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Again, a second time, the voice said to him, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.” Acts 10:15
Mitch Rienick was one of my best friends in high school. We lived in the same neighborhood not far from school, were in many of the same classes, and just enjoyed hanging out together. A strong and agile young man, Mitch was also a linebacker on the football team.
One fall Friday night, in a close game against our school’s biggest rival, Mitch broke his leg. On Sunday afternoon, I rode my bike to Mitch’s house to visit my injured buddy. He seemed to be in good humor, despite the reality of this season-ending situation. After talking and joking for a few minutes, Mitch asked if I would be willing to carry his books for the next six weeks. Of course, I gladly agreed. So for the next month and a half, Mitch and I became a pair. I didn’t mind the extra weight of his books, and Mitch quickly learned how to maneuver through the crowded halls, unmistakably showing his athleticism.
I’ll never forget the day Mitch got his cast removed. The doctors had told him that once the cast was off, he’d be able to walk—carefully at first—without crutches. We sat in Mr. Vaughn’s history class, just before the end-of-the-day bell rang, feeling somber. We should have been excited that his plaster was coming off; instead we were sad. “I’m going to miss the crutches,” Mitch finally confessed. “I’ve gotten so good at using them. I can move faster with them than without them.” I agreed and said, “I’ll miss all the fun we’ve had zigging and zagging through the halls together.”
The apostle Peter was praying. Kneeling on the flat roof of his friend Simon’s house, Peter had a vision. He saw the heavens open, and then he saw what looked like a giant sheet being lowered to the earth. This huge piece of cloth was covered with “all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky” (v. 12). Then Peter heard God’s voice say, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat” (v. 13).
Peter was traumatized by the order. Why? Because, among these creatures were animals that Peter, according to his Jewish traditions, had been told not to eat. “No, Lord!” he protested. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.” The Lord responded, “What God has made clean, do not call impure” (vv. 14–15).
It was as though God was saying to Peter, “These laws and customs were good. They used to be necessary. But Peter, they were crutches. Now, through Jesus, you have been healed. You’re free to live without those crutches.”
Are you clinging to some old useless crutches? These crutches may represent certain ways your father or your grandfather acted or spoke. Maybe he never lifted a finger to help around the house or bathe a child. Maybe tenderness, transparency, and expressions of love and affection were foreign to him.
If these “manly” ways have been a part of your tradition and you find yourself hanging on to them, then it’s time you free yourself from this past. These crutches are not sacred rites. Throw them away. It’s time to start some of your own customs. Remember that you are a new creation in Christ (2Co 5:17), set free (Gl 5:1) from patterns of the past.
Enjoy the freedom of new ways of acting and speaking, standing on your own legs—steadied and strengthened by what our heavenly Father will provide (Is 35:3).