The Awful Legacy of Legalism

Recently I've seen so many Christians getting so hung up about legalism in their former churches - mainly the ones they grew up in. Out where I live I certainly cannot find that type of church that everyone says is all over the place. I don't believe it. I think this is coming from people who have been hurt growing up in these places. But instead of going into the center where heaing and God are, they want to go to the other extreme. It's sad because what they don't get is the other extreme is as legalistic as what they grew up in. Here is what I mean:

the old legalism was a "don't doism." The new legalism is a "do doism." We especially see this in two current movements, the Third Wave Charismatic and the Emergent Conversation.

In the revivalist (3rd Wave) Charismatic movement, it's all about being "spiritual" by fasting and praying and prayer walking and really, really chasing after God.

In the Emergent Village (Conversation), it's all about social justice for the poor.

These are worthy goals but they must come as a result of the Holy Spirit's leading AFTER conversion, not out of the flesh because the pastor or prophet says we have to do this. Here is a great quote from from Michael Horton about a letter to Cardianl Sadoleto from John Calvin in the 16th century,

he [Calvin] argued that only by being freed of having to love our neighbor in the service of our own salvation are we able to really love them for their own sake.

I would like to take out the words, "in the service of our own salvation" for a moment. It would then read like this,

only by being freed of having to love our neighbor are we able to really love them for their own sake.

The reason I needed to take that one phrase out for a moment is because salvation doesn't seem to be very meaningful to the emergents, but I thought the quote itself without that phrase was apros pro to them.