be deceived.

My addiction got so bad that I didn't even want to be around people who weren't in my church, who were in the "world." I taught my children to be just as intolerant as I was. Like the roots of a willow tree, so it grows Legalism deep in the minds of Christians Sometimes the tips break off and stay there for a long time even though the main root has already been pulled out I know that you can get out of this addiction but legalism can be compared pretty closely to alcohol addiction, you know ultimately never exactly when one is fully healed.

One of the most stubborn roots is the object-oriented mentality when we treat people like objects, judging them only for their performance based on what they represent. This is the way of the world. If you don't look good or don't do great things, you will not only be considered worthless, but also expendable.

Placing too much emphasis on performance and utility is a thinking habit that takes a long time to break off. If husbands and wives don't do what they are expected to do, sooner or later one will be disappointed or even bitter in the long run. Many parents put unnecessary pressure on their children to perform. This can lead to inferiority complexes or emotional problems. In churches, obedience and contribution to something (be it in money or otherwise) are often the yardstick for values.

Is there any other group of people who judge one another with so much energy and enthusiasm? This all too human tendency was not a problem for Jesus. He saw the people behind the deeds. When the Pharisees brought to him the woman who had been caught in adultery, all they saw was what she had done (where was her partner?). Jesus saw her as the lonely sinner who was a little confused and freed her from the self-righteousness of her accusers and their judgment of the woman as an object.

Going back to my "AL meeting." If I had a -step plan, it would have to include an exercise in treating people as people, not objects. We could start by imagining someone we constantly Judge as it was with that woman taken in adultery, and Jesus Christ stands before her or him, wondering if we would cast the first stone.

Maybe I'll work on the other eleven steps one day, but for now I think it's enough if I carry my "first stone" around with me to remind myself that Jesus is more interested than who we are what we do.

by Tammy Tkach