I remember a sermon from years ago by our then-youth pastor. Years later he planted a church Wisconsin Dells. He told us the purpose of scripture is not to tell us how close we can get to the edge of sin before we fall into the canyon. It’s to keep us away from the edge altogether.
You see, the Bible is supposed to be our guard rails in life. You’ve seen guard rails along highways. If not, there’s a picture below. They’re designed to keep us from dangerous situations, like driving over a cliff. But if you’re driving too fast, they won’t really do much more than slow you down.
Guard rails work best when a driver is following the rules of the road. Keep the yellow line on your left, the white line on your right, pay attention to that sign that warns of a sharp curve ahead, and drive at the speed limit. Then the guard rails will stop your car, in most cases, if you lose control of the vehicle.
The thing is, that yellow diamond-shaped sign that tells you of a curve that’s safe at 45 means the guard rail won’t keep you from plunging over the cliff if you’re driving 80. Slow down a bit, and at 45 you’ll navigate the curve without problems.
The teachers of the Law in ancient Israel knew about the guard rail principle. They also knew people had the tendency to get as close to them as possible, so they came up with stricter laws than what God gave. If God said the curve was safe at 45, the priests of the day said, “Keep it under 35.” Just in case someone wanted to push their luck a bit.
So what happened is this: by the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the religious authorities had fully implemented the policy of 35 or under. They taught that 36 or higher would send the driver over the cliff of sin. They pounded that idea into the minds of the people of Israel.
Let’s take that principle into their culture. They essentially told a starving pauper he couldn’t pick so much as a single grain of wheat on the Sabbath because God said it should remain Holy. Then the religious leaders would stand to one side as that person died of hunger without giving them so much as piece of bread.
Those leaders had the best of intentions, just so we’re clear. They didn’t want the pauper spending eternity in Hell. They’d just lost sight of what the Law was supposed to be: guard rails, not chains.
There is no law against helping the poor. Those religious leaders never thought of actually helping someone in need because they were too focused on keeping them from sinning. That’s what Jesus pointed out in Matthew when He condemned leaders for adding to people’s burdens and doing nothing to assist.
They’d lost sight of the purpose of the Law, which is to keep us away from sin.
“Keep it between the lines,” my dad said when teaching me to drive. “And stay out of the ditch.”
Are you getting too close to the guard rail? There’s nothing saying you CAN’T take that curve at 35. Just be sure you don’t insist everyone else does the same.
The issue isn’t 35 or 45. It’s keeping away from sin to stay out of the ditch.
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