Perceptions #200401

"When Rules Hinder Compassion"

by Norman Bales

Sometime ago I got trapped into discussing divorce and remarriage. I usually try to avoid that one. Walking through mine fields is not my cup of tea. But I couldn't find a convenient foxhole, so I had to oblige the trapper whether I wanted to or not. During the conversation, I said something about God's desire to forgive people who commit sin. I was quickly reminded that we can't allow our compassion for people to determine what we are going to believe. But should we abandon compassion when we study scripture?

Luke relates a story about Jesus healing a crippled woman in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17). Any person with a heart of compassion would have rejoiced, but the fellow who liked it the least, was a religious professional - the ruler of the synagogue. "Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, 'There are six day for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath" (verse 14).

The synagogue leader was the kind of person who was mainly interested is seeing that people conform to rules - making sure that all the "i"s were dotted and the "t"s were crossed. Some would say that his basic problem was allegiance to human tradition. It ran deeper than that. The man was cold hearted. The Pharisees carefully tithed from their garden vegetables, but then ignored justice and the love of God. Blind allegiance to rules and interpretations of rules takes the focus away from the heart of God and the needs of people. When our devotion to rules makes us proud and arrogant, we run afoul of God's priorities. God's purpose in giving a new covenant was to "forgive their wickedness," and "remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 8:12). It was not an attempt to write a new rulebook.

When we bind rules and interpretations of rules, we should ask, "How does this relate to God's ultimate purpose for people?" If what we require of others is cruel, oppressive or spiteful, we end up perverting the will of God even though we claim to uphold it. I would agree with those who say that we must not allow our subjective feelings to determine our beliefs, but we must never remove compassion from our minds when we read the word of God.

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