Shaving

Deuteronomy 14:1 You are the children of the LORD your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead.

Have you noticed that culture can shift over time, that those things that used to be taboo have now become normalized in society? When I was growing up, tattoos were something that sailors got during a time of war. Oh how times have changed.

And hair colors were always shifted toward a natural color, not the other way around. Grey hair was a thing to be avoided by a monthly visit to the Clairol aisle. Red or blue or green or stripes of various colors wasn’t even imagined.

Now just suppose for a moment that having specific tattoos connected you to a South American gang and its values and practices. Having the tattoo meant that you bought into their way of living. Other members of that gang could see your tattoo and know that you would support them in their crimes.

If that were the case, would it make sense to get a tattoo like that if you weren’t identifying with them? Would putting a membership mark on your body make sense for you, your family and community? Wouldn’t you want to avoid such connections being made!

This is what our text is talking about. There were practices of the surrounding cultures that identified individuals to those cultures. When that mark was present, it was like saying, “I value the things you value and stand side by side with you in what you believe.”

Today we have language that has not been assigned meaning that is contrary, or at least not completely in line with the Gospel. The word “justice” used to have a meaning that was in line with the Gospel. Now that word has been co-opted to to include exactly the opposed of the word. Justice now means injustice for a different set of individuals. It just shifts the injustice around.

We don’t have a second set of funeral practices in this country, or at least I am not aware of them. But if we did, we might have to think long and hard about adopting an alternative set of values that are connected to that practice.

The message is this: don’t compromise your identity to fit into culture.