When someone wants to point out that Christians don’t believe the Bible—often because they want to poke holes in a Christian sexual ethic—they turn to one of two places, mixed fibres or shellfish.
Both are laws from the old testament, one part of the food laws which I’ve written on before, the other one of those esoteric things which seems bizarre to us. All the Law was given for our instruction, though, so it must teach us.
Before considering what it might have to say to us, it’s worth pointing out the common gotcha—perhaps most famous in a scene in the West Wing—completely misunderstands how Christians have understood the Law. For all there is debate about exactly how we should think of these things, Christians have always thought carefully about how these things work and decided that some are to be kept and other understood as wisdom to us. It’s not a gotcha at all. It’s also worth drawing your attention to the way that sexual purity laws function differently in Leviticus to mixed fibres or food laws, they aren’t the same sort of thing—perhaps a topic for another time!
So, what are we meant to do with Leviticus 19’s prohibition on mixed fibres? It’s clustered with a law against breeding different kinds of animals together and a law against planting different kinds of seeds in a field. We should immediately think that the clustering is meant to make us notice something about not mixing with different ‘kinds.’
I’m sure we could jump to all sorts of conclusions which would be out of step with the Biblical witness, but it must have something to do with this. We could draw a fruitful parallel to the New Testament telling us to not be ‘unequally yoked’ (2 Corinthians 6) with a Christian marrying someone who isn’t following Jesus (though the text is broader than that). Or even, more subtly, considering the need for Christians to not eat at the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10), which needs some parsing out but clearly expects that there are some kinds of people who we shouldn’t mix with.
“Who are they!” you probably want to clamour, and the answer isn’t ‘don’t mix with those who don’t follow Jesus,’ but there is a sharper purity distinction in the New Testament church than most Christians (including me) tend to be comfortable with. We certainly shouldn’t eat at the Lord’s Table with those who don’t follow Jesus.
The wisdom of the Law is to teach us to think and then act ethically, so ‘don’t mix’ is a principle that we have to consider how to apply—clearly not in every situation but definitely in some.
It’s also about the mixing of ideas: syncretism is not the way of God. You follow him alone. It might also help us see how for many churches pragmaticism has acted as a leaven that has confused us deeply. Perhaps even we could suggest that theology is often polyphonic with seemingly discordant voices pulled in harmony and actually discordant voices rejected firmly.
Except it gets a little bit more complicated than that. Because the two fibres in question are linen and wool, and they are mixed on two occasions: in the High Priest’s ephod (Exodus 28 & 39) and in the tabernacle’s curtain (Exodus 26)—which are the same thing, because the High Priest’s outfit marks him out as a walking, talking tabernacle.
You can’t mix because mixing is a holy thing. Only the high priest wears a garment of mixed fibres. Only the tabernacle is woven with them. Only in God is mixing allowed.
Which might help us think about the wisdom here: the Church of God is a holy place where mixing is allowed. Yes, between all different kinds of people who in the natural would not be together, but most noticeably between creature and creation. God meets and mixes with man. We eat together with him at the Lord’s table. When you wear clothes of mixed fibres, you’re saying something about yourself, about the nature of creation, and about the God who meets man.
The nations unite in the church. God’s word speaks with many voices that the wise teacher can help us hear in harmony. We can take the wisdom of the world—plunder the Egyptians—but only very carefully under the guidance of shepherds who won’t make golden bulls out of it.
The Law will speak to us more than this, but never less.
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