I grew up in a legalistic church environment. Ladies were not permitted to wear pants, nor make up, nor cut our hair. These are three of many commandments we were taught to obey. As a result, I came away with a really uncharacteristic opinion of God. To me, He was this impossible-to-please judge leaning over His bench, waiting to smack me over the head with His gavel for every little infraction. It isn't God, but it's actually the accuser of the brethren, who has been cast down, that makes these accusations against us.
As a result of the dresses-only-mandate, I came to hate dresses. My mother started letting my sister and I wear pants outside of church activities… and we moved on with life. But I came to hate wearing dresses and for most of my life, I rarely ever bought a dress, or wore a dress, unless I was attending church functions.
Recently my pastor preached a sermon that I could not shake for three days. I studied and meditated on that sermon from the time I got home that Sunday till the following Tuesday. He described a ballistic missile type weapon that sounded somewhat like a bow and arrow assembly. Once the missile is inserted, the crossbow is stretched back as far as it can be pulled. The only thing keeping the missile from launching is a lynchpin. When the lynchpin is removed, the missile flies in the direction it is facing.
For three days I sought the Lord about my lynchpin. Long story short… I made a long list of possibilities to consider. Somewhere in the middle of all this, I had an aha moment. I scribbled on my notepad, “I am done being mad at the church because they said I couldn’t wear pants.” The lynchpin was pulled and the missile was fired. Before the end of the week, I pulled out the two skirts that I own that were tucked way back in the closet and decided that I was going to wear a skirt to church on Sunday. The church I attend wears pants, and has no legalistic commandments that we must follow.
Once I forgave the church, suddenly I felt free to wear dresses. The church had made it a mandate to only wear dresses, so I made a mandate to only wear pants. For most of my life that is all I have worn.
In his sermon, my pastor talked about the transformation of old mindsets and compared that to the lynchpin. “If we agree to let go of the lynchpin, we can overcome anything. Where we are seated together in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus, we have the power to overcome anything,” he said. We are equipped with His power. There is nothing done that cannot be undone – because there is nothing too hard for God. For the first time in a long, long time I wore a dress and felt good about it.
We are more than conquerors in Christ, and can overcome anything in Him. What’s your lynchpin holding back?
The freedom and the peace I received was totally unexpected. I didn’t even know that I needed to forgive the church. I’m looking forward to more aha moments that I may achieve more freedom and more peace. If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36).
