Conniving Moralists

Today’s Lectionary reading is from St. Paul to the Galatians, Chapt. 4. Paul is upset because the legalists have gotten to the Galatians. To head off the legalists in their seduction of the Galatians, he reveals the secret motivations of the distractors. He writes in verse 17: “They make much of you, but for no good purpose; they want to exclude you, so that you may make much of them.”

In other words, the legalist’s real purpose is dishonorable. By making the naive Galatians believe there is some standard to be met, their real motivation is to make the Galations feel inferior to them. So he warns the Galatians not to step into the snare.

Are there moralists in your church who lord it over you because of their moralism? If so, Paul has a message for you today about those people’s real purpose.