There was a book on things you could do and things you could not do. Of course, there have been many. But this was written by a Roman Catholic priest to explain matters of his church.
A lady was concerned about violating the no meat on Friday rule. She ate fish on Friday, but occasionally had bleeding gums and was concerned that the blood would be a violation of the no meat rule. Honestly. The priest put her at ease and told her that it was not a violation. There was a pope-approved exemption for this situation. You can imagine her relief.
Pastor Chuck Swindoll gave some similar advice to a congregation. His concerned was the issue of women wearing makeup. There must have been real tension in the congregation, because when Chuck said, "If the fence needs painting, paint it!" There was a collective sigh of relief from the painted fences in the congregation.
It's ok. The preacher said so!
I hope I sound like I despise such pettiness, because I do. Not only was scripture not cited in either of the authoratative pronouncements, but the message of the scripture was ignored. The spirit of the Pharisees lives on and even gets stronger. As if God sent His Son to be tortured and bleed over such things as these.
There is a Salvador Dali painting of the crucifiction as seen from above. It is as if God is looking down upon the scene. He must hate how we set up rules and barriers to the greatest gift ever given.
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