The Morally Unacceptable
If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is––that she is a sinner. ––Luke 7:39
Religion is tricky. I’m not talking Jesus-connected relationship, but plain ‘ol religion. On the surface, it looks great: folks who try to follow a set moral code based on a higher spiritual source. What could possibly be wrong with that? A lot, actually, according to Jesus. Religion is about outward actions and requirements while spiritual relationship is about intimacy and internal connection.
In his excellent book The Kingdom System: A Pattern for Guaranteed Success, business entrepreneur Charlie Lewis delineates religion from Kingdom relationship this way:
God Himself as Jesus Christ brought the Kingdom system to the earth and delivered it to humanity so that all of humanity can be successful. The system is not religious. It is not based on constrictive laws of “regulation and compliance,” but on a relationship with a loving God.
Religious people—such as the Pharisees in Jesus’ day—followed these rules of regulation and compliance to the tee. In contrast, Jesus followed the system “not made by human hands” called the Kingdom of God. Here is an example of when God’s Kingdom collided with the Pharisees’ religious regulations:
When … Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, [a woman] came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. ––Luke 7:36-38
To make matters worse, Luke tells us the woman was probably a prostitute (she had “a sinful life”). The Pharisees—and tellingly, Judas—were offended by such extravagance in which the expensive perfume could have been sold to give to the poor. Jesus, however, saw the Kingdom purpose behind the action—He saw the woman’s heart; her love; her commitment—which was to anoint His body for burial.
Most Christians have a hard time separating the sin and the sinner. Jesus did not; He didn’t make the distinction between outward sins and the less visible sins of the heart. The problem was, the religious didn’t see themselves as Jesus saw them. Jesus lumped them all in the same category as the woman––sinners who need to be sanctified, people who need a savior and cannot earn their way to heaven on their own merit. By God’s grace the woman realized that she couldn’t be sinless and that Jesus would accept her, sins and all.
Satan is well aware of our “cause and effect” mentality; our transactional, weight-scaled, religious mindset. When we are filled with God’s Spirit and not in a broken fellowship with Him, we become freed from the bondage of trying to be good enough. Then, we can fully walk in the Kingdom.
Thank You, Father, for the freedom and the peace that passes all understanding, that understanding is that You just love us, plain and simple.
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2 The Kingdom System, Charlie Lewis, Kingdom Media LLC (January 1, 2013)
3 Matthew 26:12