Pleasing self is at the heart of legalism [the controlling farmer] just as it is as the heart of slothfulness [the gambling farmer]. Many today do not understand the issues of the flesh, and when they see the hard joyless life of a Christian legalist who disciplines himself and others his own way, they abandon disciplined living altogether, supposing that the problem is his intense discipline. As a reaction to the fleshly rigidity of the legalist, they go to an opposite extreme of tolerant self-indulgence, often in the name of “Christian liberty” (283).
That is a pretty good description of what is happening today. For example, because someone had a bad experience with a fundamentalist pastor, they are ready to throw away anything even closely related to fundamentalism. Unfortunately, that has led to a confusing “Christianity” which must look an awful lot like the children of Israel as described in Judges 21:25b. Let’s be careful that we don’t make experience the deciding factor in our decisions. Instead, let’s strive to find and obey what God says in the Scriptures.
