I remember a debate we had in my senior seminar class at WSC on the importance of attending two services on the Lord's Day each week. One student argued that we shouldn't stress attendance at both services. Another retorted that if someone really loved the Lord, he would attend both. Such a retort earned the latter student a "Brother, we need to talk" talk from the former student.
(I took a sick sort of amusement in the post-class talk between the two because I was tired of always being the recipient of the "Brother, we need to talk" talks.)
What was the offense of the latter student? Pride disguised as piety. The latter student may have been correct in his position, but his use of it as a point of judgment was in very poor taste. In fact, it was such an attitude that kept me from being a two service guy until after seminary. By condemning my conscience with something that was not clearly laid out in Scripture, rather than alluring my conscience with broader, biblical considerations (book-ending the Lord's DAY, having God directly address me twice, being reminded of my heavenly citizenship, etc)--I made myself intentionally stubborn on the matter.
Pride disguised as piety. This most ugly of characteristics is found throughout the church (and my own heart!). I heard of it second-hand a few months ago when a number of believers out here were discussing topics for a potential small group. One suggested sexual purity, which was quickly dismissed by another because mature believers should not struggle with such matters. Pride disguised as piety.
I saw an email chain recently where one person questioned the wisdom of an hour and a half long Christmas Eve service, considering the demands on the time of soldiers. Another person responded "1.5 hours is not too long for a Christmas program. After all it is a celebration of Christ's birth." Such petty pietistic snarkiness digs under my skin (though again, I am certainly guilty of it in other instances). Where does the Scripture mandate a minimum time limit for a service, let alone a Christmas or Christmas Eve service at all? This imposition of extra-biblical standards upon a believer's conscience seems to be stark violation of Scripture (Col. 2).
Here is a general rule for preaching that can be extended to believers as well: Where the Word the God does not speak, the minister of God must shut up. This is not an absolute, but as Pharisees by nature, we must always guard ourselves against binding our conscience or that of another with regulations that are not in Scripture. We have freedom in Christ (Galatians 5), and this especially includes freedom from the conscience-binding commandments of men (1 Cor. 10).
As Peter argued at Presbytery (the Council of Jerusalem) in Acts 15, we should not place a yoke around the neck of others that we cannot bear. In reality, we often judge others in order to acquit ourselves of our sin and exalt ourselves in our supposed righteousness. Mired in the quicksand of sin, we forsake the cross of Christ stretched forth for us and instead grab hold of the head of the next man, pushing his head under in order to propel ourselves further.
But why go to such lengths when Christ has gone to much greater lengths for our sake? Why resort to such petty pretenses of piety when Christ perfectly fulfilled the law with His own life of righteousness? Why try to acquit ourselves before God and man by leveraging ourselves against others when Christ has imputed His own righteousness to our accounts and forever reconciled us to God?
Brothers and sisters, let us forsake this "pridety" and own the righteousness already given us, going forth in the riches of Christ rather than the rags of our self-righteousness.
