I Can Eat Anything? ...

Clean versus Unclean … have the rules changed?  To begin, we need to understand extremes so that subtleties make more sense.  Assuming the new rule is that I can eat or drink anything – then it would be permissible to brew up a batch of Clorox soup.  It would be fatal, but permissible.  It would be stupid but permissible.  It lacks all common sense, therefore easily falls into the extreme’s category.  But what about eating duck versus chicken, or pork versus beef?  Sorry to be the harbinger of “bad” news but the same logic applies.  If it is permissible to eat things that are bad for us – even though it may prove fatal over time, and it may prove stupid over time.  Then is “permissibility” the true standard we should be aiming for, or is intelligent choices a better route to go?  As for Biblical permissibility there are a few interesting ideas to keep in mind.  God does not change (nor do His admonitions and laws).  God tells us what is good for us, because He LOVES us, not because He is trying to make our lives miserable.  Adam was given counsel about what to eat, and way back then, there were things he and Eve were not supposed to eat.  Disobeying that initial dietary counsel had profound negative impacts, even though it did not immediately kill them both.

At the point of the flood, a conveniently ignored fact in most Hollywood movies of this event, is that the animals considered “clean” by God to eat, entered the ark in groups of seven, NOT two by two.  God knew that our need of “clean” meat would / should exceed our “need” of unclean.  So the post-flood era would begin with a larger “herd” of the clean animals than the unclean.  Israel under Moses was re-given the councils with regards to diet, as father-to-son traditions had broken down by then.  So it was written down.  The faithful Israelites even in captivity by Nebuchadnezzar refused “unclean” foods, in addition foods offered to other gods.  And when Jesus arrives, his diet is simple and kosher.  Jesus enjoys pressed grapes to drink (unfermented as the language of earlier Biblical manuscripts reveal).  He also enjoys the foods served at traditional feasts, lamb, fish, pita bread, olives, oil, vinegar and simple herbs.  His example is not one of extravagance or of changing the dietary prescriptions that existed for 4000 years.  At the end of all things, it is hard to imagine that in heaven, we will still be killing God’s creations, in order to keep our thirst for meat alive.  I seem to recall something about “death itself” being cast into that lake of fire and being consumed (i.e. no more death). 

So considering that our Creator had a reason for us to segregate into our diet, clean things, and unclean things – He loves us – and He would know – Why would He change His own rules later on, when conditions in our world would only be worse?  Even the practice of animal sacrifice ended at the first coming of the Messiah (the Lamb of the world).  Hard to imagine that elective killing would be encouraged, let alone expanding that practice into animals He knows are not good for us.  There is however another way to examine the clean versus unclean question.  As crazy as it sounds, how about how “clean” you are when you sit down to eat?  If you work in an office doing “indoor” work, the chances of you getting filthy are probably limited.  So when your lunch break arrives, if you open up your sack take out a sandwich and begin eating, you probably start this meal fairly clean.  The invention of hand sanitizer bolsters that.

However, if you work outdoors, and if your work requires you to touch things that don’t exactly build an appetite in you – then perhaps cleaning up before you eat is a better practice.  This is not a rules thing.  This is simply a common-sense thing.  You wash car grease off your hands before you grab that sandwich because you do not want to taste car grease while you eat.  Same for a dozen other professions where it makes more sense to clean your hands before you eat.  This was the case back in the days of Jesus, and for centuries before that.  But the Pharisees were not content to stay with common sense ideas.  They took the common sense and made it uncommon and excessive.  Then they made that tradition.  Then they made that part of their law.  If it was a good idea to wash your hands once before eating, why not do it twice just to make sure?  And if 2 times was better, why not 3?  And over time washing becomes a full-time activity.  So it was in the days of Jesus.

In his gospel to the Hebrews Matthew discusses an incident in chapter fifteen where the Pharisees tried to use the failure of the disciples from not washing their hands before a meal, as a failure of following the law.  But Jesus instructed them that tradition is not the same as His Law, and their doctrine was in error.  This was not meant to be a wholesale endorsement of never cleaning yourself up before you eat.  Let’s face it, foot washing was not just a meaningless tradition back then, it was done to kill the ugly odor of feet in a room before you sat down to eat.  But Jesus was trying to make a point that failing to wash up is not a cardinal sin.  On this topic Matthew recalls the discussion picking up in verse 10 saying … “And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: [verse 11] Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”

This profound statement was no more about clean and unclean meats as it was about throwing up as being a sin.  This was about taking common sense, creating tradition out of it, then elevating that tradition to being equal with God’s law.  Man does not get to do that.  We are not the same as God.  And what comes out of a man’s mouth (i.e. what he says, and usually what he does that follows that speech of intent) is not predetermined by his diet, or how clean his hands were before he eats.  Washing your hands 5 times before you eat does not make your heart any more loving – it may even have the opposite effect of being annoyed at a God you believed requires this of you.  The hands of the Pharisees who presumably followed this tradition were clean, yet stained with the blood of Christ they intended to, and then did, kill.  The connection was not there.  And while God’s dietary prescriptions of clean and unclean remain, these prescriptions were designed for our well-being because He loves us.  Staying to a kosher diet however, does not make you sinless either.  Making good dietary choices does not keep your heart free from sin, any more than eating Clorox soup does (though you won’t have long to think about how stupid a choice that was after doing it).

But as predictable as the seasons, the Pharisees were pissed off at this revelation.  So much so, that the disciples could visibly see it in them.  They felt the need to warn Jesus about it.  Matthew continues in verse 12 saying … “Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? [verse 13] But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. [verse 14] Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”  Yikes!!  This response should reach into your heart and shake it to the roots.  Forget the Pharisees, this has a direct meaning to you and I.  Jesus says every plant (note the absence of meat … just saying) – which my Father has not planted shall be rooted up.  Think about this in terms of modern Christianity.  The Pharisees were the church leaders of their day in the “right” church.  But they were not planted by God.  You or I may be a church leader, or church member of what we believe is the right church today – but NOT be planted by God.

Instead we are planted by tradition, by following our guidelines and standards, by believing in scripture.  All the while we have never had a personal experience with Jesus.  We refuse to submit our will to His, just like our Pharisee forefathers, and we deceive ourselves that we are part of the “in crowd” where it comes to the kingdom of heaven.  Yet we are far from it.  We are destined to be rooted up.  The next thing Jesus says is “let them alone”.  This is scarier still.  The disciples who have the truth, because they know the Truth – are instructed to leave the Pharisees alone, i.e. don’t waste your time on them.  Could our certainty of who we are, and what we believe be so cemented in our minds, that people around us with the Truth cannot break through to us?  Have we embraced our blindness through our certainty so strongly that we will refuse to let it go, even when the Truth stands in front of us, because it does not conform with what we already believe?  In so doing we are blind, leading other blind, right into the ditch, and nowhere near His kingdom.

Peter is nervous.  He senses there may be a real problem here with beliefs he has long held to.  So he wants a little more clarification.  What an excellent idea!!!  Would it not be awesome, if we would let go of our certainty and instead keep asking Jesus for a little more clarification.  Matthew continues in verse 15 saying … “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. [verse 16] And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? [verse 17] Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?”  Part one of the response of Jesus begins by discussing our digestive process.  What we eat goes into our stomach and comes out in our poo.  It has nothing to do with how we love.  Of course this does not mean we get to eat Clorox soup because that would be bad for us, and Jesus loves us too much to see us eat such things.  The same could be said for unclean foods that take longer to kill us, or harm us, and Jesus would still want us to avoid them.  But eating something stupid still does not have an immediate effect on how you love.  Consuming a little dirt on your hands wont either.

Jesus continues  in verse 18 saying … “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. [verse 19] For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: [verse 20] These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”  And there it is.  What we say, expresses an intent of our heart.  And those intentions, and motives, are what defile us.  The last part of verse 20 should clarify specifically that “not” washing our hands does not defile us.  Especially washing our hands multiple times.  This entire passage in Matthew has NOT been about clean and unclean foods.  It has been about clean and unclean hands before we eat.  Those who would use this passage in an attempt to justify eating anything, are trying to get a pass on the admonitions of a God who loves you and wants only what is best for you.  Better to trash the bacon and trust the Lord, than to keep downing the bacon thinking your own dietary wisdom exceeds that of your God.  It doesn’t.

This passage is about surrendering your will to God, to Jesus, and letting Him adjust your desires whatever they may be.  Removing those intentions that are not the best; and replacing them with ones that are.  Developing tastes for foods that are good for you; and removing tastes for foods that are bent on destroying you.  Not focusing on the superficial of washing your hands and thinking you are clean, but instead having Jesus clean you from the inside out.  Changing your motives and teaching you how to love.  Will you hear?  Will you listen and understand?  Or have your already become the Pharisee, so certain in your likes and dislikes, and certain in your beliefs you will hear none other?