Are you wearing a shirt or blouse of cotton and polyester? It is quite permissible for us to wear such clothing. For the Israelites under the law of Moses, it was different. They were prohibited from wearing clothes made of a blend of diverse fibers. “Nor shall come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff” (Lev. 19:19 RSV). Why not? Was there a potential health hazard? An inherent ethical conflict? Not to our knowledge.
The spiritual lesson
Every requirement of the law had, as its primary intent, a spiritual purpose; there was a lesson to be learned. Always, the same lesson is valid for us. What is the lesson in this case?
Their service to God was to be unmixed. We are free to wear clothing of blended fibers, but we have no liberty to ignore the underlying principle: “No one can serve two masters…you cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt. 6:24). We are not free to worship self while we worship God. Good and evil cannot be allowed to mix. In Israel, the very composition of their garments served as one of many reminders of this requirement.
Single-mindedness
Like the faithful Israelite, we must strive to be single-minded, for we “must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord” (Jam. 1:7,8). We should not have two minds, thinking opposing thoughts, leading us in opposite directions. We cannot follow the way of life and the way of death at the same time. We have to choose. We must remain steadfast in that choice. Our conduct must be consistent with our profession. It should be apparent whose we are and whom we serve (Acts 27:23).
Inadequate service
Are we, then, single-minded in our devotion? Are we unmixed in our service? Our sad conclusion is the same as that of the thoughtful Israelite pondering the principle behind the prohibition governing the construction of his clothing. The perceptive disciple of Moses was led to recognize his inability to meet perfectly the divine requirement. It is no different for the disciple of Christ.
“Whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law (the Israelites), so that every mouth may be stopped (ours included), and the whole work may be held accountable to God. Form human being will be justified in his sigh by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:19, 20).
Divine mercy
The prohibitions of the law were no necessarily challenges to self-improvement. They were designed, rather, to expose mankind’s inability to offer flawless service to God. The divine commandments, under both old covenant and new, provide constant reminders of our moral inadequacy. We all fall far short of the ideal. We are all dependent upon God’s mercy.
Thankfully, mercy is the primary divine attribute. “The LORD, the LORD a God merciful and gracious…” (Ex 34:6). Consequently, the Master identifies mercy as one of “the weightier matters of the law” (Mt. 23:23).
Direction, not perfection
This provides no license to God’s servants in any age to “sin that grace may abound” (Rom. 6:1). The requirement of unmixed service still stands. “He has shown you, 0 man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic. 6:8 RSV). The essential issue, as always, involves direction, not perfection. To the saints, forgiveness is available.
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:6,7).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One