Until our relationships accurately represent Christ, people will always hold our doctrines in suspect. Especially, a doctrine such as nonconformity.
Where Nonconformity Goes Wrong
For the most part, traditional[1] churches have erred in principlizing applications: spiritualizing a preferred application of a Biblical principle in such a way that convinces others (or tries to) that application is what God wants everyone to do.
We end up emphasizing applications instead of the heart beliefs that prelude application. We focus on the results of holiness and try getting everyone there without giving them a reason to be there in the first place.
Oh, we say the reason is obedience—we’re supposed to obey God. But that’s my point: we have decided obedience to God means we are doing certain things that more accurately resemble our preferred application then a command of Christ. For instance, we teach modesty, which is biblical, but end up emphasizing a dress that should really be held as one of many ways to be modest.
The problem comes when we’re willing to hold our applications as commands and emphasize them at the cost of relationships.
When we focus on externals and neglect relationships, people start walking away.
When our doctrines don’t translate into a way of relating that feels up-building, others become suspicious of whether our God good, or if they even want to know Him at all.
Not everyone is rebellious, wanting to do their own thing. Many know the Bible and the God of the Bible and how He relates in love and grace. When a community that focuses so much on trying to be like Christ fails to live it out, we feel something missing.
When a church principlizes a specific dress as being modest, yet neglect true love in their relationships, people soon let go of not only the application, but the Biblical principle of modesty as well.
They begin focusing, instead, on the love and grace of Christ and developing meaningful healthy relationships.
We feel a sense of life and freedom when we are liberated from legalistic thinking.
It feels so freeing, it becomes dangerous.
You see, I’m afraid getting out from under a legalist mindset ends up catapulting us in another direction Christ never meant for us to go. Too often, our new-found life drives us to run away from anything resembling legalism. When we bump into people who make the same applications our legalistic friends do, we continue running.
The longer we run, however, the farther we go in the direction we’re running. The more we look back and the more caught up in the euphoria of living how we want, the more we miss our own obsession with externals. Almost as much as those we’re running away from.
We’re unable to recognize what true legalism looks like. It’s not actually life we’re pursuing. We’re simply pursuing anything other than what we had.
We simply don’t want anything to do with the applications. Even when they are perfectly good and right.
Sadly, we focus so much on applications (because we think they are the cause of the legalistic mindset we’re running from), we fail to see deeper morality gaps. Compromise in marriage and sexuality.
If relationships feel good, we’re okay with a little less rigidity.
What if we’re chasing relationships at the expense of faithfulness? What if in our desperation for Christ, we completely miss Him?
When we change external things in our search to find true life in Christ or let go of everything we were taught (regardless of its accuracy) all because of a controlling way of having been taught it, we are not necessarily anymore transformed than those we call legalistic.
Question: Is it wrong to change externals when you realize you’ve been hoodwinked by a legalistic community? Share your thoughts in the comments.
[Coming Up] Nonconformity: does it matter?
[Previously] Nonconformity: where we get it wrong
[1] I use the word “traditional” because I believe we misunderstand “conservatism.” Check this out to understand what a true conservative is. Many churches we call “conservative” by nature, may not actually be truly conservative.
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