7 Signs Your Church Might Be Legalistic

As a conservative Christian who strives to live by the fundamentals of the faith, I am probably called all kinds of things behind my back. Certainly, people online seem to have no trouble telling me how awful I am for the terrible acts I commit such as believing the Bible is true and expecting that Christians will obey (or at least try to) the Lord. The word that gets hurled around the most at people like me is probably legalist. Churches like mine also tend to fall victim to the same perception. Legalistic. Well, we can’t keep throwing that accusation around at anyone who lives a conservative Christian lifestyle. Instead, let’s reserve the term for when it truly applies. Not sure how to identify a legalistic church? Let’s start by examining seven signs that a church might be legalistic. Then, you’ll be ready to discern between conservatism and legalism.

What Is Legalism?

Before we can identify a legalistic church or person, we need to have a working definition of legalism. Unfortunately, most people who label the “legalists” around them are severely misapplying the term.

Legalism is not:

1. Reading the Bible every day.

2. Requiring your children to attend church while they live in your home.

3. Refraining from certain activities, entertainment, and places out of personal conviction.

4. Giving to your church regularly.

5. Believing something is a sin despite it being acceptable in the current culture.

6. Obedience to God.

There a lot more things I could add to that list, but I think you get the idea. To many, legalism can be defined as anything that ruins someone’s fun and adheres to biblical separation and godly living. Hopefully, that’s obviously incorrect. So, what is legalism, then?

According to the dictionary, legalism is excessive adherence to law or formula. In practice, this often looks like stacking laws on top of laws. The law states we are not to commit adultery, but someone may create a law, so to speak, that men and women can’t interact without their spouses present. Let me be clear. Someone feeling personally convicted about that and choosing to follow that rule is not being legalistic. The legalism comes in when he thinks he’s closer to God because of it or puts that rule on others to follow in order to be faithful and obedient Christians.

God has given us a room in our walk with Him to make decisions about how we’ll live out our faith, and some folks are simply not willing to allow people to live a Christian life without inserting their micromanagement and personal standards.

It’s Possible Your Church Might Be Legalistic

My husband was saved seventeen years ago, but his conversion was tangled up with a legalistic church. Some members of that church were grace-filled believers who loved the Lord above all else. I don’t doubt that. However, the teaching and leadership were almost laughably stereotypically legalistic. He was a new believer, though, and he had no way to know.

He moved across the country not longer after becoming a Christian, and the first church he attended (and stayed at for a while) was also legalistic. Again, he didn’t know much better, but he did know some things felt wrong. Eventually, he left and found a wonderful church that is still thriving today and sharing the gospel in Oregon.

I look back and wonder how my husband didn’t know something was wrong with those churches, but why would he have known? No one told him what legalism was or how to spot it. It’s too late for my husband, but I’d like to help anyone who thinks her church might be legalistic. Let’s look for the clues.

Is Your Church Legalistic?

1. Your Church Might Be Legalistic If It Has A Hyper-Focus On Sin

Christians should discuss sin, identity sin, and warn against sin. I, in no way, want to minimize the importance of understanding sin. Without understanding what sin is (i.e., disobeying God), we can’t understand our own spiritual condition.

On the other hand, the gospel isn’t just fire and brimstone. There is so much more to it than eternal punishment for those who die guilty in their sins. There’s Jesus and His sacrificial love for us that played out on the cross. We don’t have to pay our sin debt if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior because He has already paid it. (Amen! Am I right?)

Legalist churches, however, spend more time on sin than on God’s grace, love, redemption, etc. This is a tactic to keep congregants scared and under control. “I better act right… I don’t want to make God mad.”

2. Your Church Might Be Legalistic If There Is An Absence Of Grace

This is the natural consequence of our previous point. Legalistic churches play down grace, and you’ll find little gentleness and kindness from leadership and some of the members.

A healthy church will be a safe environment to admit imperfections, sin struggles, and to ask for prayer. That isn’t so in a legalistic church. Admitting a sin struggle would bring condemnation and even lead to some people pulling away.

The lack of grace is seen between the people in the church, but it is also seen behind the pulpit. Shame? Check. Hell? Check. Rules for how to dress, act, and speak? Check. The love of God and His unmerited favor bestowed upon His children? Well, let’s just say that’s MIA.

3. Your Church Might Be Legalistic If It Avoids “The Heathens”

The Christian Bubble can be a problem among believers, but I don’t think it’s usually nefarious. We all prefer to spend time with our friends and people who enjoy the same things as us, but sometimes that leads to Christians rarely, if ever, spending time with unbelievers. We all need to actively work on being a witness to the world and befriending those who don’t know Jesus.

Legalistic churches are different. Members are discouraged from being around people outside of their bubble. They aren’t looking to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). Rather, their goal is to be as separate as possible. I’m not sure how one reflects Christ this way, but your character and maybe salvation itself is in question if you spend time with unchurched people in your community unless you are giving them a clear gospel witness.

The heart of the issue is an Us vs. Them mentality. Legalistic churches teach, perhaps implicitly, that “we’re better than them.” I always say, “I’m no better than anyone else. I’m just better off than some.” It’s so important to remember that without Jesus Christ, we’re no different than any unsaved person we meet. Without Jesus, today I could be like my mom in her forties, drinking so much it ruined her marriage and friendships, tanked her career, and ultimately killed her. My life, though, had a “but God…” moment and changed everything.

We can’t wait in our pristine churches for the lost to come to us. They’re lost! We need to guide them home. There is no Us and Them. We’re all sinners in need of the Savior. In that, we’re all the same.

4. Your Church Might Be Legalistic If Outward Performance Is Essential

After a move early in our marriage, my husband and I returned to the church in which he was saved. Sometimes he had the opportunity to fill in for the pastor to gain experience preaching. The only feedback I recall was that he didn’t wear a tie when he preached the evening service, and people complained to the pastor about it. Also, when he led kids’ programming, he had to wear long pants in the middle of the summer in Central Illinois because he has a tattoo on his calf.

Ties and covered tattoos weren’t the only rules. Women were expected to wear dresses and skirts whenever they were in the church. No female could serve on any Sunday she wore pants. Even the assistant pastor’s infant daughter had to wear dresses. Of course, the dresses didn’t bother me, but the attitude and looks a woman in pants received did.

I’ll be among the first to say that it matters how we present ourselves. Like it or not, people judge us based on what they can see. But our pastor and some of the members believed that all the outward behaviors affected our salvation. No, they never said, “Julie, your skirt saves you,” but when someone broke the unofficial rules, the hushed conversations about the legitimacy of that person’s salvation began. What a contradiction to one of the most well-known passages of Scripture among believers.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

5. Your Church Might Be Legalistic If It Uses Manipulative Money Tactics

One of the topics my husband likes to preach on least is money. He had a pastor who shamed people’s giving from the pulpit and continued passing the basket around until he was satisfied the congregants had given enough.

After those experiences, my husband doesn’t want to be lumped in with greedy and manipulative pastors who use their position as a cover for their love of money. So, you won’t find him preaching on money unless he’s at a section of Scripture that deals with it.

And the Bible does have a lot to say about money. Here are a few verses to keep in mind when a pastor bullies us from the pulpit about our giving.

What Does God Say About Money?

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV)

Giving is not meant to be something we’re pressured into by another person. We decide what to give, and we give it willingly with a cheerful heart.

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”

Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)

The pastors in legalistic churches often end up using the control they have over their congregation to build personal wealth and a little kingdom for themselves. Your money, as they see it, is their money. Meanwhile, look at what God tells us about the love of money. We should be free of it because it leads us to sin and stray from Him. A pastor who manipulates people out of money for his gain is falling into this sin.

I’m not willing to go on record as saying all legalistic churches are led by pastors who put an overemphasis on people’s giving, but I won’t deny that there does seem to be a strong link between spiritual manipulation concerning money and legalistic churches.

6. Your Church Might Be Legalistic If It Worships The Pastor

No church is going to willingly say, “We worship the Lord and Pastor So-And-So here.” On the other hand, it becomes pretty obvious after you speak with members and observe church functioning.

• Congregants will often invite people to church to see the pastor, as if he’s the reason to go.
• Some legalistic churches cease encouraging believers to be Berean Christians, and church members instead ingest what the pastor says as if God Himself is speaking.
• No one can criticize or question the pastor. He’s the “Lord’s anointed,” therefore, he’s above your critical spirit, ya sinner.
• He has little to no accountability.
• He often acts as a one-man show. It’s top-down leadership, and the church does whatever he wants.

This is, of course, foolishness. A pastor is a member of the church who serves in a very particular way, but he isn’t beyond the same need for accountability. He is still fallible, and he needs his church family just as they need him. The pastor is a man. It’s as simple as that, but many legalistic churches treat their pastors as something more than mere man. And, y’all, that’s not just creepy; it’s sin.

7. Your Church Might Be Legalistic If It Blames People For The Bad Things In Their Own Lives

Do you remember the blind man in John 9? He was born blind, and Jesus’ disciples asked if the blind man or his parents had sinned. You see, they assumed that for this man to be blind, someone’s sin must have caused it. Of course, we understand that in our fallen world there is disease, suffering, and death. That is the consequence of sin entering the world. But we sure do like to find someone to blame.

In a legalistic church, someone’s suffering is often blamed on unrepentant sin. I don’t think I can accurately capture the heartbreak and unnecessary guilt lobbed at faithful Christians because of miscarriage, cancer diagnoses, an adult child’s drug addiction, the loss of a job, etc. I’m definitely not saying that God doesn’t chasten His children, and I affirm that God can use any means He desires to do so. To believe that all “bad’” things that happen are our own fault brought upon us by our sin is madness, though.

Why teach this? Why treat people like this? It’s more control, fearmongering, and fixation on the outward appearance. They’re looking at it wrong, however. We know there will be hard times for all of us because the Bible literally says so. There are plenty of places to look for discussion about trials and tribulations in the Bible, but James is one of my favorites.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

James 1:2-4 (ESV)

We will face trials, but it isn’t a time to point fingers and make accusations. Rather, it’s a time to turn to the Lord and remember that even in difficulties, He’s growing us in our faith. Even in this, He is glorified.

Final Thought

You might wonder why I think we should warn against legalistic churches. Friend, they do so much damage. They keep the unsaved at an arm’s length, spiritually abuse congregants, add works to salvation, and ignore the hope found in the gospel by continually stewing in the bad news. Moreover, they confirm negative stereotypes about conservative Christians despite the fact that they are not representative of many, dare I say most, of us. Don’t turn your back on them, though. Pray for them to experience grace and show them Christlikeness in your interactions with them. It’s never too late for them to change.

What signs did I miss? Do you have experiences with legalistic churches?

Image courtesy of Kiwihug via Unsplash.