“Did We Make Following Jesus Too Complicated?”

What if one of the biggest obstacles to a relationship with God isn't rebellion, but religion?

In this episode of Bible, Basically, we explore the difference between obedience and legalism. Looking at Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees in Mark 7, we'll see why He rebuked some of the most religious people of His day and what that reveals about our own hearts.

Legalism isn't taking God seriously. It's not pursuing holiness. It's believing that our standing with God is based on our performance rather than His grace. Together, we'll examine how rules can become more important than relationship, why legalism is so attractive, and why Jesus calls us to something deeper than outward compliance.

We'll also tackle an important question: If we're saved by grace, does obedience still matter? The answer is a resounding yes. The opposite of legalism isn't lawlessness. It's the Gospel. Obedience isn't the way we earn God's love. It's the natural response to a transformed heart.

Join us as we discover the difference between following rules and following Christ, and why true faith begins with relationship, not religion.

Bible, Basically: Figuring out faith, together. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 2:10

What's going on, everybody? Man, I just took a sip of just gross. Have you ever like seen something and you're like, hey, this looks like it's gonna be pretty good. I am I'm trying to cut out sodas. And so I started doing like these probiotic soda, different flavors and stuff, and I saw one. I'm not gonna say who it is, but I saw one that's like an orange creamsicle flavor. I was like, man, I loved orange creamsicle as a kid and the sugar contents low. And I'm like, I'm gonna do that. It'd be a great soda. I just cracked it open for the first time and took a sip. It is no, no, we're not there, but that's not where we need to be. Wow. Sorry. It was a it was literally as soon as I turned on the mic, and I just figured you guys really wanted to know that. We are talking a little bit about different things. We have a three-part series going on. This is part two. Uh last week we talked about church hurt. We all know what that means. This is, you know, when when something in the church lack of a better term, when something hurts us, whether it be any some kind of abuse, spiritual abuse, poor examples of leadership, you know, leadership fall, that kind of thing. And we just hypocrisy, and we just we let it get to us and we leave. That's that's one thing. Today we're gonna talk about a term that I don't think everybody knows by name, but I'm pretty sure we've all felt it, and that's called legalism. And specifically, the the title of the episode is Did We Make Following Jesus Too Complicated? And there's there's very operative words in that statement. Did we make following Jesus too complicated? Not did Jesus make following him complicated, did we make it too complicated? And we need to understand this trap of legalism. I want to start off with a big disclaimer, and you'll probably hear me say it multiple times throughout this episode. Me talking about that legalism is not good does not mean there are no rules to follow as Christians. God gives us commandments, God gives us direction, God lets us know how he wants us to live. But there's a difference. You don't need to do those things to earn your salvation. Your salvation is given, and once you receive it, then you want to follow and obey his commandments. There's a huge divide there, and you'll hear me talk about that at least a couple times. But in the meantime, you know, we we think about this concept of legalism, we think about this concept of, you know, following the rules. And somewhere along the way, honestly, following Jesus became exhausting. Not because Jesus made it complicated, but because people did. They set rules, they set expectations. I say they. You know what? We set checklists, we set standards, and before long, faith stopped feeling like a relationship, and it started feeling like a performance review. And I'm sure a lot of you, if not all of you, have felt it. The pressure to measure up, the pressure to look the part, the pressure to perform. And sometimes you just start wondering: am I following Jesus or am I just trying not to fail?

SPEAKER_00 6:25

And the real question is did God actually ask for all of this? Or did we just add some of it ourselves?

SPEAKER_01 6:41

So I want to define legalism. I want to go into a textbook style definition of legalism before we go any further. And I want I want to say legalism is the belief that you earn God's acceptance through your performance, or that spiritual maturity is measured by man-made rules instead of a relationship with Christ. Let me repeat that so that you understand. Legalism is the belief that you earn God's acceptance through your performance, or that spiritual maturity is measured by man-made rules instead of a relationship with Christ. So legalism is trying to earn God's love. It's believing God likes you more when you perform better. It's judging others by rules that God never gave, and it's treating Christianity like a checklist instead of relationship. Now, legalism is not obeying God, pursuing holiness, having convictions, and having spiritual discipline.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

So a simple way to think about it is legalism is what happens when following Jesus becomes more about earning approval than walking in grace. Legalism generated some pretty serious concepts to people who are outside of Christianity. How many times have you said or heard someone say, Can't walk in that place? Lightning will strike me. Can't walk into church, lightning will strike me. How many times have you made that joke about your buddy? You went to church?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Did duck and cover when you walked in the door? Why is that a result of legalism?

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Because we have imposed so many thoughts and so many rules that we have started to ostracize people and made them feel unwelcome, as if they are not worthy of God's love. I got news for everyone. No one is worthy of God's love. We are all sinners, and we all need to come before Him in supplication. The beauty of it is we don't need to beg for forgiveness. He already gave it to us.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

We just need to accept it.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

So let's talk a little bit about legalism versus obedience, because I said that legalism is not about earning God's love through following rules, but it excuse me, legalism is about that, and it is not obeying God and having standards and wanting to walk in his commandments. Legalism and obedience are often confused because both people look very similar on the outside. Both types of people read their Bible, both pray, they attend church, they pursue holiness, and they try to avoid sin. The difference isn't always in the action, the difference is in the motivation.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Legalistic people say, I obey God, so God will accept me. And that's wrong.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

See, the gospel says, I obey because God has already accepted me through Christ. One is trying to earn love, and obedience is a response to his love. John 14, verse 15 says, If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Jesus said that. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. I want you to hear that though, because some people twist that. Jesus does not say, Keep my commandments, so I will love you.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Obedience flows from relationship. It's not the other way around. John five, three.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

See, that's important. God commands, God's commands, excuse me, are not meant to crush us. Which makes what Jesus says next even more powerful. In Matthew 23, Jesus talks about the Pharisees. And he says they tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. Jesus wasn't talking to pagans. He wasn't talking to atheists. He was talking to the religious leaders of that time, the scribes and the Pharisees, people who had made faith so heavy that people like you and I could barely carry it. And he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The religious leaders had taken something God intended as a gift and turned it into a burden. So for you who don't know, the Sabbath was a day of rest. Jesus, excuse me, God wanted man to have a day. But we as man, not we the Church of Dennis, but we, the man, we took that and we were like, oh, that means you shouldn't do anything on the Sabbath. That means you shouldn't, you know, do any work whatsoever. That you can't do X, Y, and Z. It's it's it's forbidden. Well, dang on, man.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

I mean, sometimes people got stuff to do. The Sabbath was made for us. Not us for the Sabbath.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

So those types of rules that make it doggone near impossible to have relationship with God, those rules are the ones that are driving people away.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

All right.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

So we're talking about way back in the day, Jesus time, right? What's it look like now? Legalism doesn't always show up wearing a suit and carrying a Bible. Sometimes it's a whole lot more subtle. You think about it this way. And for those of us who are more in our journey with Christ, I missed my Bible reading this week.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

A legalistic person would think God must be disappointed in me. Do you see the difference?

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Do you really think God's disappointed in me for missing my Bible reading this week? Or am I the one that's disappointed in me because I didn't further my journey to get closer to Him? There's a conviction that isn't there in that statement, God must be disappointed in me. Because that implies that I'm only reading my Bible to make God happy.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

It's performative. You know what else people use a lot?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Oh, I'm gonna call some of y'all out that are listening to this. And it may bother you, and I'm sorry, but it's true. Oh, it's true. Church attendance. Look, church matters. Church matters. Do I think that you should put anything else above going to church? No. Do I think life happens and sometimes you can't make every service?

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Absolutely. But should you intentionally put something in?

SPEAKER_01 17:14

I mean, even something as frivolous as what is the old joke? You come to church today? Nah, me and God are gonna be God's everywhere, right? Yeah. Me and God are gonna sit back here and watch the football game. Okay, what are you putting in front of church? That's the football game. But do you see the point? You shouldn't put things in front of church. That's fine. But by the same token, God doesn't love you more because you never miss a Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

It's not like he's got a checklist in heaven.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

When you get there, he looks at you and goes, hmm. I don't know, Dennis.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

You know you miss ten Sundays. Ten whole Sundays. John over here missed three Sundays. So hi five, John. But ten whole Sundays. See, attendance isn't the gospel. Jesus is.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Now, I'm gonna step it back a second. I'm gonna reiterate. This is not me saying, don't go to church. It really doesn't matter. That's not it. There are reasons we go to church. We go to church to grow, to increase our spiritual maturity, to fellowship with like-minded individuals. We go so that we can be fed spiritually. But all of those things come from heart of service, of desire that God has built in us.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Not because we want to look better in God's eyes. So church attendance, no, that's not a merit badge.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

You ready for this one? Here's another one. I know some of you have done it, and if you haven't done it, you've heard it, and it hurts, it sucks, it makes you feel like garbage.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Comparing spiritual performance.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Some of you might argue, you've heard me say that on podcasts, but I do this and I do that. I don't say it comparatively. I'm just telling you how I'm living my journey with Christ. But you know there are some people that are like, I pray more than they do. Or I know more scripture than they do, or I'm more committed than they are. And that's exactly the attitude that Jesus warns us about in Luke 18, 11 and 12. He talks about the Pharisees again. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get. Notice the structure of that sentence and what he's trusting. I'll read it again. God, I thank you that I am not like other men. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. He's talking about his accomplishments. I'm in better grace than everybody else because I fast and I tithe. I'm gonna tell you right now, you may fast and tithe, but that doesn't make you any better of a Christian than somebody who might not do that.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Not in God's eyes. How about this one? I see this one a lot. Social media Christianity says the internet Bible study leader.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Social media Christianity. Sometimes faith becomes hosting the right verse, having the right opinion, supporting the right causes, and secretly believing, you know, if I say all the right things, God will be happier with me. Or even worse, if I say all the right things, I will look better.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Not even doing it for God, but doing it for other people.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

These are all mandated and man-made standards.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

A good Christian dresses a specific way, listens to specific things, votes a particular I'm not gonna elaborate on any of that.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

But you know exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, oh, and a bad Christian doesn't do any of that.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Sometimes we create rules that God never gave. Why does legalism feel safe?

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Some people take comfort in the rules. Okay. Rules create control. Relationships require trust. So legalism feels attractive because it's measurable, it's predictable, and it's visible. So you can always measure, quote unquote, how you're doing. But that's not how grace works. Grace requires surrender. Legalism says perform and be accepted, but the gospel said you are accepted in Christ.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Now walk with him. These are radically different messages.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

I don't have to be good. By man's standards, to follow Christ. It's the opposite. When I decide to follow Christ, Christ lives through me, and my desire to do good grows.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

We don't change our life to follow him. We follow him, and he changes our lives. Legalism can cause a lot of damage.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

And I know some people, unfortunately, they don't listen to this podcast, but I have a very good friend of mine who has left the church. And I haven't talked to that person in a long time, but we kind of grew up in the same church together. And legalism burned that person out. Legalism produces shame, unnecessarily. Burnout, like I said, hiding. I'm not going to church this Sunday. Why not? There's no way. There's no way I can face those people. Comparison? Oh my God, look at Betty Sue. She brings her Bible with her everywhere. Oh, she's such a good Christian. I'm so horrible. I don't know why I went full Southern, but I did. Legalism produces hypocrisy. I follow the rules in front of everybody else, but behind closed doors or when I'm not around my church friends, it's a free-for-all. Legalism produces what we talked about last week, church hurt. If all I do is go to church and get judged or watch other people be judged for things that I see the same people doing. How's that going to feel? So for many people, legalism becomes the reason they start questioning Christianity altogether. Not because people, or not because Jesus failed them, excuse me, not because Jesus failed them, but because religion did.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

And by religion, I mean the people. So this becomes a bridge to deconstruction. That's what we're going to talk about next time. And that's going to be a doozy.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Because deconstruction is when you take those things that you experience, those negative things that you experience due to the people in the church. And you question your entire faith because of it. Man, if these people are like this, I want nothing to do with that. And I know that statement because I've said it.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

But I'm going to tell you right now. Now I don't care what the people are like.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

My faith is in the one who will never let me down. And that's Christ. Period.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

People will let me down.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Even Jesus says to forgive somebody 70 times seven, right? Why? Because they're going to disappoint you, they're going to hurt you, they're going to cross you. And you just got to keep forgiving them and keep giving them a chance and keep trying. But he never said, no, no, no, no, no, no. Forgive the weird guy 70 times seven times. But you're Jesus, your fellow Christians, now they'll never forsake you. They'll never, you know, make mistakes. They'll never, he never said any of that. No, people are people. And they make mistakes and they screw up. They're going to let you down, but God will never let you down. So don't let the mistakes of others break your faith. I'm going to tell you right now, the goal of Christianity was never to perform well enough for God's love. Ever. Maybe the goal was to realize that he already does. Because the gospel isn't work harder so that God accepts you. The gospel is God accepted you in Christ. Now learn to walk with him. Obedience is the fruit of a relationship with God. And legalism is trying to replace that relationship with rules. Legalism isn't just adding rules, it's trusting rules that do what only Jesus can do. And when rules replace Jesus, people end up exhausted. But when grace takes its rightful place, faith becomes what was always necessary.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

And what was always meant to be. A relationship. True faith is a relationship. It's not a performance.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

I'm going to go right back to Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Next week, once again, we talk about deconstruction.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

If you have someone in your life who is slipping, who has deconstructed or is in the process of their deconstruction, and you think that what I'm saying might help, share the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

If you like what you hear, share the podcast. If you don't like what you hear, share the podcast. Leave me a review.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Don't care if it's one stars. I don't care if you say, Dennis, you're the most boring guy in the world.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

That'll let me know I need to change something up. Talk to me. Let me know you're listening. This has been Bible basically, where we're figuring out faith together.