Embracing Freedom

Christianity is not a set of rules that we feel we must keep in order for God to like us; no, it's a living relationship with a loving God who gave Himself for us so that we might be free from sin and empowered by His Spirit. 2nd Corinthians 3 says that Moses "...put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away."

Reading on, the text says:
14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Observe the contrast here between law and liberty.  Now, God gave the law in order to reflect His heart and to reinforce the promise of redemption through the coming Messiah. But, Galatians describes the law as a "tutor" to lead us to Christ.  In other words, we learn about God's justice through the Law, but His mercy and grace are seen through the coming of our Savior.  Now that we are under grace, we are to become reliant on that grace - Jesus conformed to God's standards and . now enables us to love and serve Him in the power of the Spirit.

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The vibrant, abundant Christian life is not one that is lived out of fear, and when the Word of God is regarded as merely a rulebook rather than a playbook for life, then we can miss the freedom that Christ has for us. Galatians chapter 3 states:
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?
2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

The saga of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their houseful of kids has been well-documented; week after week, the reality show centered on the Arkansas family presented their adventures and their practice of the Christian faith.  Even after 19 Kids and Counting left the air, a sequel series, Counting On, continued to follow some of the family members who had grown up Duggar and started their own families. 

But, all was not perfect in the Duggar home, as in any Christian family.  Perhaps the most glaring chink in the armor was the indiscriminate behavior of their son, Josh, who is serving a 12-1/2 year prison sentence for child pornography, which was just extended by two months recently, according to the New York Post.  

But charges of legalism in the family have been swirling, as well, with daughter Jinger Duggar Vuolo sharing about her own struggles in a recent book, called Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear.

Vuolo has been especially critical of the Institute in Basic Life Principles and the teachings of Bill Gothard, who left the ministry he founded in 2014 under a cloud of suspicion in the face of allegations that he abused women; these are teachings that have influenced scores of people and impacted Jinger in a negative way.  A Christian Post story relates:

With guidance on everything from avoiding music with a “worldly beat” and band T-shirts to the finances and the family structure, Gothard’s teaching offered the same promises the “health and wealth” gospel promotes: "Follow these rules, and your life will be richly blessed by God."

The article goes on to say:

In her 20s, Vuolo began to question the ideologies she was raised with, largely due to the influence of her brother-in-law, Ben Seewald, and her now-husband, Jeremy Vuolo. That first step of questioning her childhood beliefs and realizing that Gothard’s teachings were not only warped but entirely unbiblical, she said, was scary.

“That first step of like realizing, ‘Oh, this is not true’ — it's scary because you're told not to question it. You're told not to think for yourself, you're told what to think. And so once you stop and say, ‘Is this really what the Word of God says?’ And you realize it's not, it feels like your whole foundation is shaken.”

But, Jinger stresses that she is not "deconstructing" her faith - the Christian Post article states:

“Deconstructing is pulling apart everything and tearing it all down to the studs, never to build it up again. And that's just not what I'm doing, and that's not my story,” she said.

“Mine has been one of disentangling, which is pulling apart. It's a slow process, pulling out the error, and examining everything according to the Word of God. It's much harder to do, I'm sure, than deconstructing, because people who deconstruct just throw it all out there, like, 'I'm done. I’m going to live my life how I want to.’ But that's not true freedom. True freedom is not found in throwing off all the strings, all rules. It is found in knowing the person Jesus Christ, and coming to the Word of God.”

Certainly, Mr. Gothard is someone who has not finished well, and the allegations resulted in his removal from his ministry.  The Institute in Basic Life Principles is still in existence. But, if the Bible is taught or accepted as merely a series of do's and don'ts and produces a sense of legalism and a regard for God as a demanding taskmaster rather than a loving Heavenly Father, then things get out of balance.  We always have to search the Scriptures and compare the teaching we receive to the Word of God.

Currently, the Vuolos are attending Grace Community Church, where John MacArthur is the pastor.  The Christian Post article also notes:

Through sharing her story, Vuolo said she prays others can know the joy found in Jesus alone and “set aside limiting roles and the world’s perspective.” And to others who might be struggling with their faith due to a difficult upbringing or have been hurt by the Church, she offered a word of encouragement:

“Run to God. Run to Him alone, and quiet your heart before Him and say, ‘I'm confused. I don't understand,’ and go to the Word of God and read it in its context. … Go into a church that's teaching the Word of God carefully. … It's so helpful because you start to see the beauty of who Jesus really is. And amidst all that pain and stuff you're working through, Jesus is our only hope.”

So, please let me be clear: We have to compare whatever teaching we receive to Scripture. To do that, we have to study and know the Scriptures.  I am thankful for the teachers that we present on Faith Radio, who have proven themselves to be reliable in their exposition of the Word of God. And, Faith Radio desires to be a trusted source of information that is consistent with Biblical truth. But, thinking about the words of Kay Arthur, we have to study God's Word for ourselves. 

It's important to recognize where legalism has crept in - legalism chokes out freedom.  Seeking to conform our lives to God's standards, well, that's a good thing.  But, crafting a system of rules for ourselves can be harmful and produce a sense of fear and even compulsion, when we begin to think that God will punish us for not following every rule to the "nth" degree.  We can choose to focus on the love of God and our freedom in Christ, following the leadership of the Holy Spirit and not try to serve God out of human effort.