New School Legalism no longer cares what’s in your fridge or how long your daughter’s skirts are. In fact, the right microbrew in your fridge can get you serious spiritual street cred. Christian magazines will do a write-up on you if you do your evangelizing in a pub. Movies are no longer evil; they are culturally relevant sermon illustrations. Dancing? A good DJ is as important as a good photographer at most current christian weddings.
New School’s New Standards
Each brand of “high-commitment Christianity has its own take on which standards are most important, which are nonnegotiable. And each has its own litmus test”. There is a certain amount of overlap in these groups. The following list of New School Legalists is from Larry Osborne’s book Accidental Pharisees, p 92-94.
Perhaps you’ll recognize yourself, your tribe, or some of your friends. I know I do.
Radical Christianity
Generosity is the leading indicator of what it means to follow Jesus. One must have a generous and simple lifestyle. But the catch is, if you don’t live simply enough, you aren’t generous enough.
But the Bible does not define what simple living looks like, nor does it command it. The self-appointed radical Christians have defined it for you. They don’t get too detailed though, since that would come off as legalistic. But they will give you the eye of disapproval if your house is too large or too lavish. A luxury car or expensive house will disqualify you faster than the beer in your fridge in the ‘old days’. Your possessions make it obvious that you ‘need to get right with God’.
Crazy Christians
These highly committed Christians are ‘crazy in love with Jesus’. They show it by costly personal sacrifices, financial, familial, or otherwise. Persecution for your commitment is also highly valued in this group. Also, a few ‘wild leaps of faith’ that all your friends thought were nutso is evidence of your commitment to Jesus. In these groups, you must intentionally choose some paths of suffering or your commitment to Jesus will be questioned. If your ultimate goal is to live a quiet and peaceful life, minding your own business, don’t even bother to think you can be part of one of these groups. You will be pegged as something less than a true believer; despite what Paul says in 1 Thess. 4:11.
Missional Christians
These want to be known for their personal zeal; and their ‘boots on the ground’, ‘roll up your own sleeves’ style. You show mission zeal when you move your family from the comfy suburbs to the inner city. This will easily earn you a badge with these groups. Leaving your kids with Gramma and Grampa to go ‘bring the gospel’ to the poor in some other region is also proof of your commitment to missions. Attending seeker churches does not count. Big buildings, large budgets, or extravagant outreach events have ‘compromised with culture’.
Gospel-centered Christians
These like to determine spiritual maturity by means of their theological grid. If you like and know big theological words, careful distinctions, and nuanced debates, you qualify for these groups. It also helps if you have read something by Jonathan Edwards. You will be able to quote your Bible, and tie everything to the Bible. For this, you will need a robust theology. This usually demands a strong intellect and a decent education. People that are slow on the uptake, dyslexic, action oriented, better with their hands than their mind, not very articulate, have hard time with big words and long paragraphs, will struggle to fit into these groups. And if they make it in, no one will ask them to lead anything.
I personally think the PRs can suffer from this. Do we overemphasize being doctrinally right and lose people’s understanding along the way? Or flat out exclude them because they “don’t get the finer distinctives“? We can even wound fellow soldiers with friendly fire when we criticize them for not ‘saying it exactly right’.
We don’t want to lose the ability to show Christ to brethren who may be a little more meek, timid and not-so-well versed in all the grand, sophisticated doctrinal ideas, arguments and debates. Are we able to simplify our well-cultivated knowledge so that everyone can learn and grow? Are we remembering to be meek with the brother that is weak?
Revolutionary and Organic Christians
This group is defined as those who have been deeply hurt or disillusioned by the failings of a large church. This includes any institutional expression of the church. To belong to these groups, one must be keenly aware of the flaws of the established church. Full acceptance into these groups will pressure you into going to a house church. They teach that institutional churches raise one man above the rest of the people. Belonging to a church with a building, a mortgage, and paid staff is ‘putting the institution above the people’. Publicly criticizing the church’s budget, leadership, and other things that such a beastly system exacts from its members will earn you your revolutionary stripes here.
It’s not just Larry Osborne
New School Legalism is described as coming out of the current individualistic American Christian culture. It poses a shame-driven pressure to be awesome and extraordinary. It exchanges outward moral improvement for expectations to tangibly make a difference in the world immediately. So, being average will earn you condemnation as a lazy spiritual failure.
In New Legalism, one must be involved in arts and social justice activities – even if justice is pursued without sound economics or social teaching. It is primarily reactionary and does not provide a positive construction for the good life from God’s perspective … Many are simply burning out. Read more from the World article (2013) here.
Liberty or legalism?
Much of the things mentioned above falls within the parameters of Christian liberty. But as soon as you judge another, look down your nose at another, or make another feel less significant or less dedicated to Christ because they do not join your vision of a godly life, you became a legalist. As soon as you think these choices make you more acceptable in the eyes of God, or that these choices bring more honor and glory to God, then you are a legalist.
On the Edge
“All of these expressions of the Christian faith are trying to emphasize something good. They all have an important place in the kingdom. But they are all teetering on the edge of a dangerous cliff.” Accidental Pharisees, p 94. (bold mine)
When personal passions and well-meaning causes “become the litmus test and shibboleth by which we decide who is and who is not a genuine disciple, we’ve taken a step too far. At that point, we are no longer building the kingdom; we’ve started to tear it down. We’ve become new-school legalists”. Accidental Pharisees, p 94. (bold mine)
Let’s remember
Passion for a personally chosen cause motivates us to help others and be involved. It helps us not be a lukewarm Christian. It’s the outworking of the cultural mandate given in Genesis.
Paul writes in 1 Cor. 12, ‘covet earnestly the best gifts’.
Just do not use the wonderful things and the best gifts that you pursue to judge your brother, his walk, his holiness, or his relationship with Christ. That’s legalism. And, when our passions become the ‘work of the church’, we are on the edge of legalism.
