All of my previous posts on Old Testament law have led up to this one post. The pressure is on me now to make a good point. Well, here goes.

I had the misfortune of witnessing a woman get all bent out of shape over one of these supposed Old Testament laws. She thought the youth pastor was doing something wrong by allowing a young woman to help with the youth group that has a nose piercing. She thinks the Bible teaches against this. She thought this set a bad example for all the teens in the youth group including her daughter.

First, let me state that I won’t even reference the verse she used for her argument because my point is not to debate this particular issue itself. The point is this woman has decided there is a law that forbids piercing a nose and it should be strictly enforced.

Here’s the other side of this though. This is the part that frustrates me. Do you think this woman has gone through all her clothes and properly disposed of every garment she has that is made of two or more different types of fabric? Do you think she and her daughter both go the pastor of the church 8 days after each cycle to be blessed and cleansed? Why isn’t she getting just as bent out of shape over all the men in church that are shaving their beards and sideburns? What do you want to bet that she has never volunteered to foot the bill for all the newly married so they can follow that law that says they shouldn’t work for the first year?

You see she doesn’t want to follow all the laws. She just wants to pick and choose the ones she likes and then she want’s to force adherence of those on everyone else. It must be comforting to think you must only enforce the Old Testament laws that will in no way inconvenience you personally.

I have two daughters. If I had to choose, which of these two people would I tell them is the better example? Would it be the walking self-righteous double standard? or would it be the one that humbly and graciously volunteered to take her nose ring out at all youth related functions so she did not offend the other person?

I was happy to see this young girl choose humility in the face of an unwarranted attack. I was thrilled when she chose to be a peacemaker and make a personal sacrifice even when she had done nothing wrong and had every reason and right to be angry.

The point is simply this. When we place supreme importance on rules and laws and making everyone else adhere to our interpretation of them we have completely missed the point of God’s grace. We set standards in front of ourselves and others that are impossible to meet. We have made ourselves to be just like the people Jesus despised the most when he was on earth. We have, in essence, become modern day Pharisees.

Isn’t it time we stopped looking for ways to attack and condemn each other and look for ways to show grace to each other instead?