Legalism Police

The other day I read an editorial – unfortunately, I did not save the URL, nor can I locate it when searching – about a mix-up in labels for Whole Foods salads. An employee made an error and vegetarian salads were labeled chicken while chicken salads were labeled vegetarian. Such labeling is very important for people with allergies, but also very important for vegans. The last graph in the article stated there was no room for compromise, no room for error.

While searching for the editorial, I ran across another titled “The Vegan Police” on the site NoCompromise.org. Here’s just a small sample from that article:

I remember questioning why I should feel guilty for trying to live as pure of a life as possible. … As Don Barnes from NAVS states in his paper, The Dangers of Elitism, "The Vegan Police do more harm than good, for they seek to shame rather than inspire, to coerce rather than convince and to mock rather than act as a model for others". I do not entirely agree with Don, in that I don't think the intentions of those deputies in the vegan police are always to shame, coerce and mock. Mostly, I think it is outrage that causes activists to ridicule the actions of others.

I thought about the desire to live a pure life. From my point of view, that’s what Christianity is, just as Christ spoke:

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Just a few verses earlier He said:

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

I do understand our goal and I press toward that mark, that high calling of God, but I remain imperfect.  How then do I feel when that imperfection is shamed, coerced or mocked?  That’s when I thought about how that paragraph could read with just a few changes:

I remember questioning why I should feel guilty for trying to live as pure of a life as possible. … As a preacher from an evangelical church stated in his sermon, The Dangers of Legalism, "The Legalist do more harm than good, for they seek to shame rather than inspire, to coerce rather than convince and to mock rather than act as a model for others". I do not entirely agree, in that I don't think the intentions of those deputies in the legalism police are always to shame, coerce and mock. Mostly, I think it is outrage that causes legalists to ridicule the actions of others.

Does legalist outrage have a place in our Christian walk? Christ did throw over the money changers  in the temple, and He did address the Pharisees:

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Matthew 23:33)

Yet the majority of His message remains:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

No amount of policing can enforce these commandments. The love comes from the heart, not out of shame but contriteness; not out of coercion but concern; never out of mockery but by example.