We recently had an incident in our service where we had a first-time visitor from out of state get reprimanded by a person who only occasionally comes to our church. The person said that God had told him to tell this visitor what the Lord requires in his personal life, and then proceeded to get mad and confrontational when a church elder told him it wasn't his job to confront other Christians in that manner.
I have heard from many missionaries passing through where they've been to churches and the pastor wouldn't let them present their ministry because they didn't have facial hair, or they did have facial hair, or they weren't wearing cowboy boots, or they didn't have a 3-piece suit with a tie on, or their vehicle had trash in it.
I always wonder what chapter and verse in Scripture they use to back up their standards and why they think it's okay to expect others to have to submit to their preferences.
We are not talking about blatant sin that the Bible continuously teaches against. If there’s more than three Scriptures calling something a sin, then we should humbly share those verses with our brother, and then pray for them.
What I’m mainly speaking about is some decision a person made before they were saved (like getting a tattoo), or an issue that has no verses calling it out (like whether a Christian wears a necktie to church). I’m speaking about Christian legalism.
God told Samuel way back in the beginning of the time of the kings of Israel that man looked on the outward appearance, but God looked on the heart. These self-righteous Christians are always focused on appearances.
Paul dealt with this in his time, too. There were some Jewish Christians that were going around telling Gentile Christians that they had to get circumcised to actually be saved. Do you ever wonder how these self-righteous Jews knew whether these Gentiles had been circumcised? That seems a bit personal, doesn't it?
Paul and Barnabas went to the Apostles in Jerusalem to speak with them regarding the matter.
Acts 15:18-20- Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
There were four basic regulations that the Apostles set forth for the Gentiles to observe: don't mess with idols, don't have sex unless it is with the person you are currently married to, don't eat things that were killed by being strangled, and don't drink blood.
Were people smoking in Paul's day? Did they drink alcohol in Paul's time? Did any of those Gentiles have tattoos on their bodies? Were people always wise with their time and money back then? Why weren't any of these things mentioned by the Apostles? Aren't they important?
When Annanias and Saphira lied to Peter, he told them that it was their money to do with as they pleased. He wasn't about to get involved in something as personal as their finances. They were judged and condemned for trying to appear more spiritual than they were.
The Apostles knew that each Christian was to have a personal relationship with their Savior. They were to search the Scriptures and heed what God told them to do. As a Christian's relationship with the Lord grew, they would get direct revelation from God on how to conduct their personal affairs.
Romans 14:4- Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Christ is the Christian's master. He is the one who tells them what they need to change, add, or subtract from their lives. What one Christian may be able to handle, another might not be able to tolerate.
The Lord gave us pastors, evangelists, and teachers that are to teach us the Word. They are to instruct us in how to study the Bible for ourselves. And then they are to lead by example. But they are not to insert themselves into our personal lives and tell us how to conduct our daily affairs!
The miracle of preaching is that when the pastor preaches the sermon the Lord gives him, the Christians in the pews that are praying and asking God to speak with them get exactly what they need through the moving of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. One may need edification. Another may need comfort. Someone may need guidance. While yet another needs reproof. Each person will get exactly what they need, but not because some "spiritual" Christian gets in their face and demands that they submit themselves to the standards that person believes is necessary for a holy life.
Perhaps God is more interested in the bitterness in this person's heart than He is in the ink on their skin. Maybe God is dealing with them over the amount of television they are watching, and He doesn't intend to broach the subject of their dietary restrictions. There may be something that God is working on in the heart of the Christian that is now going to take much longer because some rule pushing Christian has just made the mistake of butting in where they had no business.
"But the Holy Ghost has declared to me that I have to tell this person they are sinning by not conforming." they may say. In fact, they may shout it until they are red in the face! But just because they are passionate about what they are saying doesn't make them right, nor does it mean that what they are stating is God's individual will for that person's life.
Titus 2:2- That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
A minister of the Lord is supposed to have self-control. They are not to be quick to get angry or offended. They are to meekly instruct others in the Word (not personal standards), taking heed that they could be in a similar situation and they might not emerge victorious.
I Corinthians 9:27- But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
You believe the Lord wants to speak through you who cannot control your temper when someone points out where you have erred?
Are you getting angry because you are righteous, or is it because there's a different spirit actually at work here?
I John 4:1- Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Was it really the Holy Spirit leading you or was it your own spirit that was driving your because you saw what you believe is a gross violation of your personal principles. You are out of bounds. God hasn't called anyone to be a Spiritual Policeman.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15- For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Brethren, we are called to tell the lost, unsaved world how to escape from the eternal damnation of their souls. We are not called to tell Christians how they are to live their lives.
Should a brother or sister in Christ come to you and ask your opinion on how they should handle their daily affairs, you better pray and have Scriptural backup for what you advise them.
I Corinthians 8:9, 12- But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
