Christian freedom

I recently finished reading The Creative Gift by Hans Rookmaaker. Wanted to share one his most helpful quotes:

"Again and again, fearing that freedom might be misused, the church has tried to tie Christians to new laws. Christians have recoiled from Paul's passionate appeal to live out of the freedom in Christ, arguing, 'We never know where things may end up.' This legalism is the weakest point in modern Christianity, a striking proof that God's laws are wiser than man's. And it is exactly here that the world...most violently attacks that church. Christian freedom is not lawlessness, but it is openness, the right to realize all the potentiality of our talent. Paul spent his life defending this freedom -- he felt it basic to the Christianity he preached -- and this in itself proves that even in those days, men found it difficult to live by faith in the finished work of Christ and by trust in God. Men always wanted to play it safe and Christian leaders with the best of intentions repeatedly tend to replace freedom with legalism. There are pharisees in every age."

I don't think this is a fault peculiar to Christian leaders. I find the same tendency in myself -- an urge to create new laws to replace prayerful, active trust. It may feel safe and holy, but a refusal to step beyond the limits of cultural comfort for the sake of the gospel is a form of selfishness. We must learn to blow the dust out of the house without burning the house down.

Daniel posted some very helpful observations today on the dangers of this extra-biblical law-making.