The Problem Spectrum
February 20, 2000
Dear Friends:
There are many ways to characterize problems both ecclesially and personally. I have found one of the more effective ways is to view them on a spectrum that spans from legalism on one extreme to worldliness/paganism on the other.
Let me give you a Biblical example of what I mean. In the garden the serpent gave his famous reasoning for sin. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” In one respect, he gave a very paganistic assessment in saying you don’t need God to be immortal. This has been the pillar of paganism since its inception. The one true God has been extracted from the human religious experience. You don’t need Him, you can do it yourself and your own way at that!
On the other hand, from a legalistic point of view, the serpent used God’s own words to get around true religion. The serpent begins his pitch to Eve by saying “Yea, hath God said…” By twisting God’s words around, the serpent presents Eve with a seemingly logical proposition completely bereft of righteousness.
Following the pattern established in Eden, ever since that time, men have fallen into one of two traps – legalism or paganism.
Look at the ecclesias of the first century as further proof. You can divide the letters of the New Testament along these two problems. Worldliness/paganism: 1 and 2 Corinthians. Legalism: Romans, Galatians, Colossians, Hebrews, Titus.
The point is that even today, we can characterize our own problems in these two categories. Once we have recognized this, we can read the Divine recommendations for handling these problems as found in the New Testament.
Although I do not have the space here to fully develop this point, consider marriage problems. I would contend that if the marriage is having trouble, one of the two problems exists with one or more the spouses. In other words, I have never seen a marriage go awry in which both of the parties were very centered in God’s word. It could be that one partner has taken a very legalistic point of view. They become self-righteous, critical, condescending, angry or become contentious which causes marital strife. Or perhaps one of the partners has become to paganistic or worldly. They begin to drink too much, commit adultery, fail to work or decide they just want to do “their own thing.” In either case, the marriage suffers greatly.
You might even see where both couples adopt the same philosophy. They may both, for example, become legalistic and have a common love of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. However, very few marriages of this kind will you see where a true healthy and Biblical love exists. If the marriage survives at all, it is based on not wanting to break the laws of God rather than the ideal relationship between man and wife as set forth in Scripture.
For the sake of illustration, we have chosen marriage. We can really choose anything. Work, friends, ecclesial health, family, lifestyle, leisure activities, etc. all exhibit the same spectrum of behavior from the legalist to the pagan. It viewed from this lense, perhaps insight can be gained to help correct the problem.
If we can improve our ability to recognize this pattern, we can become more balanced and centered in our approach to God and His son, Jesus Christ. We will be better at self examination as well as becoming a better servant to our brethren in the their time of need.
May the Lord help all of us with our problems – both ecclesially and individually.
