What Is A Legalistic Church?

[lightofmylife]

Here are 10 signs your church is legalistic. I have heard the term legalism so I found this link on how to discern if your church is legalistic rather then scriptural. https://www.checkmychurch.org/post/10-signs-your-church-is-legalistic

 

[Baby Yoda]

Years ago a writer who contributed to one of my devotional collections turned out to be legalistic. I had no idea what that meant at the time, but she refused to celebrate holidays including Christmas and would only go to church on Saturdays. I thought she made sense for a while, until I did my own research on the subject.

 

[lightofmylife]

Years ago a writer who contributed to one of my devotional collections turned out to be legalistic. I had no idea what that meant at the time, but she refused to celebrate holidays including Christmas and would only go to church on Saturdays. I thought she made sense for a while, until I did my own research on the subject.

The Saturday worship sounds like Seventh Day Adventist which is what Ben Carson is.

 

[Baby Yoda]

The Saturday worship sounds like Seventh Day Adventist which is what Ben Carson is.

It's possible, I don't recall her details.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

A couple of obvious errors in the article . . .


#1 in the list of criteria (required to attend a class and sign a contract/agreement in order to be an "official" member of the church)

There's a difference between attending/participating and becoming a member. Attending a class before becoming a member can be important, especially if "anyone," including non-believers or Christians with wildly disparate beliefs, could otherwise become members and destroy or seriously damage the church by voting for unBiblical or very different leaders than those of the existing church, or by besmirching the reputation and witness of the church.

I don't know of any church that requires signing anything other than maybe the Church Register or Statement of Faith/Agreement with (Apostles and/or Nicene) Creed, and that's part of the membership ceremony. I suppose if there were a serious sin issue in a culture, a church might require signing a promise not to do whatever it is that the church was fighting in the culture (say, not having more than one wife, or not sacrificing children on an altar to a pagan god, or not participating in pagan worship, etc.). However, this wouldn't necessarily be needed or done, especially in churches that use the preamble to the Creed (I renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways) that is usually only used during a Baptism or acceptance/confirmation of a new member (depends on the denomination).

The Apostles and early Church modeled teaching/learning before acceptance (becoming a member). Today, children attend Sunday School and/or Confirmation classes before becoming confirmed members of the local church. In some places, upon Confirmation they get to vote as adult members, other places they get to vote on specific things, such as Youth Ministry, etc., and other places, not until turning 18. And there are churches that deny women's suffrage altogether. Churches, which practice infant Baptism and believer's Baptism obvioudly don't require a baby to attend a class before becoming a Baptized member of the church, but do require at least a profession of faith (and sometimes also a class) for an older child or adult to get Baptized.


#11 in the list of criteria (Sin Discipline; If your church has an established protocol for disciplining individual Christians' sin within their church, etc.) actually denies part of the Bible and takes the verses it quotes at least somewhat out of context. No condemnation refers to the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believer, and is not a license to do anything one wants/feels like doing. Sounds like a way to justify homosexuality being acceptable in the church and labeling homosexuality as sin statements as "hate speech" and "hate literature."

#11 is so very wrong and setting up for a church in which anything goes, and damaging the reputation and witness of the Church. The Bible specifically provides a procedure for dealing with sin by a member of the church.


15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Matthew 18:15-17, KJV


6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Hosea 4:6, KJV

 

[ItIsFinished!]

The writer of this article in the OP , by the name
Sarah Leann Young , does not believe in
sola scriptura.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

The writer of this article in the OP , by the name
Sarah Leann Young , does not believe in
sola scriptura.

Thank you. Unfamiliar with the writer, but the errors

 

[DWB]

The overzealous tithing of some churches caused me to drift away when I was younger. I didn't have the funds available while raising three young children to give the desired 10%, and after some questioning from my "church elders" about my lack of formal tithing, I decided to find another church. I always gave what I could in cash, but they wanted guaranteed amount in the plate every Sunday they could designate to my family.

 

[Bethlehem57]

Noticed that the site referenced above uses ”The Roys Report,” for some of their info. Of particular interest when I followed this link was a report on a Calvary Chapel in Cary, NC. I was flabbergasted at what their pastor has been accused of, especially in regards to his drug abuse and using members of his congregation that are doctors to obtain prescriptions for meds he’s hooked on.

 

[ItIsFinished!]

The overzealous tithing of some churches caused me to drift away when I was younger. I didn't have the funds available while raising three young children to give the desired 10%, and after some questioning from my "church elders" about my lack of formal tithing, I decided to find another church. I always gave what I could in cash, but they wanted guaranteed amount in the plate every Sunday they could designate to my family.

I guess the church leadership walks by sight not faith in that (and many others) case.