The Point is in the Pulling

Dearest Rachel –

I’m not about to claim to have had an illuminating vision like, say, Peter, who was basically told by God that “what God has made clean, do not call unclean.” If nothing else, I’m already a couple of millennia too late to come up with insights like that; other people have arrived at these conclusions long since, so anything I might say on the matter has probably already been said before (especially since, in order to back up the arguments propounded in my dream, I’m going to attach scripture to them to back them up, meaning that anything I have to say now has already been more or less said in the Word itself), so there’s nothing new or earth-shattering in what I saw or heard last night.

Although, I will say that the perspective and the presentation felt rather unusual. Like with Peter, it had to do with food; unlike him, food wasn’t so much the topic as the presenters. Let’s just say that the VeggieTales have apparently gone to seminary – or at least, the French peas have, in any event.

I must have arrived to the lecture a little late, because they had already started talking by the time I was aware of where I was (more or less – it’s not as if I actually recognized where I was specifically, I was just able to determine that I was in some sort of lecture hall classroom, presumably at some college or university setting). “You see, mes amis, when zee Lord told zee Israelites zay were not supposed to do zis or zat, He was telling zem not to be like zem.” A slide came up showing a kiwifruit covered with Māori-style facial markings, and a fierce expression on its… face? “For instance, tattoos; zeez were ze sort of things zat ze pagans of the area would do, as part of zayre mourning rituals for ze dead.

“Eet was not zo much ze practice eetself zat zee Lord objected to, as much as ze fact zat one practice would lead to anuzzer, and anuzzer, and anuzzer. And pretty soon, you could not tell a Hebrew from any uzzer Canaanite, which was exactly what zee Lord didn’t want to see. Zay were supposed to be different; zay were special, zay were His people in a world of cultures zat were not. He did not want zem to be pulled into being just like everyone else.

“However…” and I think the first pea trailed off at this point in order to let his partner pick up the story. The second one didn’t pick up on his cue right away, though, prompting the first one to give an annoyed little cough to get his attention.

“Ah! Oui! Pardon!” There was yet another moment of awkward semi-silence, as the second pea struggled to regain his composure and arrange his notes, to the first one’s growing irritation. Eventually, he appeared to have found his place, and took up from where his companion left off. “Oui. Wizz ze advent of ze Christ, and ze Great Commission, ze directive had changed. No longer were God’s people to seclude themselves from ze world, in an attempt to keep zemselves co-opted by it. Zay were now instructed to go out wizzin it, to bring uzzers to Him. If zat meant living a bit like zose on zee outside, zen zat was what would be necessary.

“Zee original example of zis change in direction was zee instruction to Peter about certain foods: ‘do not call unclean what I have declared clean.’ Of course, at ze time, God was actually referring to Cornelius and his fellow gentiles, rather zan ze food as such, but it was still applied to it, since the directive explicitly addressed it.

“Of course, Paul put it much more broadly; ‘to ze Jews, I became a Jew to win ze Jews… to zose not under ze Law’ – ze Gentiles – ‘I became as one not under ze Law, zat I might win zose not under ze Law (of course, I am not wizzout God’s Law, as I am under Christ’s).’ Ze concern in ze Old Testament was zat ze Israelites, by following ze culture around zem, zey would be pulled into it. But now, ze objective is zat, by being relatable to ze culture around us, we can lead zose wizzin it, and pull some of zem out. And zat eez why zoze zings zat were once forbidden to ze Hebrews are acceptable to us today; eet ees no longer to keep us separate, but for us to infiltrate ze enemy territory and rescue zoze who we can.”

That’s about all I can remember of the lecture before I found myself awake, but it pretty much sums it up. To sum up, the point is in the pulling; who’s doing it to whom, and in what direction. Things that were once unacceptable in His sight are now sometimes necessary to reach those who otherwise wouldn’t pay Him any attention.

I don’t this means I’ll be getting a tattoo, though…

Anyway, honey, I need to get on with my day. Keep an eye on me, and wish me luck; I’m going to need it.