What is a Sectarian or legalistic Spirit?
What is a Sectarian Spirit? It’s hard to define. The dictionary is not of much help, so let me try to explain what I mean by a legalistic or sectarian spirit. Maybe some similar expressions would be helpful: I have used the expression, legalist. It has been described as a party spirit. It is sometimes characterized by the statement, or at least the thinking, that we are members of the only church that is right with God. I think there are several churches who either have that spirit, or some of their members do. Was the spirit present in New Testament times? What did Jesus think of it? Does it really matter if we are sectarian? What can we do about it? So how can we define the legalist, or the sectarian? Let’s just use some synonyms to help: self righteous, proud, arrogant, self centered, conceited, closed minded, and having a party spirit. How can you define it? I was born in Kansas. Being born in Kansas, I thought I was a Yankee. My definition of a Yankee was one born and raised north
