1. Perfectionism - "Setting extremely high standards and being displeased with anything less. A belief that moral or spiritual  perfection can be achieved by people in this life. (Webster's)    

 
                    

2. Idealism - The practice of envisioning things in ideal form. (Webster's) An idealist is one who is impractical and unrealistic while  pursuing ideals                                                                                             
              

3. Legalism - Strict literal adherence to the law, enforcing rigid requirements (Webster's)



Perfectionism

In Genesis 17:1 NKJ we read, "When Abram was ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him "I am almighty God, walk before Me and be blameless." (perfect KJV) The word "blameless" or "perfect" in the original Hebrew is "tamiyn" which means "without blemish" or "undefiled" (Psalm 119:1) If God was commanding Abram to be perfect from this time forth, Abram failed miserably! When God told him to be blameless, or perfect, God proceeded it with giving Abram a new revelation of Himself. This is the first place we read of one of God's names "Almighty God" in Hebrew "El Shaddai", which means all-sufficient, all-powerful, and very possibly, based on the Hebrew root "shad" which means "breast", it also speaks of God who nourishes, supplies and satisfies us (Gen 49:25, Is 66:10-13)

So in essence, God is saying: be perfect, without blemish, and blameless, but know this: I am the all-sufficient, all-powerful One who nourishes and supplies you with the supernatural ability to make this happen! Perfectionism is rampant in the church today and those who cling to it find its fruits: frustration, discouragement, despair, a sense of failure, low self-worth and condemnation. We need to beware! Jesus did teach us to be perfect in Matthew 5:48, but in the same breath, the very next verse, He says, "Take heed" or "Beware"! We must realize that God's work and the Spirit's fruit cannot be attained by our attempts at being perfect!

Helpful Scriptures: Phil. 3:12, James 1:16, 17  Matthew 11:28-30
Matthew 23 shows the best examples of perfectionism in Scripture: the Pharisees
One of the very best verses addressing perfectionism is Psalm 119:96
"To all perfection I see a limit, but Your commands are boundless." In other words, those entangled in perfectionism have "tunnel vision", a very narrow view of God's commands, like putting God in a box, but His commands are boundless.


Idealism

An idealist usually is best friends with a perfectionist, and more often than not, they are the same person. An idealist will envision great lofty scenarios for Himself and the church, mention it often, but always comes short of the goal. An idealist in the church will speak of the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, the great Azusa Street and Welsh revivals, and never rest until the work of God is completed with similar results. Those who practice idealism may call it vision, and be esteemed for such spiritual goals, but if they are figments of man's imagination and fleshly zeal, they will ignore the practicality of implementation, and will always result in disappointment, despair, and frustration - both in the idealist and those around him.

Do we find examples of idealists in Scripture? Yes, please take the time to refresh your memory of these examples:

1. Moses - High ideal to deliver Israel from bondage, but discovered he had the wrong timing, and the wrong source of strength.
           (Acts 7:20-34)

2. The Pharisees - again! They were incredible idealists with lofty goals for themselves and others, but when the very Truth of God 
                     personified walked among them, they sought to kill Him! (Matt. 23)

3. Peter - When He was with Jesus during His transfiguration, the Lord was speaking with Moses and Elijah in His glory, and Peter's
           idealism created his desire to build three tabernacles! (Matt. 17:1-8)

4. Martha - Distracted by her high ideals of having to serve, serve, serve! The Greek word for ministry is translated here as serve                                    
            (Luke 10:38-42)

Godly vision is essential in accomplishing the work of God, and true godly vision is birthed from His Word and empowered by His Spirit. It is always practical, refreshing, and results in the Kingdom of God advancing on earth and God being glorified! The resulting fruits of idealism are the same as perfectionism (frustration, discouragement, despair, a sense of failure, low self-worth and condemnation).


Legalism

Lastly, we find legalism, also a close companion to perfectionism and idealism, and again often found together in the same people and churches. The book of Galatians was written by the apostle Paul to combat this very thing, which was a part of Gnosticism.. Paul had established the church in Galatia, left, then received word that those new believers set free in Christ, had returned once again to some different, twisted gospel message of works and effort to gain God's approval. Paul was amazed and said "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ (Gal. 1:6).

Legalism is not just some ancient evil that somehow died off along the way, it is very much alive and well today and thriving in many churches! The legalist usually begins with sincere motives to be busy working, praying, teaching, fasting, evangelizing, worshipping - all good and important things! But somewhere along the way, the legalist begins to keep lists, disciplines himself to certain standards to please God, and then compares himself to others who are not as disciplined or as dedicated.

Setting goals like praying an hour a day, or reading the Bible through twice in a year can be helpful, but too many times we impose these standards on ourselves and others to appease God, to earn more of His favor and blessing, and then it is deadly legalism! If we have these high standards of spiritual disciplines to cause God's blessings and favor, and if we fail one day or at times become too busy to maintain that schedule, we feel frustrated, disappointed, and believe that God is not pleased with us.  One of the problems with the legalist, perfectionist, and idealist, is that they are never satisfied to keep their standard to themselves, they are always busy spreading the bad news of their "gospel" to others!


The Way Out

Here's where the great exchange applies. I sincerely believe that we can exchange our perfectionism, idealism, and legalism for three substitutes which are far greater. Before I list them, let me give one of my reasons for this idea of "exchange":

In Isaiah 40:31 it says, "But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

The Hebrew word translated "renew" also has a very clear meaning of "exchange". Notice that this renewal or exchange is for those who faint and are weary. The three "isms" we have discussed all result in weariness and fatigue. Perfectionism, Idealism, and Legalism all lead people into bondage! The corrupt heart in all of us, apart from God's grace, naturally drifts and seeks these things leading to bondage. Ancient Israel, just like us, continually wanted to return to Egypt, which was called "the house of bondage"! We need to exchange our bondage for God's grace! More specifically, our perfection, idealism, and legalism needs to be exchanged for faith, hope, and love.

Our perfectionism for God-given faith!
Our idealism for God-given hope!
Our legalism for God-given love!

Seven is God's divine number of perfection on Earth, and we find these three faith, hope, and love, linked together seven times in the New Testament:

1 Thess. 5:8  Col. 1:4,5  Gal. 5:5,6  1 Peter 1:21,22  Ro. 5:1-5  1 Cor. 13:13  Ro. 12:9-13

In the passage in Galatians 5:1,5,6 it states, "Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage... For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love."

In my Bible, I circled in red, every time the words "bondage" and "grace" appear in Galatians. "Bondage" is used six times - and six is symbolic of the number of man. This speaks of the corrupt human heart which is inclined to bondage. "Grace" however, appears seven times! Again, seven is the biblical number of God's perfection on Earth, here we see that God is perfect and desires us to be perfect, but it is only realized by His grace!

Paul said in 1 Cor. 13:13, "And now abide, faith, hope, love. These three, but the greatest is love." The Pharisees of old, and many in the church today, might read that differently, "And now abide perfection, idealism, legalism, but the greatest is legalism."!

I pray that all of us who have been even remotely influenced by this distorted, twisted view of grace, which leads to bondage, would lay it down at the cross! I believe that the triad of faith, hope, and love is much more than just a common saying, it is an absolutely essential living truth that can set us free if we allow the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to it! I have much more to say about these things, more is developing and will come at a future date, please pray for me!

Finally, I want to conclude with some very helpful warning signs that can help keep us from the religious bondage of these dangerous "isms". Some of the warning signs were gleaned from Rick Joyner's teachings, please read them all the way through to the last one!


Warning Signs of a Religious Spirit Which Leads to Bondage

1.Tend to see your primary mission as tearing down what you think is wrong.
2. The inability to take a rebuke, especially from those you judge less-spiritual.
3. A philosophy that will not listen to other people, only to God.
4. Overwhelming guilt that you can never measure up to God's standard.
5. The tendency to see more of what is wrong with people and other churches, than what is right with them.
6. The b
1.elief that you have been appointed to "fix" everyone else.
7. A leadership style that is bossy, overbearing, and intolerant of the failures of others.
8. A sense that you are closer to God than other people or that your life/ministry is more pleasing to God than other's.
9. The belief that you are on the "cutting edge" of what God is doing.
10. A mechanical prayer life.
11. Constantly doing things so that people will notice.
12. The tendency to be suspicious of or oppose new movements in other churches.
13, The inability to join or endorse anything you deem is not "perfect".
14. The belief that you discover deep new meanings in Scripture that nobody else has seen before.
15, If while reading these warning signs, you were thinking of how they apply to someone else, you may have a serious problem with
religious spirit !

These signs, (and this entire study) were not intended or directed at any one individual or church, rather all of us involved in church ministry, with my name at the top of the list! "He whom the Son sets free is free indeed!"  (John 8:36)

Grace & peace,

John Boda