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LEGALISM 

When Patsy Dancy was a student nurse, one of her jobs was to assist patients who were being discharged from the hospital by pushing them in a wheelchair to the front door. Usually, patients complied but not always. As she entered one patient’s room, she found an older man, sitting up on the side of his bed, fully dressed with a suitcase at his feet. When she offered to wheel him down to the front door, he resisted, saying he didn’t need any assistance. “But it is our hospital policy,” Patsy said, “rules are rules and you need to comply with them.” Grudgingly, the elder gentleman complied. Making small talk, Patsy asked, “Will your wife be meeting you?” “I don’t know,” he said, “she is up in her room changing out of her hospital gown.” 

—Reader’s Digest, October 2003, p. 57 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson 

Romans 10:2 (NIV) “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.”

In Wichita, Kansas, authorities charged Paul Weigand with driving without a seat belt. Mr. Weigand told the court that he was keeping the law, he was wearing a seat belt. The police pointed out that, yes, he was wearing a seat belt, and he had it buckled. However, the belt was not attached to the car. He was wearing the seat belt as a . . . well, as a belt. 

--World, March 12, 2011 p. 23 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

Even though Paul Weigand claimed he was literally in compliance with the seat belt law, the judge did not see it that way. In much the same way as Jesus found the Pharisees guilty of keeping the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law, the Judge fined Mr. Weigand $30.00 and court costs. 

Matthew 23:23 (NASB) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others

Recently the white house has dropped many regulations that “conflict, that are not worth the cost or that are just plain dumb.”

“The EPA will no longer classify spilled milk at a dairy farm as an oil spill, saving $146 million.”

“The Transportation Department will apply certain kinds of railroad safety equipment ‘only where they are actually needed’ saving up to $1 billion.”

“The Treasury Department will drop references in some of its rules on Yugoslavia, a country that broke up in 2003.”

“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will eliminate more than 1.9 million annual hours’ worth of ‘redundant reporting requirements’ for air quality, saving $40 million a year.” 

--Time, June 13, 2011, p. 18 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

The early church dropped some of the legalistic requirements they were putting on Christians as well. Luke writes the story of the Jerusalem conference in Acts 15. The Jewish element of the church wanted to force Jewish rules on the new Gentile believers.

 Acts 15:19-20 (ESV) (19) Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, (20) but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 

“We just have rules and regulations that we have to follow by,” explained a store employee when asked about the store putting an immobilizing boot on a working ambulance. The ambulance had responded to a call from the convenience store and EMTs were inside the store treating a heart attack victim. When they came out to transport the patient to the hospital they discovered the boot on their ambulance. 

Sometimes rules and regulations overcome plain common sense. Jesus tried to explain that to the multitudes that followed him.--Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Ambulance-gets-booted-while-tending-to-emergency-181631351.html The Week, December 14, 2012 p. 4

Mark 2:27 (HCSB) Then He told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. 

An Ohio appeals court agreed with a woman and said her parking ticket should be dismissed because the law she broke was missing a coma. Andrea Cammelleri said she should not have been issued a ticket based on the wording of the law alone. The law lists several types of vehicles that cannot be parked longer than 24 hours, including a “motor vehicle camper,” with no comma separating vehicle and camper. She said her pickup did not fit that definition.  The village said they thought the meaning was clear in context, but the Appeals Court Judge said in the ruling that the village would have to amend the law if they want it to read differently. In the meantime, he dismissed the case because Cammelleri does not own a “motor vehicle camper.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Woman's parking citation tossed because of missing comma,
http://news.yahoo.com/womans-parking-citation-tossed-because-missing-comma-131422509.html, Accessed July 1, 2015.

Galatians 5:23 (NKJV) (23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 

LEGALISM

Police in Taiwan, investigating an accident discovered that a 5-year-old boy caused the accident when he crashed his bicycle into a Tesla. The law says that all motorists are to get their blood-alcohol level checked after an accident. The officers dutifully followed the law and hooked the 5-year-old up to a breathalyzer. Of course, he passed. In the future Taipei Police will be able to use discretion when dealing with children.

World, May 9, 2020 p. 19

There is always a place for common sense when dealing with people. In the church especially, we can usually look at the needs of people rather than the letter of the law. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Mark 2:27 (CSB)

Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.