Year 7, Day 119: Numbers 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Yesterday I had a fascinating discussion with a number of students.  They wanted to know why it is that private school students have to wear uniforms.  After all, if jeans and a t-shirt are okay for public school teenagers, why are they not acceptable for private school students?  What’s so wrong with jeans and a t-shirt?

My answer, of course, was to redirect their focus.  The answer isn’t found by wondering what is wrong with jeans and a t-shirt.  The answer is found by asking a different question.  When you look kids in jeans and t-shirts, does the message “Spend tens of thousands of dollars here at our school” come across?  Once the students had their perspective changed, they understood.  They still didn’t like it, but they understood.

In case anyone is curious, we had the same conversation about why they can’t dye their hair non-natural colors and why neither they nor teachers can have an exposed tattoo.  In all cases, the answer was the same.  It’s not about right/wrong, it’s about the message.

After this discussion, I had a bunch of my teens says things like: “When I’m an adult, I’m going to be a fun parent who lets their kids do whatever they want.”  I think every adult thought that way as a kid.  The good parents grew up and realized how bad that perspective is as an adult.  Yes, we want our kids to enjoy being alive.  good parenting, however, is not about letting your kids do whatever they want.  Good parenting involves a mature perspective of wisdom that comes with age and experience.

That’s where we really are in these chapters where we talk about the Levites.  Do you notice that the Levites need to be 30 to serve?  All the other tribes counted their men from 20 and older.  The Levites, however, don’t count as men until they are 30.  I think the reason is all about maturity.  It takes far less maturity to put a weapon in a person’s hand and train them in military maneuvers that they can execute than it takes to train a person to act in mature ways that do not offend an omniscient and omnipotent God.

There is a deep spiritual message here.  If we want to be living with God, we need to be about seeking a life of maturity.  Our lives have to go beyond, “I am going to do what I want to do.”  If we want a genuine relationship with God, we need to allow our focus to go far deeper than our immediate and temporal desires.

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