Beware of RELIGIOUS FORMAL DEATH

Since legalism is a dead religious spirit that focuses on rules above relationship with God it naturally saps life, freedom, joy and spontaneity. God is the Fountain of Life from which all life flows, whether physical or spiritual, and Yeshua is “the life” who came to give us “life to the full” (John 14:6 & 10:10). As such, those who move away from The Life to focus on rules and ritual will move further and further away from the abundant life the Messiah came to give.

Think about it, if we are “made alive with Christ” then those who move away from him move toward death (Colossians 2:13). They’ll develop a sterile spirit as spiritual rigor mortis sets in. Unsurprisingly, religious gatherings of such people will have a very formal, lifeless air. Those performing the various aspects of the services—whether pastors, teachers, worship leaders, elders or deacons—will seem to be just “going through the motions.” They’ll function like religious zombies. It goes without saying that attending these services will be dreadfully boring. Why? There’s no life there.

Two Biblical Examples

We see evidence of this sterile spirit in a few of the churches that Christ addressed in Revelation 2-3. The Lord gave each of these seven assemblies a report card. Why did he pick these specific fellowships? Because they characterize the seven basic types of churches that would exist throughout the Church Age. What Jesus said to these assemblies is therefore relevant in any time period.

He had nothing good to say about two of the churches, one being the church of Laodicea. Notice what Jesus said to this group of believers:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

Revelation 3:15-17

Christ rebuked these believers for being “lukewarm” and threatened to spit the whole fellowship out of his mouth if they didn’t repent, meaning he would “pull the plug” on them and they’d be a ‘church’ in name only.

The Lord wished they were cold or hot rather than lukewarm. This was an allusion to nearby cold and hot springs. The cold springs were useful for refreshing and the hot springs for bathing, but lukewarm water was useless.

Notice what Jesus goes on to say:

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:19-20

Verse 20 has traditionally been used by evangelicals to verbally witness to the lost, which would suggest that Christ was addressing unbelievers, but this wasn’t the case. Jesus was talking to believers who had pushed him out of their fellowship. They forsook relationship with the Lord for religion and consequently became lukewarm—sterile, lifeless, useless. They were just “playing church,” just going through the motions.

There are assemblies like this in practically every community today, all over the world. Jesus is knocking on their doors wanting in, but they’re convinced everything’s fine because they have money, a nice facility, regular congregants, etc. (The Laodicean believers certainly felt this way, as observed in Revelation 3:17). But the Lord is ready to pull the plug on them altogether if they don’t repent. Some of them he already has, like the Episcopal Church (which is not to say that there aren’t any genuine believers still in the Episcopal Church; there’s usually a “remnant” faithful).

The church in Ephesus wasn’t as bad as the one in Laodicea. The Lord commended them for several things—their good deeds, their hard work, their perseverance and their refusal to tolerate false teachers. These are all good, but notice where they missed it:

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵ Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent, and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Revelation 2:4-5

The Ephesians forsook their “first love.” They steadily moved away from relationship with the Lord toward cold, mechanical religion. They maintained orthodoxy and performed good works, which is good, but they lost intimacy with God. They were just going through the motions. They had the outward veneer of Christianity but lacked its heart. Since Christianity at its core is a relationship with God and the first and greatest command is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:29-30), this was a grievous offense, which is why Christ said they had fallen from a great height.

Reflect on that: As far as Jesus was concerned they had fallen from a great height! In other words, it was no little transgression. They stumbled into the trap of legalism and the Lord’s message was a stern warning to repent. If they didn’t, he threatened to remove their “lampstand from its place.” The “lampstand” represented the Ephesian church itself (Revelation 1:20) and therefore its removal meant that they would no longer be Christ’s church. In short, the Lord was prepared to “pull the plug” on them if they refused to repent; in which case they’d be a ‘church’ in name only.

Both the Laodicean and Ephesian churches made the mistake of substituting sterile religiosity for personal relationship with the LORD and it resulted in a lifeless, go-through-the-motions spirit. The Laodiceans were further along on this dark road, which can be observed in their arrogant attitude and the fact that the Lord literally had nothing good to say about them, but the Ephesians were heading in this same direction.

An Example From My Own Experience of a Church With a Sterile Spirit

Years ago I went to an assembly for nine months to fulfill my formal schooling in an internship program. The first thing I detected on my initial visit was a very sterile spirit. Everything was done in such a formal, ritualistic manner and the congregants participated in drone-like fashion. I’m not saying this to be mean or to suggest that I was looking down on these dear brothers and sisters in the Lord; I’m just giving my honest appraisal of the experience.

Needless to say, my wife & I did everything in our power to give this fellowship a spark of life while we were there. After nine months with no appreciable change—not to mention enduring some gnashing of the teeth by some of the congregants—we decided to leave. I couldn’t stomach that lifeless spirit for one more service.

It dawned on me later that this sterile go-through-the-motions mindset was a form of legalism.

The pastor was a gentle soul, and—I believe—a sincere Christian man. Yet the whole time I was involved with this fellowship I saw him in the grip of some kind of quiet torture. It was as if he was just playing the role of a pastor, just going through the motions, and his sermons and ministry reflected this. The entire time I was there I didn’t hear a single moving, stimulating or life-changing teaching. It wasn’t in him. Somewhere along the line in his decades of service he was infected by legalism in the form of religious formal death. It’s a spirit of sterility.

I say this with sadness, not joy. I had zero hostility toward the pastor or any of his congregants; I just felt sad for them. They were in a rut and couldn’t get out. The only way out was to break free of their “go through the motions” spirit. Unfortunately, they probably weren’t even aware of the problem. Although they were obviously concerned that their church wasn’t growing, I doubt they were aware of how utterly dead their gatherings had become. Carol & I could see it only because we were outsiders.

How did the pastor develop a “go through the motions” manner? I’m sure it was something that slowly developed over the years as he moved away from relationship with God to working for God. A spirit of familiarity settled in concerning the Almighty, the church, God’s Word, pastoring, and the things of God in general.

What’s the answer in these types of situations? Simple: The Basics of Christianity.

This article was edited from chapter 5 of…