Legalism

Gordon Wright said:

And here is how to defeat them. Point out all the ways that they themselves fail to live up to their own rules. Leverage their own lack of self awareness, their unconscious hypocrisy.

Yes, it's "divisive." You will likely be disfellowshipped. If that bothers you, then you might also have a shame problem.

Yes, if it works it may destroy the church. There are enough churches out there that we can spare a few bad ones.

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What you're suggesting here is something of a "Prophet" role... something that a person should only do if God directly and specifically leads them to confront the leadership of a church and deliver a message from God to them.

If instead it is coming from a person that is simply able to see the hypocrisy or who has been wounded by those leaders, I don't think it is a wise course of action... for two reasons.

1. The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20).

• If it just bothers you, that doesn't mean that God is calling you to "set them straight"... no matter how ticked of you are about it.
• We are not in a "battle" with poor leaders... it's not our call to "defeat" them. As soon as we start looking at other people as our "enemies"... we are losing the real battle... those people are "flesh and blood," and they are never who we are actually wrestling with (Ephesians 6:12).

2. We are not called by God to "fix" other people. We are called by God to submit to Him so He can "fix" us... ourselves.

• It's really tempting to want to put others in their place... to make them pay... to shame them for what they've done... but it's simply not our place to do so.
• Best to just "overlook" the offense... (Proverbs 19:11)

There used to be a great commentary on the Internet that dealt with "corporate conscience of the church", which breaks down into an orderly outline the different "groups" in Christianity (whether it's on a personal level or an actual "church law") and their beliefs when it comes to certain practices that are not touched on in the Bible but some Christians consider to be sinful. This link can no longer be found, even with the Wayback Machine, which is unfortunate as I feel it was a deep article and explained in detail six different mindsets, or "labels", which included legalism, comparing and contrasting each one. I was able to print it out for my own casual studies before the link completely disappeared, but I know it is an article that others would have benefited from.

Since I can't find that article, however, these ones are pretty good reads from a balanced perspective, and explain the issue better than what I can.

Legalism Vs. Liberty

Legalism or Love? Religious or Radical?

8 Signs of a Legalistic Spirit—and How to Break Free

How to Spot a Legalist

God bless.

MyChainsAreGone said:

2. We are not called by God to "fix" other people. We are called by God to submit to Him so He can "fix" us... ourselves.

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In which case, what need have we of church leadership at all?

There's a thread or two out there about so-called solo Christianity. The standard rejoinder is that we (presumably we, but that's another topic) are commanded to meet together for mutual encouragement.

Then there's a passage or two saying that we (again, presumably we) are to submit to our leaders. But absent a visible sign from God saying "this guy here, not that guy in that church down the road" a man is only your leader if you choose to follow him. Which makes submission a circular argument.

All you need do is first say "you ain't the leader o' me" and then say anything you please. Or, if you decide you just don't care, say nothing.

I was in a church that had a legalistic-in-denial tradition, and was failing to grow, either despite it or perhaps because of it. People would sit and let the preacher talk and then we would turn and talk among ourselves. I did not often hear "so, what did you think about that sermon today?" The man up front had lost all credibility over the years, but there was still politeness. And his salary. We politely ignored him.

It dawned on me that the only reason I still showed up was I had friends there. Then it dawned on me that the only reason anybody showed up was they had friends there.

Legalism-in-denial tries to have it both ways and stick you with the double bind. Once you wise up to it, you get to turn the tables. But after you've turned the tables, you find that having it both ways isn't anything special. Still better than the double bind, though.

Still, I feel a duty to warn others. Before these churches go into the polite farce phase, they pass through a toxic phase. We can save a lot of people a lot of pain by raising a warning.

You don't have to be a prophet. You just have to be personally acquainted with the facts, and to have a sense of responsibility for one's fellow man. No special call from God needed, the general call to compassion and truth is enough.