Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham.
Hebrews 7:5
I know that to oversimplify some things is not a good idea. You can hurt people and damage relationships. That’s not and never will be my intent in anything I do, say, or write. You know that I’m all for bringing people together. That’s why I’m walking on tiptoes right now.
Somewhere inside my head, I seem to divide people into one of two groups. You’re either on one side or the other. You can’t have your feet on both sides of this canyon. You’re one or the other. So, what’s this great divide inside the human race? Well, here it is.
We’re either basically a rule breaker or a rule keeper. There, I said it. After I’ve gotten to know someone for a while, they seem to drift into one side of this divide. Or you decide for them that they are either more likely to break the rules or more likely to keep them.
Not that I do this a lot but let me talk about myself for a minute. I’ll gladly be the guinea pig. For me personally, I’ve always, always, always been a rule keeper. Period. For me, there’s no question about this. I’m personally happier and have a lot less stress when I’m following rules. When I’m living inside the lines. When I’m following the directions of those in charge, when I go with the flow, it seems like this is just the right thing to do.
But when I find myself being a rule breaker, watch out. My stomach aches and makes all sorts of noises. The palms on my hands start to sweat. I quickly “pit out” my shirt no matter how much underarm deodorant I use. My eyes look side-to-side to see if anyone is watching. Someone who might report me to the rule keeper police.
And the funny thing is that most of my friends are also rule keepers. I think that part of it is that we tend to be attracted to people like us. Being with a group of rule keepers is easy and where I feel most comfortable. But put me with a bunch of rule breakers and I breakout in hives. Or something worse.
When Melchizedek, Mr. M. received a tithe from Abraham, he broke all the rules. Only certain people were to receive a tithe. And Mr. M. wasn’t on that list. Only priests from the tribe of Levi had the all clear to be on the receiving side of all that money. People paid their tithes to these guys and that was it. The priests were only doing their jobs when they accepted tithes. They weren’t any better or worse than the people paying. The priests were only following the law. They were only doing their jobs.
But it wasn’t that way with Abraham and Mr. M. There were no laws or rules that Abraham had to obey when it came to giving a tithe to Mr. M. He freely gave Mr. M. all that money and stuff as a great big thank you to God. God was the great provider of this victory, and this was the way for everybody to get that message.
Something else is going on here. Abraham is clearly and purposefully showing that Mr. M. is way ahead of him. He’s saying that the King of Salem and King of Righteousness has a whole lot more power and authority than himself. You never pay a tithe to anyone below you, it’s always, always, always given to someone greater.
Think of it this way. Giving, paying a tithe, is an act of worship. It’s not done to bribe God or anyone else. It’s given in response to God giving himself to us and for us. He first loved and gave to us, so we respond with worship, praise, and a deep desire to please the one we love. And a part of that is giving.
If you think about giving this way, you’ll quickly see that there’s not an ounce of guilt. No one is trying to bully anyone into doing anything. God first gave and then we respond. We imitate God when we give with the right motivation and heart.
When Jesus came to die for us, what was his motivation? Why would he leave his heavenly throne? Why come to this smelly, selfish, and sin-stained world when he was nothing but purity, goodness, and holiness? No one has ever taken a bigger or greater step down than what Jesus did through Christmas.
And his goal wasn’t to guilt us into cleaning ourselves up. He wasn’t even trying to make us into better versions of ourselves. Not on your life. He wanted to totally remake us into children of God[1]. God’s in the reconstruction business, transforming our minds so we can live out his good, pleasing, and perfect will[2]
God is holy and he just flat-out can’t stand sin[3]. If he didn’t do something, we’d throw ourselves into eternal separation from God. Bur God broke his own rule by dying for us through Jesus. He was both fully God and fully man, but without sin. Only in this way could all our sins be forgiven, made white as snow[4]. Isn’t it time for us to break our own rules of doing what we think best. Isn’t it time to stop fighting against everyone and everything, allowing God to bring us back to himself? This is the biggest and greatest breaking of all the rules in the history of rules.
Noodling Questions
Describe how you’re either a rule breaker or a rule keeper. Give examples.
Was Jesus a rule breaker or a rule keeper? Explain why.
Why do we need to break the rules about our ideas of what’s good
[1] 1 John 3:1
[2] Romans 12:2
[3] Psalm 5:4
[4] Isaiah 1:18
Comments