It is common in this culture to blame rules for all wrong, and to have personal revelations of freedom that conveniently free one from the need to observe them or to struggle with why the Church might have developed them or why Scripture insists on certain points.. In this culture, we have too often made doubt the hallmark of a “true” Christian and certainty the hallmark of a “hypocrite” or a “legalist.”

Antinomianism is no better a solution than legalism. Orthodox economia is the recognition that rules are necessary for a sound and disciplined Christian life but that exceptions to the rule exist and need to be worked with. However, it is not the individual who decides whether he/she is that exception to the rule. Otherwise, it becomes a self-interested and, often, warped process that does not lead to the type of Christian righteousness that we seek.