Galatians 6:11-16. Paul says those insisting on circumcision for Christians are making a show of the flesh. They are only doing it because they fear persecution. Even those circumcised do not keep the law, Paul says, but they want you circumcised so they can "glory in your flesh." The only thing Paul, or we, should glory in is the cross of Jesus Christ. Circumcision or non-circumcision does not matter at all - just the new creation brought about by Christ's crucifixion.

When Paul says those insisting upon circumcision just want to "glory in your flesh" it sounds like he means they have some gruesome, almost sadistic, desire to see others' foreskins cut off. But that is not it at all. He is talking about the people who insist on outward signs of obeying the law, even when there is no truth behind these signs for them, or for those they insist obey them. They just want to look like they are "in the right."

Circumcision was extremely important to the Jews, and rightly so - God insisted upon it. But Paul recognizes, as did the early Church (after much discussion), that Jesus changed this. Circumcision is no longer required for Christians, because Christ came for everyone - he was crucified for all of us and his sacrifice is sufficient and effective for all, whether circumcised or not, as long as we accept him. So the people who are insisting on circumcision for the new Christians are doing so to avoid controversy with the Jews. They somehow think they will avoid persecution if they are circumcised - and maybe they will in some situations, but they should be honest with themselves as to why they are doing it. It's not because of the law and because they are good law followers - it is rather because they don't want to stand out as different, as lawbreakers. Having made this decision for themselves, they want to force it on everyone else because no one likes to think that they are being cowardly or wrong, so they try to bring everyone along with them. Paul is not saying that it is wrong to be circumcised, it is not, it is a choice that one can certainly make. What he is saying is don't worry about it - either way, it is fine, just don't be cowed by the moral busy bodies who are insisting on it.

I see this same behavior today with so many things. People decide what they think is right, often without doing a full-blown moral analysis of the situation, but rather following the culture, the media, or their favored political party, and then they think they have to insist on everyone else doing the exact same thing that they have done. Anyone who doesn't do or think the way they do is considered a bad person. Just look at the last election, and how brow-beaten people were about who to vote for. We have to let people follow their own consciences. We have to trust others to have a moral code. We have to understand that people can come to different moral conclusions, or make different moral decisions, and still be very moral people, glorified in the cross of Christ.

(This reminds me of my Let's Stop Being Secular Pharisees post.)