Leviticus 19

Do you know why so many websites feature listicles? Having written a few unpublished (and unsubmitted) ones myself, I have an idea why: They're easy to write, eliminate nuance, and you don't have to worry about pesky organization like you do with actual articles or essays. Leviticus 19 isn't actually a listicle, but it does feature a set of rules that don't seem to be organized in any discernible manner. Some of them reiterate the Ten Commandments using different language (so the Israelites can get them into their thick skulls), but many of them are "new."

Verses 9 and 10 promote charity, telling the people to leave some of their harvest behind for the poor. I obviously have enough money to have a computer and an Internet connection, so I certainly have the means to donate some of my resources to the poor. I cover some of that when I tithe, I suppose, but is that really where I should stop?

Verse 16 regards slander, which always reminds me of this gem from the first Spider-Man (the Sam Raimi series, not the Not-So-Amazing ones with Andrew Garfield):

Other rules don't make any sense, like the second half of verse 19 (forbidding fields with two kinds of seeds or clothing with two types of material), verses 23-25 (orchard husbandry), and verse 27 (forbidding the cutting of sideburns or the edges of one's beard). Some of this may have to do this hygiene and practices that will make a crop more fecund, but it might also be like that Van Halen M&M thing--God wants to make sure that His people are paying attention so that they will follow the rules that do really matter. Although I don't own any crops or orchards, I do break the clothing and hair regulations all the time. Some of the Pharisees in Jesus' time would have had fun shaking their fingers at me in contempt, but I know that I have more important issues I need to wrestle with in order to strengthen my relationship with God.

The rule that strikes me the most, though, is in verse 15: "Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly." I don't treat someone better just because they're rich, but I fear that I show favoritism to those with whom I get along. I've written this before, but it bears repeating because I still struggle with this issue: When I'm interacting with someone who has the delightful talent of persistently annoying me, I don't exactly lash out, but I can adapt a deplorably sullen attitude. On the other hand, I'm more cheerful and accommodating to those who are respectful or who make me laugh. But who's to say that the irritating people act that way because they're struggling with something? And even if they act that way just because they're entitled, I should treat them as Christ would: with respect, grace, and forbearance.