Many times, Christianity has been reduced to a set of rules that people try to make themselves and others obey. This has led to many people who try to live up to the law on their own without inward goodness that comes from a relationship with the Spirit and thus, have become conflicted people riddled with anxiety. Such people become unhealthy, hypocritical, and judgmental of themselves and others. These people have an outward appearance of righteousness, but inwardly they are a swirl of dysfunction.
These people are often unsafe and mean. This is what Jesus was getting at when he warned that we should be careful and be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Mark 8:14-21. Yeast starts small in one part and spreads through everything it touches.
Jesus’ vision for his followers was for a kingdom of people who took the morality and ethic found in the law seriously; because it is good and based on the nature and character of God. However, his followers did not need to rely on laws but instead grew in goodness both relationally and ethically, through a love relationship with himself and the Father, by the Holy Spirit. His way is an inner transformation that leads his followers to become good people from whom good things naturally flow. This is a process, or a journey.
