The Legalism Line

I have a bit of interest in this subject; because I am wondering where the line is between what many will call legalism, and full blown sin. Let’s start with an example: The preacher thunders from the pulpit that women must dress modestly and without braided hair etc, citing First Timothy 2:9 as proof. We’ll immediately see argument from different groups of people about this. Some will say “Well it’s right there, so I’m going to take it at face value and we must do it”, while others will look at it and cry “Legalism!” Some will talk about the heart being what counts. Others will debate about what really constitutes modesty. A few might notice verse 8 which has some instructions for the men and wonder why that wasn’t brought up as well.

Legalism is not actually a Biblical word, you won’t find it, nor “legal” or “legalistic”, at least in the King James which I’m working from as I usually do (I don’t like the copyright issues with some of the newer versions, you have to follow their rules about how much scripture you can use and so on, it’s just plain easier to go with public domain). But when you look at a more secular definition of the word, you’ll find it has to do with adhering to the law very strictly. The word “Pharisee” may come to mind – people who obeyed the law very well yet missed some important points about love and mercy, causing Jesus to say some very rough things to them.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matthew 23:23 KJV

They did all the “right things”, yet missed the real point.

So let’s dissect the modesty debate a little bit. I have yet to see where it says “those who dress immodestly shall not inherit the kingdom of God”, so at first glance we would probably downgrade this from a salvation issue to a heart issue. We could throw in some culture thoughts; perhaps back then braided hair was the sign of a loose woman whereas today we generally don’t think twice about it, simply because our culture is different.

If we look at how the Pharisees obeyed with the wrong attitude, we could make good argument that dressing modestly could be done in the wrong way. One could feel self-righteous for being more modest than the rest, or could do it while grumbling about restrictive rules. We would say in this case that they’ve missed the point, because the point would ultimately be that a Christian female wouldn’t want to dress provocatively, which would tend to distract men. Those who dress immodestly are also missing that point, and helping men to stumble. Granted, each man is responsible for his own actions, but it’s easier to stay in control without temptation right in front of you.

So the heart argument has some pretty good weight, the actions and attitude together would show what’s really going on in the mind of the woman. In this case dressing modestly with the wrong attitude would probably be better than dressing immodestly with the wrong attitude, for at least the men would suffer less temptation. Score one for legalism.

But let’s switch gears a bit and look at something which the internet has made very easy. Let’s talk a little about downloading and watching music and videos that are copyrighted and you haven’t paid for, or downloading software that isn’t yours. I’ve been convicted myself in this area, because I have watched copyrighted videos online. There is tons of stuff out there that is copyrighted and not supposed to be on video sites, it’s just impossible for them to keep up with all of it and take it down. Thus a ton of illegal videos are out there; TV shows, sports Pay Per Views, concerts, things like that.

We can’t cry legalism on this one and water it down to personal choice and a heart matter. This time we do have it very bluntly:

“Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” First Corinthians 6:10 KJV

We can’t even make arguments about lifestyle sinning because if you’re actively stealing digital material, chances are you’re not going to stop. It doesn’t take long for that to become a lifestyle, all from the privacy of your own home.

Oh, but it’s harsh to call it stealing, is it not? You wouldn’t go to the video section and slip one under your shirt, but you would download it? You wouldn’t grab a CD in the package and take it home without paying, but you would copy a friend’s? It be stealing, and I’ve seen some wondrous justifications for it.

One would hope that this wouldn’t be an issue amongst those who name Christ, but unfortunately it is. I know teens (especially) who have tons of illegal stuff on their computers, so there isn’t much of another word that can be used but “thieves”.

It’s so easy to do download stuff that many don’t think much of it anymore, and that’s what cleverly disguises it as something which is much less of an issue than the Bible makes it. At what point do we stop watering things down, stop crying “Legalism”, and deal with the problems?