Romans pt 25 - From Religious Conviction to Religious Oppression
Circumcision of the Heart
What makes a religious person an actual member of the religion they claim? Is it simply identifying with it? Is it something you are born into, or is it something you become as you order your life around it? That is the attitude and the tone of Romans chapter 2, from verse 17 onward. Paul asks:
Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?
ROMANS 2:25-26
These Jewish Christians were obsessed with their Jewish boundary markers (sabbath-keeping, dietary restrictions, circumcision), and were unhappy that their Gentile counterparts weren’t observing them. But Paul points to the Gentile’s faithfulness, their allegiance to Jesus, their willingness to share the table with the poor and low status, and to turn their back on the old gods of Rome. Paul’s basic argument is that the point whole point of Torah was to teach Israel to do the things that these Gentiles are now doing. Torah was the training wheels, but they’re already riding the bike!
Why is this important for us to think about? Because we repeat this scenario over and over again throughout church history. The hedge of protection we forge with our communal convictions will eventually become a prison that our descendants desperately yearn to escape.
This is why Paul brings an odd phrase into the conversation. circumcision of the heart. This idea goes back to Deuteronomy 30:6, which says:
"The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”
DEUTERONOMY 30:6
Circumcision was an external marker that you were devout, it meant that you endured pain, it carried an heir of devoted sacrifice. Paul’s argument is that they shouldn’t even need these spiritual accessories.
From Religious Conviction to Religious Oppression.
Let’s define a couple of terms:
Religious Conviction is when a belief costs you something.
Spiritual Abuse is when your beliefs cost someone else something.*
Things often start off as religious convictions and make their way toward spiritual abuses. Extreme actions of religious devotion, taking a vow of silence, poverty, chastity, physical markers like tattoos, shaved heads, circumcision, and even overly modest coverings, typically start off as religious convictions. They usually enter the community as a critique of culture or a form of protest, then eventually, those actions are protested themselves. Static and permanent morality is difficult (impossible?) to establish because any laws made by humans will inherently succumb to the flaws of humans. Let me point to a couple of illustrations from recent history.
Excessive drunkenness and addictions on a massive scale in the 1910’s and 20’s led Christians to ask questions about the role of alcohol.
Churches across the nation started seeing the damage that was being wrought in their communities and they decided that it simply wasn’t worth it, and Christians everywhere went dry. Eventually, this conviction turned into a command, and alcohol became a moral issue where people were judged as unChristian and morally wrong if they did (making even Jesus outsider).
Excessive sexuality of the 60’s and 70’s led to Christians enacting some rules of engagement that would allow them to navigate the rapidly changing sexual ethic.
Those faith communities discerned a dangerous and culture that was making many destructive choices. Eventually, these personal convictions morphed into divine commands, which became the spiritually abusive movement known as purity culture.
This is how the human propensity to control Gods work in others creeps in an perverts beautiful acts of sacrifice and surrender. Circumcision was not different.
Circumcision
There is a time early on in this ritual when circumcision was a sign of devotion. Acts of great sacrifice always start from a place of passion. An act is at it’s most stunning when there is no precedent for the act being performed. There is a moment in real movements where those who take on the symbols and markers of the group are obviously devout. There is no clout attached to the act at the start; you act in protest, alone. There are no martyrs to follow, it is a new path. There is only the passion of those who set themselves apart from society in an act of extreme devotion… like circumcision. But eventually, the marker becomes something else, not something that sets you apart, but something that you demand others do in order to belong. It becomes something you do because your spiritual leaders are shaming you into it. When this happens, a good thing becomes a stumbling block.
Faith must be discerned along the way. We have no law, only the Spirit to lead us toward wisdom and Christlikeness. We must always be repenting, rethinking, and reforming, throwing out old religion and discerning it new again. We do this with Jesus as our guide.
Discussion Questions:
How does Paul's argument in Romans chapter 2 challenge the idea of a religious identity based on external markers? How does he emphasize the importance of faithfulness and allegiance to Jesus over religious rituals?
What examples from church history can you think of that illustrate the transition from religious conviction to spiritual abuse? How do extreme acts of devotion or religious practices sometimes become oppressive or judgmental towards others?
How can we discern when religious practices or rituals become stumbling blocks rather than expressions of faith? What role does the guidance of the Spirit and Jesus play in this discernment process?
The sermon emphasizes the need for ongoing repentance, rethinking, and reforming of our religious beliefs and practices. How can we avoid the tendency to become rigid or stagnant in our faith? How can we cultivate a mindset of continual growth and transformation in Christlikeness?
*I heard Sean Palmer say this.