Where there's smoke, there's regulation

This week I learnt an important piece of Canberra survival knowledge.

If you're sitting around your backyard fire pit, enjoying a winter evening with friends, you might want to throw a couple of sausages on the grill. Not because you're hungry. Because apparently it can help demonstrate that you're cooking. Folks around Canberra are being issued with environmental notices because, it turns out, a backyard fire is technically illegal under section 9 of the Environment Protection Regulation 2005.

Now, to be fair, the ACT's rules are a bit more sensible than that. They're trying to balance people's enjoyment of a fire with smoke, air pollution and neighbours who'd quite like to dry their washing without it smelling like a camping trip. But in some news you can use – fires for cooking are a loophole.

It's funny how quickly we humans learn to play games with rules.

If you tell a child they can't have dessert until they've eaten vegetables and suddenly they're negotiating whether a single pea counts [nb – vegetables implies two peas]. Tell Canberrans they can light a fire for cooking and before long somebody is wondering whether toasting one marshmallow every half hour keeps them on the right side of the law.

We instinctively ask, "What's the smallest thing I have to do to technically comply?"

Jesus had some strong things to say about that instinct. The religious leaders of his day had become experts at satisfying the letter of God's commands while missing what God actually wanted. They tithed herbs from the garden but neglected justice. They mastered loopholes but forgot love. They could tick every box while their hearts remained stubbornly untouched.

The gospel doesn't abolish obedience. It changes the reason for it.

Christ hasn't rescued us so that we can become more creative loophole hunters. He has rescued us so that we become the sort of people who genuinely delight in what is good. People who don't ask, "How close can I get to the line?" but, "How can I love God and love my neighbour here?"

Mind you, if you're inviting me over this winter, I'm still hoping there'll be something on the grill.

Not because the regulations require it.

Just because dinner sounds nice.

Grace and Peace,

Steve