Optimistic Legalism

Yesterday I touted Jared Wilson's new blog, Gospel-Driven Church. Well, his post entitled The Weird Modern Desire for Legalism (And How Some People Don't Even Know They Have It) is a really good example of his work. Jared speaks of the "optimistic legalism" of the modern self-help gospel.

And people love this stuff. They want to be told religion is not about rules and regulations while at the same time being told each week which four steps (with helpful alliteration) they need to do in order to achieve maximum what-have-you. They want to be reassured that works don't merit salvation while at the same time convinced salvation is about trying really hard to do things that unlock the power or secret of God's such-and-such.

Yeah, I've noticed that strange convergence as well. This type preaches that God loves you with "no strings attached," then give you a to-do list for unleashing God's power, etc. etc. Why don't more people notice that, umm, it doesn't compute!