The Wart!

The last time I had a wart I used wart remover, a sharp knife and a pliers to remove it. Painful? Yes! but it worked

There is now new and different wart on my foot that has been really hurting. It's been nine months of painful walking and I'm ready for it to be gone. This time I took an online wart remover course through YouTube and became self certified to make my own liquid nitrogen wart removing device out of a can of air duster. Sarah talked me out of it, something about damaging nerves and the low co-pay our health insurance has.

So I tried over the counter wart remover but it didn't work.

Finally, I went to the doctor yesterday.

This was a new doctor for me, since I had recently moved to the area. He did the normal new patient routine of asking my health history, full patient exam, and entering all of the information into a networked database (very cool). Then he did what he does to all new patient: EKG, blood tests for Lymes disease, vitamin deficiencies, and about three other tests that I can't remember.

Then he looked at my wart. He told me about warts (nothing I hadn't already read on web MD) and referred me to a dermatologist.

Three hours later I was at the dermatologist. She looked at my wart and decided there might not be a wart left under all the skin I had killed with that wart remover. If there was a wart there she couldn't get the liquid nitrogen on it because of the dead skin. She told me to do nothing to it and come back in six weeks.

So, I still have a wart. It is exactly same as it was at the start of the day. It makes me walk differently, giving me shin splints when I go jogging. After a day on my feet I can feel a throbbing pulse in the base of the wart, reminding me that (contrary to what the dermatologist might think) it is very much there. Maybe I'll explore the pliers/knife/YouTube option again.

The "But" in the sermon on the mount.

I've been thinking about Old Testament Law recently. How important is it? Do we follow it or ignore it? I did not think either seemed balanced. An "Eye for an Eye" doesn't seem to reflect Christ's love. "Go and sin no more" doesn't seem to reflect God's justice.

Today I re-read part of the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5. Christ says he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Then he gives six examples of the law, after each example he says "But I tell you" and gives an example of grace and love.

I think the "but" is the important line between the law and the life of one who imitates Christ. Christ is telling us to live on his side of the "but" while respecting the law on the other side.


Two observations

First, Christ's standard is higher than the law's and more difficult to meet. Under the law I wasn't allowed to kill my brother. Christ has upped that. Now I can't even express my anger at him. While Christ has upped the standard, he also upped the grace. Under the law no-one was dying for your failure. But now Christ has died because you can't make his standard.

Secondly, it is messy knowing how to live as Christ tells us to while respecting the law (which is still valid). How do we maintain justice and take an "eye for an eye" while turning the other cheek?

In the Schleitheim Confession Michael Sattler wrote "The sword is an ordering of God outside the perfection of Christ" I find this concept of ordained by God but outside the perfection of Christ to be helpful in understanding how we relate to both the law and the commands of Christ. The law is ordained of God, but outside the perfection of Christ. My goal as a follower of Christ is to live towards the perfection that Christ demonstrated and to leave the law part behind. I will not protest when others execute the law, because it is ordained of God. I simply believe that Christians should choose to live by the higher standard that Jesus taught.


What are your thoughts or comments? I'd be interested to hear them.