the myth of christian legalism

“I don’t want God. I don’t want my life to be a big lists of checkmarks and a book of dos and don’ts.” So goes one of the greatest hindrances to people accepting the cool forgiveness and love of Jesus: who would want to accept a God who turns a fast-paced, exciting life into a dull, sluggish and otherwise drab one? Nobody. People in general see Christians—and Christianity in general—as a bunch of pious, religious folk who follow a big list of dos and don’ts. The beauty of it is, it’s all a misconception, and Christians who declare that the only way to get into the Kingdom of Heaven is through doing good things and staying away from the bad isn’t helping the situation much. The first misconception is that Christians are pious and perfect—many “Christians” are bitter, spiteful people; and no Christian can claim a life of perfection (only Jesus can); no matter how mature or new in a relationship with Jesus, we still slip into sin and struggle. As I am fond of saying, Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven; and we real Christians strive to follow Jesus’ example in everything we do. The second misconception is that Christianity is about accepting Jesus, then getting into heaven by restricting your freedom and following a bottomless checkbook of dos and don’ts (legalized Christianity: Legalized Christianity is a distortion of real Christianity. Legalized Christians believe Christians are those who live by a long list of dos and don’ts; they believe God’s favor is earned through good works. Legalized Christianity tends to make God’s love something to earn, not something to accept freely. This sort of thinking actually turns the Good News into Bad News!). If anything, Christianity is freedom through Jesus. Jesus brought freedom from the law, freedom from culture, freedom from tradition, freedom from sin. Christianity is about Jesus and freedom, not Jesus and rules. We are free to pray whenever we feel the need or want to; we are free to worship at any time of day; we are free to tell others about God and salvation through Jesus; we are free to live as revolutionaries in a watered-down culture; we are free to be lights to this dark world! Do not let anyone tell you Christianity is a big list of dos and don’ts—it’s not. Christianity is about being real with God, about accepting forgiveness through Jesus, and about having freedom in this dying world. Does this mean we are free to sin and live however we want without even a thought for God? No! Any real Christian will feel a deep, inner desire to live for God, and will work hard not to sin and not to fall into temptation.
While a daring and hostile statement, it is my belief that Christians who don’t live fully for God are not real Christians at all; God declares that he desires real Christians, Christians who are on fire for him: if you are not hot—if you are cold, or even lukewarm for God—you will be spat from God’s mouth on the day of judgment; don't believe in that last statement? It's from the book of Revelation.