I mentioned in my last post that I would share an encounter I had with a Catholic priest when I was probably about 8 years old. I don't recall many of the details, but here is what is burned in my memory.
I had stopped by the church to find my brother. I am not sure why I thought he would be there, but I thought he would be. I went into the church, and there was a service going on. I opened the door of the sanctuary and peered about, hoping to see him, but I did not. I closed the door, and was headed out of the building when I was approached by a priest who asked what I was doing. I told him that I was looking for my brother, but did not see him. He told me that what I had done was a mortal sin. Even now, it seems odd to me that he would say this. But I was eight, and in my eight year old understanding, there were two types of sin. One being venial, which I understood to be forgivable, and the other to be mortal, which I understood to be unforgiveable. I was stunned, as I felt that this meant that I was now doomed to an eternity in hell. The one thought that I strongly remember having was, I can't tell my mother about this, she would be devastated.
That is legalism, a death sentence to true faith. Catholics are not the only ones with a strong sense of legalism. I recall in high school how one girl in particular always wore modest, homemade clothes, and was not allowed to go to movies or dances. Other faiths have other conditions. I recall how the conservative Christian college I went to had many such rules, not that these rules were bound on us by Scripture, but that we needed to go above and beyond because we were under a microscope as ambassadors for Christ. So keep that face clean shaven and that hair above your collar. You don't want to look like Jesus, do you?
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