Do you divide activities between those that are sinful and those that are not? How do you make the distinction? Is this something that can be reduced to a list? Perhaps that is too strict and too simple at the same time. Is this what you refer to as legalism? Perhaps a better approach would be to evaluate activities by criteria. Does some activity make you more caring and considerate of others, more active and engaged in your own pursuits, and more aware of the Kingdom of God within and around you? You should do more of this. Does it have the opposite effect? You should do less.

Do you think of family as central to the practice of your faith? How large is your family? What did I have to say about family? When I was informed that my family was at hand, I said that my family were those who did the will of God. This is hardly an affirmation of blood relations. Throughout history family ties have been a strong distinction for acceptance, and by implication, rejection of those who are without. This is the original basis of tribalism that has served to create divisions among people.

Do you consider the whole world to lie in wickedness, lost in darkness? Are you mindful of your commission to come out from among them and be separate? How do you carry this out? Do you hold it as a matter of doctrine that you are better than they are? Do the verses describing the state of the world around you tempt you to respond with spiritual arrogance? Would their answer about your behavior agree with yours? How can you reach them with my message if you hold yourself as superior? How can you hold a correct understanding of spiritual discernment and not enter into judgment?

Do you see prayer as a sacrifice? You can make a case for this from the Bible, and  that the scent of the prayers of my people provides a sweet aroma for me. The concept of sacrifice is inseparable from cost. If you see your prayers as a sacrifice what cost is associated with them? If you only pray for your own concerns or acquisitions, how is that a burden? If you want your prayers to be sacrificial, address them to issues beyond your own personal concerns. Don’t you find this quality attractive in other people? I find it attractive in you too.