Tolerance, inclusion and lepers

I am aware of several questions which were asked and a couple of requests made during my absence. Without trying to sound whiney, my schedule since I got back has been full and I am not able to address those right now. However, I plan to in the near future. Thanks for caring what I write about (and for the occassional complement!).

Yesterday I was reading and praying over Leviticus 13. It is a hard section because it is all about lepers and what to do with them. In our culture, where we very much value tolerating differences and including everyone, the idea of exclusion for a skin malady just sounds wrong. Now, as I have been told, I am not the most inclusive, tolerant guy. I am and have been a "rules" guy since birth. I am not politcally correct and I do not think truth should be denied to be nice. However, I also detest hurting people and really do want to find a way to make everyone happy. [yes, this is why I am a mess emotionally so often: seeking conflicting goods...]

So I am reading about lepers and thinking. This seems kind of mean. It certainly seems unfair. How would someone feel if they were identified as a leper. I imagined people trying to hide or cover the patch of skin with its tell tale characteristics. What horror they would feel and how devastating it must have  been.

Now a side note. Lepers in the OT are NOT what we think of as lepers. Leprosy, or Hansen's Disease, did not exist in the area of Israel until much later. Some think Alexander the Great brought it with his armies from India. So it probably refers to more common skin maladies. Also, the Bible does not report how widespread the disease was. Were there a few dozen people in all the land with this? Was it 20% or 30%. We just do not know. So, what sounds like an awful practice may have been more theory than lived experience. Just look at some of the current laws on our books. Many are simply not enforced so that must be factored into how we feel and what we think about them.

The deeper question is about the purpose of the law. It does not say that leprosy is a punishment from God, nor does it equate it with a moral disorder. Lepers are not called bad people. They are called 'impure' or 'unclean.' That is something I alluded to recently in my post on Holiness. It is hard to get our heads around some ancient ideas, and the Bible is ancient. It does not mean they are wrong and we are right. We have simply redefined terms and created different contexts for understanding reality. Probably germs and hygiene are what we mean by 'impure' or 'unucelan.' Sometimes our cultuiral expectations cross the line into absurdity. Looking unkempt or dirty may not be biologically dangerous and clean and neat folks could be covered in life threatening microbes. We make assumptions and categorize like the ancients. Dirty people are often treated with contempt.

The key in Leviticus is right worship. It is also about  having a 'fit' community. The Lord is "worth-y" (the actual root of the word worship is worth). We must take seriously that implies demands on us. Too often we assume everyone and everything is okay. As a boy growing up in the Roman tradition, we often said, "God does not care what we wear, He cares about us." While true, what it also meant was, "I am wearing a tee shirt and jeans because it is comfortable." I did, however, notice that we tended to dress up for other events. And while a person in casual clothes can worship, it is also true that the style of dress reflects an attitude. If God is worth-y then it might be helpful to dress in a way that respects Him more than the "god of comfort."

Back to the text. Expelling lepers from the community is a harsh thing. It is also a reminder that we, the people, have a standard. I am not advocating skin condition as the basis of this decision. [teenagers don't want to come any how, we let pimples be their way out?] However, I do think that "spiritual" leprosy is an issue. The state of our "soul" matters and when churches are full of people who give as little heed to the inner state as they do to the physical perfection rule, then churches are failing to provide fit worship. Perhaps, follwoing the practice of ancient Christians, we should understand the deeper meaning of the text allegorically or spititually. The real meaning of the text and the real message revealed from God is not the literal, but the analogical. Lepers=Unclean hearts. [this is reflected in prophetic texts and in other parts of the Torah, too.]

One last word on Jesus. I am not trying to be argumentative, but I grow weary of the "progressive" Christian constantly harping on Jesus accepted lepers. This then is the foundation for "tolerance and all things inclusive." In a word, this is pure poppycock. Jesus DID NOT accept lepers. He never said, "Hey the Law is wrong. God messed up. Don't obey it." What Jesus did was heal them. He healed them and then provided them access to the temple so they could be reinstated into the community. There is a difference. Jesus did things which supported the Jewish status quo and no where in the NT is leprosy declared "fine and dandy." Now, Jesus also touched them and welcomed them to receive the healing. He broke cultural taboos by His behavior. I get that. But He did not deny the law. He followed it. He was able to heal so He did. That is, He made plain, why He came. He takes on our sins and maladies. He sozo (The Greek verb means both save and heal!) those in need. So an inclusive church is one which recognizes sin is sin and calls people to repentance. Acceptance is the foundation for conversion. Inclusion in the community is the means to reconcile sinners and heal the wounded. It is how we go about the task of becoming "fit" and offering true, worth-y worship.

This topice deserves a much more in depth treatment, but blogs are not ideal for such a thing. I hope this short reflection leads you to ponder what is God saying in Leviticus 13 and in asking I pray you are able to listen, to hear, to understand. Be humble before your God!