Several weeks ago, Dale and I spent a lot of time drive back and forth to Roanoke. I have been taking a class for ordination and Dale has been auditing the class. We had a lot of time to talk and one of the subjects that came up was trying to understand why there are people in the Wesleyan Church who would like things in our church to go back the way they were in the 1950’s and 1960’s. They want legalism to come back and that to be the norm again.

Now I am not going to judge the people in our church who brought legalism in to our church because it is not my place; only God can do that. I also do not think we as the Wesleyan church should go the opposite way either. I would like those who think it would be great to have legalism back in the church to see what Dale and I have seen as we had ministered in different churches. To see the lives that have been hurt and those who will never walk in a church again because of the way they were treated in the church. They were told that if they did not act or dress the way someone felt they should, they could never make it to heaven.

I did not grow in legalism, but only read about it. If someone told me I could not wear bright colors or preach to me about the length of my dresses, I would have left the church. Dale and I have met many people in our travels that feel like there is no way they could ever please God or feel that God loves them because of the legalism of the past. Not only have we seen those who have left the church, but also we have seen those who are still in our church who sit in the pews every week and are in the chains of legalism. They were never taught that holiness is heart thing and not an external thing.

To them the life of holiness is laws to be followed; not doing certain things; dressing in a certain way. If you do not follow their rules, then you are not sanctified or even worse you aren’t even saved. But the life of holiness is not like that. This may be a simplistic definition of holiness, but I believe it means to “love the Lord your God will all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.” There are many things that we need to leave to God and the work of the Holy Spirit. We need to remember that is God’s job to judge each one of us. If we remember that we will know it is God and the Holy Spirit’s job to make the changes in people lives. When people grow spiritually and follow the ways of Christ, they will change; their dress and actions will be more Christ-like. I think it is great that more pastors are preaching that when we become Christians, that we need to have a change in our heart. The proof is in the heart – what is the heart putting out? If we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit our lives should be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self control; the fruits of the Holy Spirit.