All Sabbath Keepers are Legalists and other Straw Men Arguments

Show of hands of those who are already weary of election year politics? It's just getting to be a little too much isn't it? It's almost a full year away from the next presidential election and the mud is flying in every direction.

With a media culture catering to the ever shortening attention span of the public, elections these days are won or lost based, not on the strength of ideas, but on which candidate can do the most damage to their opponent in a twenty second sound bite.

An old but effective staple of the sound bite wars in the political arena is the straw man argument.

What is the straw man argument? Webster's defines a straw man argument as "a weak or imaginary argument or opponent that is set up to be easily defeated."  Straw men arguments are usually sweeping, misleading generalizations that are easily attacked and discredited.

This tactic is used everywhere in politics today, on both sides of the aisle.

Recognize these?

"All Democrats are big government, socialist leaning, liberals."

"All Republicans are rich corporate fat cats who don't care about the poor."

While these statements might be true of a small percentage of Democrats or Republicans, to paint with such a broad brush is a gross oversimplification and distortion of the facts.

So why do politicians use them? Well, because they are effective. This is based on the old maxim  that an idea, regardless of how flawed or misleading, when stated often enough and with enough passion, becomes true to large numbers who hear it.

Another reason is that statements such as these elicit strong, polarizing emotions. And when you have twenty seconds to sell your idea, emotions are a much more powerful weapon than the sometimes complicated nuances of fact.

Before we condemn politicians though, we should take a look in the mirror.

The real masters of the straw man argument over the centuries have not been politicians, but religion. Ever since churches have been splitting, the straw man argument has been a weapon of choice for religious leaders wishing to keep parishioners safely within their folds.

If you are a Sabbath Keeper you know all to well the power of the straw man argument. Why? Because you've been at the receiving end.

"All Sabbath keepers are legalists who believe you earn salvation by your works."

Sound familiar?

Is it true? Absolutely not! It's a grossly distorted generalization, isn't it? Yet, this statement is widely accepted as fact by many of our brothers and sisters in the Sunday keeping churches. Why? Because it's a simple message that appeals to the emotions and can be effectively used to discredit us.

Are there those among our tradition that believe we are saved by our obedience to the law? Yes, surely there are some among us who hold a legalistic view of salvation. But it's clearly not a majority. Most of us do not believe we are saved by Sabbath Keeping or by any other "work", for that matter. It is faith in Jesus Christ's sacrifice and His grace that saves us. We keep the Sabbath, we strive to obey, not because obedience saves us, but because we believe faith is demonstrated by action. Our obedience is motivated by His Spirit within us changing our hearts and minds to be more like Him. Obedience is the natural response of the Spirit led Christian. Obedience is not what saves us, it's the natural response of one who is saved.

But such nuances of belief don't fit nicely into a twenty second sound bite.

Now Sabbath Keepers, before you start feeling besieged and unfairly maligned, I'll point out that we have been guilty of building a few straw men ourselves.

C'mon, really? Us? No.

Yes, yes we have.

Let's see...how about this one...

"The worlds churches believe in salvation by grace alone. The need to obey has been nailed to the cross."

A nice, short, pithy sound bite.  Only one small problem. It's not entirely accurate.

Sure, a percentage, albeit I would argue a small one, teach that obedience is unnecessary. But tune into any radio ministry on any given day, read the writings of any number of  prominent mainstream biblical teachers, and you will hear a great deal on the need, not just to talk the talk, but to walk the walk in obedience to God.

This is not to say that there is not plenty to disagree with in their teaching. There are many areas where, I think we all agree, mainstream Christianity has strayed from biblical truth; areas where a full understanding of God's plan is lacking. Books could be, and have been, written in great depth detailing these areas of disagreement.

So why rely on straw men arguments when we have so much biblical backing with which to commend our positions? Well, frankly, it's just easier to paint a broad brush than to do the work of diving into the weeds. Besides, brushing our detractors away with one, all-encompassing, dismissive stroke makes us feel good, doesn't it? It clearly sets us apart as different....special...better...the obvious choice.

The problem with straw men arguments is that, though they may work with the uniformed masses, they can be serious turn offs for anyone who's personal experience does not align with our broad generalization.  They can be serious turn offs for anyone who takes the time to dig beneath the surface to find the truth.

Jesus instructs us in John 7:24 to "judge righteous judgement."

When it comes to drawing distinctions between error and truth, the judgments we level should be righteous. They should be arguments, not based on broadly painted, misleading generalizations, but on the strength of our convictions, backed up by sound biblical teaching.

In the religious arena, there should be no place for straw men arguments. Let's leave that for the politicians.