The essence of legalism is trusting in religious activity rather than trusting in God. It is placing our confidence in a practice rather than in a Person – and, without fail, this will lead us to love the practice more than the Person.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/christianity/181223-what-legalism.html
Today we were going to start a short series on tithing that is guaranteed to cause controversy; however, one of AOL's current headlines caught our attention. Check it out: Quiverfull Wives Confess—Putting Birth Control in ‘God’s Hands’. Here is the link:
“Oh, yawn, not another Duggar article”, you may think. However, this is definitely not another episode in which Michelle Duggar gives Angelina Jolie tips for remembering the names of one's children. Instead, it focuses on “Kathryn Joyce, author of Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement.” At Amazon.com, you can find the following review by Publisher’s Weekly:
“Journalist Joyce has conducted a groundbreaking investigation of a little-known movement among Christian evangelicals that rejects birth control and encourages couples to have as many children as possible. The movement, which takes its name from a verse in Psalm 127, advocates a retreat from society and a rejection of government policies that encourage equal rights for women, pregnancy prevention and an individualistic ethic. Quiverfull families share with more mainline Protestant groups, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, a belief that wives should submit to their husbands. But the group goes further by insisting that children be home schooled and daughters forgo a college education in favor of early marriage and childbearing. The book probes a San Antonio–based ministry called Vision Forum, which began as a Christian homeschooling resource and now promotes “biblical patriarchy” through seminars and retreats.”
http://www.amazon.com/Quiverfull-Inside-Christian-Patriarchy-Movement/dp/0807010707/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233348792&sr=8-1
Here is the link to the interview: (Video to be posted ASAP)
During the interview, there was an excerpt from a sad discussion with Vyckie Garrison. Ms. Garrison was a “true believer” in the Quiverfull movement until one of her daughters attempted suicide. Here is what she had to say:
(Vidoe to be posted ASAP)
What we find sad is Garrison’s belief that, by placing God first, then her husband, she has deeply hurt her daughter. We contend that she DID NOT put God first. On the contrary, she put a legalistic misunderstanding of Biblical mandates ahead of God. Unfortunately, she is just one more fundamentalist who followed the “rules” of the Pharisaical groups such as Vision Forum, Sovereign Grace Ministries, and others. These groups DEMAND obedience based on a poor understanding of New Testament “radical grace” which frees us from a “works based” religion. Poor Vycki, they roped her in and she, as well as her daughter, just couldn’t measure up to their unbiblical standards. Now divorced, Vycki has put God on the back burner. This is the real and present danger of legalism. Rest assured, legalism will ALWAYS fail!
“ We allow God to plan the size of our family,” is the mantra of the "Quiverfull" movement. How absolutely ridiculous! Why not forego taking your insulin if you are diabetic and leave it up to God to decide whether you should live or die? Why not refuse antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia? The list of questions is endless…
In the “Quiverfull” view, the omnipotent God is stymied from “planning the size of the family” by a condom or other forms of birth control. Darn, we thought that this was a God who could move mountains.
A former church of mine (Dee) actually had a pastor speak on this subject. He claimed that his wife was blessed because she has been pregnant for most of their married life and is producing lots of kids. Did he mention why large families were necessary during Bible times? Did he talk of rampant plagues, enforced slavery, marauding, killing pagans, and the sheer drudgery of tending the land and eking out a day-to-day existence? Did he mention the number of kids who died before reaching their teens prior to the medical advances we now enjoy? What about the number of women dying in childbirth? Oh no, those facts were irrelevant in his sermon. He knows his Old Testament, and, dad gum it, he still follows those mandates. I wonder if he orders lobster, shrimp, or barbeque in a restaurant?
Wade Burleson wrote an excellent post on this subject. It was excerpted at Ethics Daily and is entitled, Missing the Mark: Eight Flaws in Quiverfull Theology. Here is one of those eight objections:
“The idea that Christians should have more children because we are losing the “culture” wars and by having more and more kids one day we will “out-populate” the Muslims, the cults and other pagans is to lose absolute sight of the New Testament truth that entrance into the kingdom of God is not based on flesh and blood (or culture, color or creed), but faith in the good news that is proclaimed about the unique Son of God. We do not need an army of Christian children separate from the world; we need an army of Christian witnesses as salt and light in the middle of a decaying and dark world, leading lost children to knowledge of Jesus Christ”. Please refer to the link for this “must read” article.
http://ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=15150
Here's the bottom line… There is much grace in the New Testament. We are saved by faith alone; not by faith and large families.
Interestingly, weird theology gets much play in the press. Some Christians think that the world is “admiring” the Duggars because they have their own show. Don't they understand that the majority of the world thinks they are odd? Read the opinions in the AOL Quiverfull story and see how confusing combining salvation + lots of kids cause confusion in those who look at the faith. Heck, it confuses those in the faith! In fact, the world is looking on as demonstrated in a Star Trek-Enterprise episode. Dee saw this episode on Saturday night and is surprised how she missed it until now.
A religious group takes hostage the star ship, Enterprise, with Captain Jonathan Archer at the helm, from a here to fore undiscovered planet. The Enterprise is deemed “heretical” because the crew had explored some strange “spheres” that this group believed was “holy.” However, their real reason for highjacking the ship was to use it to win a long-term civil war between another religious group and them. The crew takes back the ship, and Archer takes the religious leader down to his planet that, unknown to the leader, had been utterly destroyed by bombs. The reason for this war was surprising. One of the groups believed God created the world in 8 days, while the other believed the world was created in 9 days. How strange that secular writers get it and Ken Ham doesn’t!!!
http://www.treknation.com/episodes/enterprise/season3/chosen_realm.shtml
In the end, we must be cautious with the “rules” we apply to one another. When Dee’s children were young, she heard a statement on a Christian radio broadcast that became part of the motto for her family life. The host said that we must say “no” so often to our children, that we must actively seek ways to say, “yes,” or we risk raising children who view the world negatively.
During those days, parents and Christian pundits were “against” so much. These included any stories in which a witch was mentioned (Snow White), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pokemon, Disney, Halloween, and on and on. So, Dee decided to say, “yes” to all of the above. And, getting ready for vehement chastisement, she even let her kids read the Harry Potter series (she read five of the books herself, discussed them with her kids, and found out that Chuck Colson liked them as well).
Funny thing, as her kids grew older, she watched children of many of her acquaintances rebel against the faith in a big way. Many parents learned too late that blind, rigid rules, untempered by Godly freedom, could lead to rebellion. These rebellious kids believe they are rejecting Christianity. In fact, they are rejecting rules or "religion", not faith in our Lord. But they have been raised to think they are one and the same.
So, you think this post was controversial. Stay tuned. Tomorrow we wade into more rules in the
subject of tithing.