Yesterday on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll showed us a Savior who scandalized the religious elite by embracing the very people they'd condemned. On today's program, Chuck brings this truth home right where we live. If you've ever felt bullied by someone else's rules, or if you've quietly made God into a frowning, finger-pointing judge, this message is for you. Chuck offers four practical, freeing guidelines for standing up to the legalists in our lives, and then points us to a God who may be very different from the one you've imagined.
Now, when we get to Mark chapter two, thirteen to seventeen, we come to a great place where Jesus shakes up the neighborhood. Jesus stoops over, steps into the tax booth, and invites Matthew to follow him. Verse fifteen: It happened that he was reclining at the table in his house. Many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many of them. Don't stop reading.
And they were following him. They, tax collectors and sinners. We're following Jesus. They were curious. You know what else?
They were accepted. Their lives haven't been transformed yet, but there is something about him. He didn't come across like a Pharisee who told him how to stand, who told him how to pray, who told him what to wear, who told him how to kneel, who told him what to drink, who told him how to wash, who told him how to eat. Sinners aren't going to do all of that. Are you kidding?
But Jesus came and said, "Come to me, all of you who are weak and heavy laden, and bruised and broken, and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy, and my burden is is is light." Wow!
So they're following him.
So they're all in Matthew's house. This is so good. There's tables all around. You know, there's bottles of wine all around, and there's all kinds of food all around, and Jesus is sitting there, and they're all having a great time, and the Pharisees are looking in. What on earth would you go come over here, Zach, and look at this?
You're not, you cannot believe. Look at who he's sitting next to. Look at that. Good night. Or you can just look through one little toilet paper roll, and you see it like this.
Okay, there is, there is. I knew it all the time. I knew it. Forgive a little preacher's imagination here, okay? But that's the gist of it.
That's why the scribes and Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, as if there's something wrong with eating with them. I mean, there is. If you're a Pharisee, you don't get near them because they don't fall in line. Sinners don't like all those rules and regulations. And Jesus loves people like that because He knows that there is down deep within them the ability to be taught and to be transformed and to become writers of a gospel named Matthew.
Never forget when Jesus calls his followers, he calls us not because of what we are, but for what we are to become. Never forget that. Here these sinners, and so the Pharisees. I want you to notice this. Sixteen, they said to his disciples.
Why is he eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners? Isn't it interesting who they said that to? Jesus has ears. Legalists never go to the person; they gossip, they cause unrest, they build questions in the minds of people who would not otherwise question the disciples. You are not questioning.
So the Pharisees say, "Hey, hey, Peter, what's going on over there?" I like the way Eugene Peterson renders this in the message. What kind of example is this? Acting cozy with the riffraff? What is it? You know the thing I love about Jesus.
He is omniscient.
So I don't care if you're two blocks away; he can hear you. Hey, might didn't quite say it like that, but you know it's that idea. Come here, seventeen. Hearing this, I thought they said it to the disciple. He hears everything.
Hey, never doubt it. There is no secrets with God. He knows your heart. He knows what you are thinking right now. In fact, I am going to put it on the screen.
Okay, go ahead. Just kidding. Just kidding. Everything to him is on the screen. Jesus said to them, "It's not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Of course, you get it. Of course, you get it. How good is that? When I am feeling great, do I need a physician? No.
It's when I am. Sick. I can't make it. When I'm broken, when I'm bruised, I need somebody to talk to. There's a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.
There's a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul, and his name is Jesus. I love this. Those legalists did not manipulate him. They did not bully him. He called them to task.
What is this you're saying? You think the sinners don't need the message? Why you think I came?
So he dialogues with these judgmental legalists, and and he confronts them and their proud, supercritical, superspiritual, squint-eyed stare. As if they were righteous, what they were is self-righteous. Jesus, sitting among them, ministering to those who would not otherwise have heard, is in this magnificent place of opportunity. You know what is tragic among the ranks of Christians is how short a period of time it passes before we get every unsaved person out of our life. How many close unsaved friends do you have?
You answer under your own breath. Not many, is it? I learned when I was in the Marine Corps that if I really wanted to touch lives, I needed to spend some time in the slop shoot. Funny thing, everybody else who went there got drunk. I had a chance to talk to people who had nothing to hide.
I don't know how many I led to Christ down there. What a privilege! What an opportunity to be with those that I would not otherwise have a chance to be with. People don't go to bars because they're drunk; they go to bars because they're lonely. I got a good friend named Ron Ritchie who has had the most significant years of his ministry in bars.
I'm not saying Ron drinks. I'm just. First of all, it's none of my business. But second, I'm saying Ron Ritchie touches lives I will never reach, so I don't spend much time in bars. Ron knows how to do it.
In fact, he started the church in a bar. Part of the reason he told me was that they got nothing to hide, and there are not many gossips running around bars. You're kind of able to be who you are, where you are.
So Jesus calls them in, and he says to them, "And I did not come to call those who are sick." Which, being translated, means from the Greek "in your face," face or something like that. You notice there is no answer. Pharisees and scribes didn't know what on earth to do with him. They spent half their time standing and staring with their mouth open, thinking, "How do I answer that?" You know why? Because they didn't think.
They just laid out rules. That doesn't require anybody to think. You have to think. We have a little radio ministry called Insight for Living, and every once in a while we'll have somebody call us up, and they'll say, "What's Chuck's position on so and so?" And very wise listener services people will answer, "Well, Chuck doesn't." Take a position on that, and so he hasn't declared it. And if he has, he's not made it a part of his ministry.
Well, how are we to know what we're supposed to do if he doesn't tell us? If I were working for Listener Services, I would go think, think. You're an adult. Most everyone listening to me is an adult. There are a few teenagers who are tolerating it right now, but there are mainly adults.
You are able to think. You make your own decision about what you wear, where you work is pretty much your choice. The way you work, your attitude is up to you. Your response to people, your choice of friends, your level of income is known to you, and it's nobody else's business. You are who you are.
You're an adult. You're making. But when it comes to Christianity, why in the world do we look for a ring to put in our nose for somebody to lead us as if we are cattle? But you see, that's the way many circles are. Pastor becomes the not just the shepherd, but the rules giver.
If it isn't found in the scriptures, you will never hear me emphasizing it as a rule of life. I'm not here to give you rules. I'm here to help you learn how to think on your own, using the scriptures as your guide. And when you do, you know what? You will be free.
Scary, isn't it? You know, there's risk in this, Chuck. Really, there's risk in having babies. There's risk in raising a family. There's risk in moving across the country.
There's risk in getting in your car and driving on these streets. There's risk in being an adult. There's risk in getting married. Certainly, there's risk in preaching like this. Why?
You know what?
Some people are going to take this to an extreme. You think? They will.
Some of you are saying, "Boy, you're going a long ways, Chuck. If you knew how much I'm holding back, you'd be proud of me right now." Let me level with you, as if I haven't already. Let me level with you. What am I resistance to starting a church? Back when we started this one, is I knew legalists would finally infiltrate.
I couldn't keep them out because they feed on churches like ours. We have so much fun. We have such a great congregation. You are so generous. I'm not blowing smoke on you.
You are. Every time we announce a need, you you meet the need. It's remarkable. When things are funny, you laugh. When you're asked to meet each other, you meet each other.
There isn't this stiff kind of look about us. We have fun. You know, the first ten years of my ministry wasn't fun. I was hard to listen to, and I was preaching and driving the sheep. and And you know who got my attention?
My wife. She said, "I said to her, 'You know what, honey? This isn't fun.' She said, 'No, it's not easy to listen to you.' Well. She said, "Why? Why are you so different when you get in the pulpit?
Why? Why do you get so mean?" I said. She said, "You're fun to be with at home. How come you're not fun? Because that's who you are.
Just be who you are." Scared the shorts off of me when I first heard her say that. I thought, "Be who I am." Let me tell you something. For the for the next forty years, I've been urging preachers to do that. It scares every one of them, because they're so afraid of what you're going to think. If you knew how little I cared of what you think, be shocked.
You know, Chuck.
Some people may walk out on you. Hey, they already started. I don't care. I'm not here to tell you what you like to listen to. I'm here to tell you not not be a legalist.
And if you are, you're hurting the church. And if you're hurting the church, we all get concerned about it. You need to knock it off. Why am I yelling?
Okay, I know. Get serious, Chuck. You got to get this done. Let me tell you some ways to deal with a modern-day legalist. You can take them or leave them.
They're not rules that are inspired by God. They are, they are just suggestions.
Okay, number one, be aware of them. They'll get you in their grip if you're not aware of the fact that it's legalism coming out of their mouth. And I'm not referring to the wise counsel of a parent. I'm not referring to some mentor who is correcting you because you're accountable to him or her. I'm not referring to that.
I'm referring to people who make your business their business, and start telling you what to put in your refrigerator, or how to lead your private life, or who your friends ought to be, or who you ought to have dinner with. It's nobody else's business, including mine. You answer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and until you do, you're not free. You're not free.
So spot 'em. Be aware of 'em. Second, don't fall for it. You need to be back to my my friend, the Doberman Pinscher. Remember, and with the little ears.
When you're around, there, those ears go up. Legalist. It's another legalist telling me what to do. Don't let that happen. Don't fall for it.
They love it when you fall under their spell. Let me give you a great principle. The Holy Spirit does not waste his time revealing to one person another person's sins. That's a good principle. The Holy Spirit doesn't waste His time telling you somebody else's sins.
If you know those sins, you're omniscient.
Furthermore, it may not be a sin. You think it's a sin because of the way you were raised, and to you, your God is that severe. Their God isn't. And by the way, for them, He is a holy God. He's a righteous God, but He doesn't march to the drumbeat.
Your God marches to. Be careful about playing the role of somebody else's conscience.
So don't fall for it. Three, deliberately stand against it. Deliberately stand against it. It was a great day in my ministry when I decided I would not be a welcome mat or a doormat, is a better word, for the whims of every person in the congregation. I am.
That is not my task. My task is to answer to God, to live a life that honors Him and doesn't necessarily please you, where I carry out my responsibilities for His glory and under His power. End of responsibilities, and that is yours as well. If we live like that, we'd be transformed people.
So deliberately stand against those. And by the way, when you do, expect to fight. Legalists are fighters. And by the way, they fight dirty because they run out of logic.
So when you do that, you start fighting dirty. Expect to fight. I love it in Galatians chapter two verse five. Paul describes the legalists who showed up in Galatia, and he says, "We did not pay attention to them for one hour." I like Eugene Peterson's. We didn't give them the time of day.
Great way to deal with a legalist is just totally ignore them. Not saying they'll go away, but it helps them to be ignored. Deliberately stand against number four. Enjoy your freedom in spite of them.
Okay, enjoy your freedom in spite of them. You have an enormous amount of freedom in Christ. You're just scared to go there because somebody may not like the way you are, or the way you are becoming, or the things you're now doing or saying. I began this message by talking about legalists, those who are living under bondage, afraid of freedom. I want to close it by by talking to you directly about your God.
Okay, I want you to listen. Don't fish for your keys. I'm fully aware of the time. Just wait a minute, because you'll be thinking about that. And I want you to think about this.
This is some of the best thing you're going to hear all through this message. Truth be told, some of you have made your God into some kind of heavenly legalist. He's angry. He's condemning. He's staring down on you.
He's frowning. He's shouting. Don't stop. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. By the way, of that last line, never comes from heaven.
Shame is man-made. If you've created in your mind this kind of a judgmental God, you've created him out of your own guilt and your own neurotic need for punishment, and I can't explain that. Can't explain why you do that. You've never allowed yourself to meet the one true God, who in Christ has set you free. He isn't angry.
All of his anger was poured out. On the cross, all of it. He's not mad. I love the way Mike Mason writes of this in his book, "Practicing the Presence of People." Isn't that a good title? How much freedom do you want?
Do you want to be completely free of shame and guilt, and know that you are respected, cherished, and loved without limit? Do you want of? To be free, to be fully, outrageously yourself. Do you want to be exactly who you are, no strings attached? If this is what you want, then begin by setting your God free.
Don't condemn the awesome King of the Universe to a dull existence in a box. Let God be God. He'll let you be you. Reminds me of the story that Steve Brown tells better than anybody. He talks about a convent school where a basket of apples are sitting at the dining room table on one end.
Basket of apples, and there's a note next to the basket that says, "Take only one. God is watching." At the other end of the dining room sits another basket filled with warm chocolate chip cookies, and a child's handwriting. This note appears there: "Take all the cookies you want. God is watching the apples." Let me set the record straight. God's watching both of them and smiling.
Saying, "Take all you want." Is that many good for you? You got to decide. Should you be eating that many? Then gobble them up. Would it be best not to eat that many?
Is your call. No verse in here about apples or about cookies. I've looked. Eat all you want. He made them all, and may I add, as he said to Timothy through Paul's words, he gave you all things richly to enjoy.
Enjoy. That's why I think the greatest memory I leave in the minds of my children and my grandchildren is the laughter in the hallways and rooms of my home, because they learned their daddy and granddaddy was easy to live with. I live to throw their mother in the pool and tell the story. Throwing her in the pool is no big thing. Living to tell the story is a big thing.
Why is it that all the laughter winds up in the bar and has left the church? See, I was afraid of that when we began this ministry. Also, I was afraid we'd stop laughing. When I became president of Dallas Seminary, I noticed the absence of laughter.
So I said to one of the ladies who had been there a long time, "Where's all the laughter?" She says, "What?" I said, "Where's all the laughter?" And she said, "Well, this is a seminary, you know." (Laughter) Yeah, yeah, I know. Question's the same. Where's all the laughter? She said, "We don't hear a lot of that." I said, "Let me tell you something. I haven't been here long, but I'm not going to be around long if there's no longer laughter.
When you take away the fun, I'm gone. I'm gone. Please understand. You got a lot of room." And most of you are scared to death to go there. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry you do, because there's such a great life to be lived, and you're going to miss it because you're counting the apples out of fear.
Well, I am not. Thank you, Father, for loving us just like we are—sorry, failing, ugly sinners. That have somehow found a way, like Matthew, who stumbled out of that tight tax booth and fell into the arms of the Master, who cultivated him into a man of God. Be patient with us, Lord, as we learn our way, because we've been taught wrong by so many, even some well-meaning parents. Even some former teachers—they didn't know any better either.
So we're back to the rule book of your book called the Scriptures, and we're amazed to find there aren't many rules. There are some, and we take all of them seriously. But most of the rules we've been given aren't here.
So help us to know the difference, and free us. Lord, free us, so that we're free indeed. In Jesus Christ, I ask this. Amen. If you've grown weary of counting apples, worn down by someone else's rules, remember that Jesus came for the sick, not the self-righteous.
How much better to choose freedom over fear. You're listening to Insight for Living. Our Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll titled today's message: "Look Who Jesus Hung Out With." It's just one of many sermons included in Chuck's comprehensive study through the Gospel of Mark. He titled this series "Jesus, the Servant at Work." You can find a bundle of Bible study resources for the series at insight.org/offer. What if you could carry a little of Chuck Swindoll's wisdom into every day of your year?
Well, now you can with Swindoll's Living Insights for Every Day. It's a perpetual flip calendar from Insight for Living. Each day features a key passage from the New Testament, paired with one of Chuck's insights, drawn straight from his Living Insights commentary series. That's 365 daily moments to keep God's Word at the forefront of your mind. And because it's perpetual, you'll return to it season after season, year after year.
Set it somewhere you'll see it often: your desk, your kitchen, your bedside table. Then let one glance refresh your spirit and steady your steps. We'd love to send you the flip calendar today when you go to insight.org/offer, and then we're especially pleased to offer a once-in-a-lifetime book written by our teacher. I'm referring to Chuck's personal memoir called "Awakened by Grace." In this transparent account, Chuck shares for the first time how God grew a small, insecure boy into a man who delights in speaking grace and truth to millions. You can purchase your copy right now by calling eight hundred seven seven two eighty eight eighty eight.
You'll love reading about the wisdom Chuck gleaned from over sixty years in ministry. The words he'd like to speak to his younger self, and the encouragement for anyone going through tough times. To purchase a copy, go to insight.org/memoir. Don't surrender your freedom to a legalist. I'm Bill Meyer, urging you to hear Chuck Swindoll describe battles worth fighting.
Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, "Look Who Jesus Hung Out With," was copyrighted in 2010 and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
