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Must be hunting season again ... that time of year when credit card and finance companies take to the field and bait your mailbox with exciting new offers, take aim at your finances and open fire on your future with easy credit.

Trouble is, all the fine print won't fit on the outside of the envelope. The details and loopholes are carefully hidden inside under the bait where, in the excitement of discovering that your signature is worth a $5000 unsecured loan, you're likely to overlook the crosshairs settling on your backside. Meaning, your wallet.

Get your antlers out of the bait ... and don't let them add your personal finances to their trophy collection.

But On the Other Hand ...

When it comes to Salvation it's troubling that so many critics of "new churches with big congregations" embrace exactly the opposite approach, by arguing that applying for forgiveness does not automatically guarantee acceptance.

In other words legalists feel entitled to add their own fine print, and assume a spiritual credit check is required to evaluate your "sincerity score" before your application to The Kingdom can be approved. The legalists imply Grace is like a loan, and if you're approved, must be paid for with works, good deeds, and regular installments of guilt.

And if you (shudder) miss a payment, God's out there waiting to "gitcha" and repossess your Salvation.

Maybe these loan officers of legalism are afraid of seeing their self-righteousness diluted, and feel entitled to appoint themselves the keepers of Heaven's keys to keep out folks who don't meet their minimum requirements (like guys who'd rather wear jeans to church). Some legalists even demand a say-so on who gets to Heaven by re-writing the rules and adding fine print ... like making Salvation dependent upon rituals, dress-codes and organ preludes.

The reason for this sanctimoniousness could be that legalists are more concerned with their traditions and rituals than they are with the idea of getting up from their pews and being turned loose on the world to share Grace and Forgiveness through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because it's easier fighting each other in the pews than facing the enemy from the trenches,

Traditionalists might argue they're actually "protecting the Kingdom" by tacking on more fine print like steeples, crosses and stained glass windows to their church exteriors. But that preoccupation with man-made symbols and appearance reveals instead a spiritual stinginess ... and a fear that somebody's self-righteousness is going unnoticed.

So legalists must commit to being very suspicious and finnicky when it comes to deciding who they're willing to allow into Heaven, or else risk getting ignored and lost in the crowd.

That's plain wrong.

Sin was our debt, and no one can deposit enough tradition or legalisms to change our "spiritual credit history" to earn God's approval. God didn't offer a salvation plan with monthly terms, He offered a single, everlasting payment in full through Christ.

Grace is God's gift ... and no amount of legalistic fine print can re-write His promise.