Do you know anyone who is somewhat disenchanted with their church life? If so they are a part of millions if we can believe the plethora of polls that measure such things. Not only are men in particular leaving the present model of the church in search of true spirituality, but the postmodern thinking generation is looking elsewhere also. Actually it seems that people from every age group could testify that their spirituality is not satisfying, and many are laying the blame on the present model of the church. Well, it doesn’t seem to help much in the long term to just get into the blame game. The church model will change when those who make up its structure change. That is us! What is incumbent on us to address if we want a real spirituality?

The complaint I hear most often is that God, the church, the bible, Christianity…don’t produce what they promise. Church leaders hear that and try to adapt. One thing to do is to change the promise. Instead of promising to encounter the living God with transformation of life; instead of a community of faith passionate to influence their civil community; instead of being equipped to overcome the obstacles of sin and fear; instead of joyful endurance of trials and meaningful work in the marketplace; we offer religious entertainment and membership in the best moral club in town. Let the games begin! Competition starts as each club tries to get the members of the other clubs to join. The benefits of membership are compared with the best offer bringing in more of the same kind of people that are already there. Smaller clubs are cannibalized by those who know the market better and are able to offer more bang for the buck. Not many clubs are growing from the community where unbelievers live. They (the unbelievers) aren’t sure they want to live by the standards of the club. After all they don’t see much difference in the lifestyles of the members. Great celebrations are enjoyed by those winning the competition. But millions are standing on the outside longing for a real encounter with the awesome God who created and redeemed through His magnificent Son.

Not able to produce what it promises. That reminds us of another dynamic the scriptures tell us about. That is what the Law does!

Could it be that the reason the present model of Christianity is not producing is that it is more law-focused than Jesus-focused? Paul in his letter to the Romans describes the purpose of the Law and the dynamic it produces. Mankind is so deceived as to the real depth of sin that it takes the law to expose it.

There are two basic fruit of law-focused living: Self-righteousness and self-reproachfulness. Let’s look first at self-righteousness. A clear explanation for this is found in Luke 18:9-14. Two men go up to the temple to pray. One is a Pharisee. The other is a tax collector. (For those of us who have already read the story, we are already prejudiced against the Pharisee. We are holding him in contempt---the point of the story. Ugh!) The Pharisee is a moral man worthy of ecclesial leadership. He is also a faithful religious man with certain practices that require sacrifice. He fasts and tithes. He is even grateful to God for his morality and virtue. So what is the problem? He would make a good club member. We had rather have him as a neighbor than the tax collector. After all he was obviously greedy and unpatriotic. Jesus tells the story to point out the subtle but devastating sin of trusting anything we do or have. The Pharisee thought his superior morals and loyalty gave him some advantage with God. His confidence was in his improvement, maturity, goodness.

But the "justified" man in the story could only do one thing. He had to look outside and beyond himself for any help. It wasn’t that he was more sincere. The Pharisee was very sincere. It wasn’t that he was more repentant for his sins. It was the simple faith that declared, "If anything good happens to me it will be because of the goodness of the One who helps."

We all know that! But how subtle the self-righteous perspective! It is so easy to believe that we have gained some righteousness by our "growth", and that righteousness gives us leverage with God. Let’s look at two good clues to uncover this rot in us. First, the self righteousness is easily offended. He probably is too religious to admit being offended at God so the blame goes to others who have disappointed. Offenses are always ultimately at God. After all he could have stopped it and for whatever reason didn’t. Secondarily it was someone else who actually did the dirty deed. When we think we have rights because of us, we expect things to go well. When they don’t we feel let down. We prayed in faith but it didn’t happen the way we expected. We raised our children according to the bible, and they have messed up. We asked God to bless our business and we went broke.

The Pharisee in us can easily become cynical. Often he becomes just more religious finding verses to back up whatever explanation is needed to protect his neatly packaged righteousness. None of our growth or maturity qualifies us to be God or his counselor. We have to face offenses with faith in the One who works His purposes through all circumstances. Being offended is a luxury that is unaffordable for those who trust God explicitly.

The second clue is contempt for others who do not measure up to our standard. I had the privilege of growing up attending church with my parents. We went on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and a few other times. Wanting to be a good club member I attended all required meetings or felt guilty if I missed. I never got to watch THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY on TV. It came on Sunday nights during church meetings. When the kids at school would talk about what happened on the show, I would secretly wish I had seen it but think with contempt towards them. If they really loved God they would have been at church instead of wasting time watching the TV program. I can also remember occasions when on Sunday morning I noticed how many people were busy with their recreation plans with no apparent plans to attend church. The thought crossed my mind more than once, "who are these heathen people who don’t know they should be in church like me and my club members?"

We often describe those outside our club in terms that reflect what we really feel. Instead of using the term "lost" with the compassion of rescuer looking for someone lost at sea, we use it to reflect their inferior state and see them as "prospects" for our club. They are found when they become like us. Contempt has many faces and none of them pretty. We can even look down on those who have not seen a truth that we have discovered. The truth is that we may have only seen it recently. It comes from the subtle but deadly assumption that we are somehow better than another, and that we have advantage towards God and His world because of something we have. That is a result of focus on some standard of belief or behavior rather than on Jesus who offers total acceptance by grace. The standard can be the Law of God through Moses or a standard we have established to join our club, or one we have created because it fits our morality. The point is that we are measuring our success by external standards and we are focused on them.

The second fruit of law conscious living is self-reproach. It is the cycle of defeat that is guaranteed by fallen humanity trying to live up to righteous Law.

The Law was not given to make us righteous. It was given to expose our "flesh" so that we could turn to a Savior who could save us by His own righteousness. But we only understand that by revelation. Mankind is captured by the promise of the Law. It promises everything we could want. "You will be the head and not the tail. You will lend and not borrow. You will have prosperity when others don’t. You will not receive diseases when others do…" It appeals to our desire to have the best. So we give it our all in every attempt to gain what is promised. But we discover the impossibility of doing it in the power of the flesh. (The flesh is the perspective defined by the sensual world. It sees life from the independent and selfish point of view. It concludes that we get what we earn and deserve. The focus is on us and our performance.) Now the Law has done its work. We are rendered helpless in its presence. Of course the first failures only serve to make us try harder—and raise the bar. Realizing that we are not living up to our own standards of righteousness we make a new commitment. No more ice cream. No more television. No more pornography on the internet. Then one day we are tired and feeling deserving of some down time, we veg-out before the TV. Having failed we go ahead and eat three bowls of ice cream and even turn on the computer to find the illegitimate stimulation. Now we are guilty and full of reproach. So we raise the bar. Take the TV out of the house. No more ice cream in the fridge. No more computer time late at night…. But the lonely heart with bent toward self-fulfillment will find a way to get past the new laws and there is a whole new level of reproach. The result is a vicious cycle that can’t be stopped by suppressing the urge.

It is a dishonor to the Law to believe we can live up to it. It is deception to believe that we only need information to become righteous. "Just say no" doesn’t work because it is not ignorance that has us in bondage, but sin. It is a power that controls us. It is stronger than our wills and more devious than our understanding.

So is there hope for the man or woman who lives under the Law? There is good news. Look!

The key word here is "only". The marriage to the Law is valid only as long as we are alive. Dead we are free from the Law. Free from the husband who lives to point out our failures. Free to live without sin consciousness and self-reproach. Free to think again without self-preservation being the main motive. Is it possible?

It is the gospel! Jesus has taken the condemnation of sin upon Himself and fulfilled the Law. He died and was raised again. By faith we can enter into Him and His death and resurrection becomes ours. We through Him die. Now we are married not to the Law but to Him who reflects our potential and grace-filled destiny rather than our faults. The fruit of this union is life and love. The Spirit He gives to live in us produces what the Law could only promise but not produce. Now our concern is to learn to live in the new relationship. The tendency is to mix the Law with grace. It cannot be done. Living by the Spirit is beyond living by the Law. It is a life of love, passion, purpose, self-giving love, sacrifice, suffering, overcoming. Everything is measured by love rather than Law. The ethics of the New Testament all come out of the gospel. The behavior is a result of the union with Christ. The Law is honored by our living above it in the power of agape.

Paul moves from the discussion of the Law in chapter 7 to the life of the Spirit in Chapter 8. He reminds us that we now must "set our minds on the things of the Spirit." That is the challenge we face. We are no longer trying to fulfill the demands of the Law. We are trusting Him to do in us what the Law demanded from us. He is fully capable. He raised Jesus from the dead by the same Spirit that lives in us. We are challenged to live with romance in view rather than legal requirements.

If your spirituality is not satisfying, try this one. If it promises but cannot produce, it probably is law-based. There is good news. You can die out of that relationship and be united to One who loves you completely. He will change you from the inside out. He will instill in you a grace that lives beyond selfishness. It will satisfy your soul because it glorifies His name.