When we hear the term “Side Chick” we normally default to “the other woman”. Some folks use this word loosely, but technically there can’t be a side chick unless there is a wife. Except for his mother and daughters, all the women in a man’s life are on an equal playing field unless there is a covenant in place. Until a man vows to be faithful and committed to One Woman he is not obligated to be faithful and committed to Any Woman.

Once the commitment is official, the code of conduct between him and other women shifts to accommodate his vows. To step outside of that covenant for any reason is to dishonor himself and his wife. This is the foundation and picture I have in mind when I read Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11:2 4:

“For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.

The implication is that the “Bride” is the body of believers that make up the Ekklesia, or universal church. Paul is admonishing the church here for being distracted with a false image of Christ, a false presence of the Holy Spirit, and a “different kind of gospel” which is a false doctrine. Paul always seemed to be a bit gangsta to me. He’s anointed at getting people told, and he doesn’t disappoint as he continues in 2 Corinthians 11:4–5:

“But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things. I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way.”

In other words, Paul is saying I don’t care who told you what. I don’t care how long they’ve been saved. I don’t care where they went to seminary. I don’t care how many degrees they have. I don’t care how big their church is. Ain’t none of these “super saints” better than me, and although I might not be the best preacher out here, I have given you the truth. (Desimber International Version)

If the Apostle Paul were walking the earth today, he could write this same letter to the church and it would be accurate. The church has been tainted with all manner of man-made religion. Not only have these self-righteous pastors, preachers, and false prophets twisted the image of Christ to fit their own agendas, they have subjected His Bride to an illegitimate relationship with the Law. So now the Church, this “chaste virgin”, has been forced into a theological ménage à trois with the first covenant of the Law and the second covenant of Grace.

They will use these inspiring messages of God’s unconditional love to draw in the masses. They will tell you out of one side of their mouths that you have been saved by grace, the unmerited favor of God. Then once they get you into the building, out of the other side of their mouths they burden the believers with a battery of traditions to conform to, rituals to observe, and regulations to abide by that they barely honor themselves. Jesus addressed the matter in Matthew 23:1–4:

“Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”

These spiritual leaders have refused to divorce themselves from the concept of salvation through works and have instead chosen to cherry-pick certain laws to impose on the Body of Christ. Out of over 600 commandments that make up the Law of Moses, these pastors extract the ones that aid their agendas the most and preach them as a mandate from God. The problem is we can’t afford to split time between Grace and the Law. If we could manage to keep the Law consistently then what need would we have for a Savior? Paul tackles the issue again in a letter to the Church at Colossae in Colossians 2:13–15:

“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

This right here. This is the message of freedom muted by religion and legalism. This is the fullness of the miracle of Salvation. Once we were dead, and Christ has made us alive “together with Him”. He did this by wiping out the “handwriting of requirements” which is the Law that was against us. It was contrary to us, not because it was inadequate, insufficient, or irrelevant, but because we could neither attain nor retain the greatness of it within ourselves sufficiently enough to honor it.

The very existence of the Law was an indictment against us. The scarlet letter of a tainted bride. The Apostle Paul, perhaps more than any other, understood this and made it his business to free believers from the bondage of the Law and those who would subject them to it. He implored us in Colossians 2:16–18 not to let anyone judge us in food or drink, or regarding the observance of festivals and sabbaths. Yet, on any given Sunday you will find some pastor or preacher pontificating about our duties to organized religion, specifically badgering and guilting their congregations into showing up every Sunday with tithes and offerings in hand. Paul says by submitting ourselves to this reproduction of righteousness, to this knock-off version of faith, is to cheat ourselves of our reward, which is the unconditional love of God, gifted to us in the form of His son, Jesus Christ.

What these pastors don’t seem to understand, or maybe they do and don’t care … is that by imposing these regulations on the church, they have made the life, death, and resurrection of Christ of no effect. And at what cost? For what reason? Paul asked and answered this question in Colossians 2:20–23:

“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

As long as I’ve been in church, I have never heard a pastor preach from this text in Colossians. I’m convinced most pastors won’t touch Colossians Chapter 2 because it is overflowing with liberty. Too many strongholds would be torn down that have been built up by the church. Too many eyes would be opened. Too many hearts would be healed from the weight of condemnation. Too many believers would be released from the captivity of self-righteousness. Too many souls would be delivered from the grip of witchcraft, manipulation, and doctrinal deception perpetrated across these pulpits. If the truth be told, too many would reject the church and receive Christ.

I live in a small town called Laurens, South Carolina. As small as it is, you can skip a rock down the street and hit six churches at every turn. I guarantee you I could step into any one of them and expect to hear a message about the tricks of the Enemy at some point. But what about the tricks of the Church? What about being assassinated from the pulpit? What about taking friendly fire from other members? What about those nice-nasty encounters with saints fluent in religion but illiterate in relationship? What about the classism, racism, bigotry, homophobia, and xenophobia? What about the drama, chaos, and confusion in the Body of Christ? On top of all this, they want to burden believers with the weight of the Law.

Organized religion has prostituted the church to the Law at the expense of the people. They preach the scriptures but exclude the Gospel. They have turned the love of God into propaganda and faith into fake news. As a result, so many believers have lost their way and so many lost can’t find The Way. But praise be unto God who has given us His Word as a compass. We need only look to His Word to find our way back to Him. Again, the Apostle Paul lends us a map for the journey in Galatians 5:1-6:

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.” (NLT)

Read that again, I’ll wait … Did you see it? Did you hear it? If you listen in the Spirit, God is saying our futile attempts at righteousness mean nothing. As a matter of fact, the Scriptures say in Romans 3:10, “there are none righteous, no, not one.” Righteousness is the promise God keeps to those who live by faith. Holiness is the mantle of His mercy. The Law, in its entirety, was crucified with Christ on the Cross. Any pastor that preaches any portion of it as a mandate from God has not heard from God. Any Christian whose faith does not manifest in love does not know Christ. Any church that attempts to manipulate the masses with behavior modification is not a House of the Most High God.

The Church was never in these buildings. It has always been in the heart of the believer. God wiped away the Law with the Blood of The Son to remove any barrier between Himself and His Church. John 3:16 are His vows to the Bride … “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” No prerequisites. No behavior modifications. No strings attached.

This is the Good News. This is the Uncommon Gospel. This is the grace that offended the church over 2,000 years ago. This is the grace that offends the church today. This is the garment the church has always been too small to wear. This gown was custom-made for the Bride of Christ, hand-crafted like a limited-edition Vera Wang. His love is a perfect fit for the least of these. His grace has left nothing, and no one uncovered.