Caring, Questioning, and Christ for Religious People: RRE 41
Religion Ruins Everything Daily 10.22.16 from One Life Network on Vimeo.
1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Luke 6:1–5 ESV
Jesus and His disciples harvested wheat and ate it on the Sabbath. They weren’t working with a sickle and working to harvest, they were just gleaning a few handfuls as they walked by, like a kid grabbing an apple off of the neighbors tree. Under Levitical law, this was ok, but under the additional laws that the Pharisees had made up in addition, it wasn’t. They made up a bunch of extra laws so that people wouldn’t break the real laws and mess up Israel’s relationship with God.
Jesus explains to the Pharisees, after they bring up accusations, that Man wasn’t made for the Law, but the Law was made for Man. Jesus is restoring the relationship between God and mankind, and part of that is not being afraid of a bazillion laws. The Pharisees original intentions were good: they wanted to preserve their relationship with God. But after years of the extra laws, they only had a relationship with a bunch of rules.
As we come across different kinds of people, we will meet people that are wrapped up in a bunch of religious rules. The same concepts we’ve talked about apply to them too. Focus on caring (care for the person), questioning (asking questions and listen), and Christ (focus the conversation on Jesus). As you do this, the goal of helping people grow closer to Jesus will be more clear than fighting over a bunch of laws.