Doing things you don’t want to do (especially if they are good spiritual disciplines) can cause you (or others) to be labeled pharisee.
- Going to church when you’ve had a long weekend and just need to relax.
- Reading your Bible when you don’t want to.
- Stopping halfway through your meal when you realized you didn’t pray to ask the Lord to bless your meal.
Here’s an internal (and sometimes external) dialogue I often have.
“Oh, I completely forgot to pray for my food. I should stop and pray for it. But, I don’t want to be a pharisee and do it just to be religious. That’s true. Should I just keep eating? Should I pray anyway?”
Legalism is dangerous. It’s faux-spirituality focused on doing the right things with the wrong motivation. Faith and legalism are at odds with one another, because legalism is faith in yourself and your own abilities to earn God’s favor.
Jesus called out the Pharisees often throughout the Gospels. They are normally found doing things to the extreme (like tithing on their nutmeg and cinnamon) but they are then found condemning those who don’t do as they do (even if it isn’t required by God).
So, how do we keep from being a pharisee while still striving to please God?
The difference lies in our motivation.