Dental Hygiene

"Make sure you floss regularly and brush your teeth after every meal."

That was a rule in my parent's house that I heard every day growing up. Before bed, "Did you brush your teeth?"
"Yes."
"Tonight?"
"... no."

There was no real discussion; it had to be done in our house as I am sure it was so in others.
My own daughter denies it as vehemently now as I once did (and sometimes still do when my wife asks). "Brush your teeth" is not a rule for the discomfort and anguish that children imagine, but to instill in us the good habit of keeping our teeth clean; one that responds to the natural inclination of teeth rotting and falling out.

The same may be said for the Law of Moses. God's Law is not intended as the Ultimate Party-pooper, but simply a check to the fallen nature of Man; Laws that show us the reality of the world around us, meant to protect us from our teeth falling out: to keep us from harms way.

As one gets older, parents (usually) do not ask whether one has brushed their teeth or not; parents assume the importance of it is realized without the asking. I myself like washing my teeth for the feel of it, for the fresh breath and, if nothing else, to keep my teeth. Regular visits to the dentist are things I know I need - your visits are all the better if you have made good friends with him. It is no longer a rule that 'must be obeyed' though, but is one that, as a responsible adult who understands the effects of sugars on enamel and halitosis on spouses, performs the duty out of a real desire for the effects it gives and even pleasure of it.

Is this not the case with the Law of Christ? We are told we are no longer under the Law of Moses. I may do all things, but all things are not necessarily wise for me to do. The good Lord, in His timing waited until Man was ready to receive the lessons and graduate from the Law (albeit, only by the saving Grace He provided) before the Love of Christ could take proper hold in us. Parents daily remind their children to brush their teeth (clean their rooms, change their socks) until the day that they are ready to do it on their own for reasons other than just that they are rules. We must still pay the consequences of not brushing our teeth, but our parents no longer punish us for not doing so.

As all analogies must, this one breaks down. I don't have any cavities, but there are days I have not washed my teeth. No matter though if we have a perfect record before our parents, none have such a record before our Heavenly Father. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, all need Christ. Though I don't have a single bad tooth, I still need to visit the dentist. Jesus said, "Those that do the Will of My Father in Heaven are My brothers and sisters and mother." We must brush. But let it not be because our parents or even dentist say so, but because we love them and can eat together with them (and wish not to give them a toothless smile). Christ is, if you will forgive me, the Great Dentist.

In the end it seems, morality is not the real point of religion at all. All those religions that focus solely on rules seem to miss the relationship that those rules are meant to buttress. Just as fresh breath and a full set of teeth gets a perfect smile from my dentist and is pleasing to my parents and wife, so is a godly person to the LORD. Clean teeth should just be a normal part of living, certainly not the point of one's life. I think, as Lewis once said, we will find one day on the other side of the Gates, that we may speak of 'morality' as something of a joke; just as now I can laugh about my mother saying,
"Brush brush, keep them clean, horrid is a smile that's mean!"