Mark 7:5
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders* but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"
The playground is a place where friendships are made and broken. I remember a Sharks vs Jets-style battle in about 5th grade where half the class was yelling for the Gators and half for the Seminoles. Don't ask me how peace was made. Those were dark times…
I also remember more harmful encounters - a girl being told she couldn't be a part of a circle because she didn't have the right scrunchie in her hair, a heavy-set boy not being invited to play tag because he was too big, and even the kid with the lisp who couldn't do the new game on the monkey bars because, well, you know, you can't be a monkey bar champ if you can't properly say "s". Kids are really good at finding lame reasons to exclude one another. Those kids…
In this passage from the Gospel of Mark we read about some adults who are doing the same thing. The scribes & Pharisees point out what Jesus' followers are doing that is not in accordance with the law. They are comparing them to the Gentiles who don't observe the same traditions and practices. Jesus calls them out on "fakeness" for lack of a better term. They do things just to be seen and because they think that is going to get them in God's good graces, not because they love God and want to honor Him with their actions.
Jesus even calls them out on manipulating the law to serve themselves and exclude others. It seems like across the board, much of what they are doing is excluding instead of including. Isolating instead of embracing.
How can we be different from these men we read about? I don't have the answer except to say that God WANTS us to be different, so if we ask for wisdom, love and compassion (MERCY!) when we speak about and to non-Christians, He will give it to us. Let's be Christians whose arms instead of being folded in judgement are extended ready to embrace.
