The Pilgrim’s Progress – V

After leaving the Swamp, the next thing that occurs in Christian’s journey is an encounter with Worldly Wiseman who convinces Christian that there is no need to follow the path to the Narrow Gate and onward to the Celestial City to relieve himself of his burden, there is no need to subject himself to the many perils and hardships along that way; the better thing to do is to travel to the Village of Morality and seek out Mr. Legality (page 11ff Barbour edition).

Encounters with the Swamp affect people differently, many are like the seed sown on rocky soil, they return to living life their own way, leaving the path to the Way and never coming to know Jesus. There is an encounter with Jesus Christ, for the seed sown is manifested in life springing up – but there is no consummation of relationship. Ah, this is a mystery to me.

While Morality and Legality have similarities, they are also different and here Bunyan confuses the two; though in his historical context he no doubt saw little or no distinction because he strikes me as a writer of precision. Could he have missed this one?

When I was young in Christ I also encountered Morality and Legality in my journey to Christ. Morality was in the form of the prevalent 1950’s mentality that if one was an American that one was a Christian (unless one was a Jew). This mentality carried over into the 1960’s with the adults of the WWII years, hence when I came to Christ some of my family couldn’t understand it because I was already an American and we were Presbyterian/Christian, so why was I becoming something which I already was? My dear dear aunt reminded me of my family’s (mother’s side) roots in New England Congregationalism, and in education – surely morality based in idealism and tradition and sound political and educational thinking deserved my consideration – rather than running off over the horizon toward the Narrow Gate. Morality is the basis of righteousness – that was and is the message.

Legality introduced itself to me in the first church I regularly attended as I was coming to know Jesus, Christianity was about how we looked and talked, whether we smoked or drank alcohol, whether we danced or not, and a number of other things. Legality has the same message as Morality – it is the basis of righteousness.

In both instances, neither Morality nor Legality pointed me to the love and grace of Jesus Christ; in my case Legality was more insidious because I thought that by adopting it that I was following Jesus. The result was failure and frustration on a number of fronts; I didn’t know the Biblical truth that the Law, and hence Legality in any form, including its purest form in the Mosaic Law, can only produce transgression, condemnation, and death (2 Corinthians Chapter Three). When I see this today in churches and people I know there isn’t much I can do but pray and hope for a better day for the folks for it took me a few years to “catch” the reality of the Cross and the grace of Jesus Christ, so weighed down was I by Legality – even then I wonder how it affected me over the course of my life.

My biggest regret over my adoption of Legality is not the effect it had on me, but the effect I had on other people when I was legalistic, both in my teaching/witnessing and in my actions. My focus was on behavior more than anything; that focus was often communicated harshly and self-righteously. What a fool I was. Jesus is really all that matters.