In my main post this week, we looked at the cold, hard data of SNAP and the specific Greek exegesis of Paul’s letters. But in the “greenhouse” of our own hearts, there’s a softer question we have to tend to: Why is our first instinct often to gatekeep grace?
As a doctoral student, I spend a lot of time in the weeds of ancient syntax. But the “weeds” in our modern discourse are often the stereotypes we allow to grow unchecked—the idea that a person in poverty must “earn” the right to a moment of joy, like a birthday cake or a cold soda.
When we look at the Old Testament mandate for gleaning, we see a God who commanded farmers to leave the edges of their fields messy. He didn’t ask the farmers to vet the people walking behind them. He didn’t ask for a work history or a drug test. He simply commanded that the abundance of the land be accessible to those who needed it.
