Cherry Picking the Truth

I recently read a post that broke my heart because it came from someone I love and respect. It talked about “accepting basic reality,” using Deuteronomy 22:5 as proof that men and women must dress according to strict gender lines and even mentioned and reinforced the idea of strict gender roles. The message was simple: “People today are rejecting what’s been obvious and accepted for thousands of years.”

But when someone says “basic reality,” it makes the conversation sound simple. Likes it been clear and settled forever. But we all know this conversation is anything but simple. And it’s sure not settled. Maybe the part that should be simple is this: 

Let people figure out for themselves who they are. Let people work out their own convictions. Let people decide how they will live their lives before God.

Faith was never meant to be forced.

It was never meant to be controlled from the outside. It’s personal, wrestled with, and lived out between an individual and God.

Scripture tells us that each person is responsible for their own walk, their own conscience, and their own relationship with Him. Real faith doesn’t grow through pressure or control or someone else’s certainty.

It grows when people have the space to seek, question, learn, listen and follow what they believe God is shaping in their hearts. So, maybe the conversation doesn’t need more declarations about “basic reality,” maybe instead, it needs more humility and more room for people to walk their own journey with God.

And if we’re going to talk about scripture, we owe it more than soundbites.

The post framed disagreement as arrogance—as if anyone questioning a traditional interpretation must think they know better than all the generations before them. But history tells us a different story.

For thousands of years, people also believed that slavery was biblically justified, women should remain silent and never lead, interracial and same sex marriage was wrong and certain groups of people were naturally inferior to other groups.

In each case, people used scripture and tradition to defend what they believed was “basic reality.” And in each case, the Church eventually had to wrestle with context, culture, and the heart of those same scriptures.

So no, questioning tradition isn’t arrogance, it’s growth. It’s deeper faith.  And it’s taking the Bible seriously enough to study it instead of just repeating it.

Another issue is that posts like this often mix three separate things together as if they’re the same:

1. Biological differences between men and women  

2. Cultural expectations about gender roles and clothing  

3. Ancient covenant laws given specifically to Israel  

Those are three different conversations.

But when they’re blended together, it creates the impression that modern clothing choices are directly tied to God’s eternal moral law. Like God really cares who’s wearing pants. That’s not careful interpretation, it’s oversimplification.

Deuteronomy wasn’t written to modern America. It was written to ancient Israel, living among pagan cultures.

That same section of law includes instructions like don’t wear clothing made of mixed fabrics. Don’t plant different kinds of seeds together. Put tassels on your cloak. Follow specific dietary restrictions.  

The theme of that chapter isn’t about fashion, the theme is distinction. It’s about keeping Israel separate from surrounding pagan practices and preserving their identity as God’s covenant people.

When leaders use the word detestable and connect it—even indirectly—to people alive today, the message many people hear isn’t theological, what they hear is, “God is disgusted by people like you.” That kind of message doesn’t draw people toward God. It pushes them away.

And if we’re being honest here, it also raises a bigger question:

Why are we putting human reactions onto God?

Language like “this angers God” or “God is disgusted” reflects human emotions more than the nature of God revealed throughout scripture.

I don’t believe God is petty. I just don’t. And I don’t believe He’s sitting in heaven keeping track of who is wearing what. Especially when clothing itself changes across cultures, societies, and time.

Women wear pants now. Men in many cultures wear robes, tunics, kilts, or garments that look very much like dresses. Styles change. Norms change. Fabric changes.

If clothing itself is constantly shifting based on culture, then it’s hard to argue that specific styles carry eternal moral weight—because God is not bound to culture. And because the broader story of scripture shows us something different:

- Jesus consistently moved toward people others rejected.  

- He challenged religious leaders who focused on rules while neglecting compassion.  

- He reminded them that God cares about the heart, not outward appearances.  

And listen, if Deuteronomy 22:5 is treated as a timeless command for modern wardrobes, then consistency would require us to also follow the surrounding laws about fabrics, crops, tassels, and more.

Because we already understand—whether we say it out loud or not—that many Old Testament laws were cultural, ceremonial, and specific to ancient Israel’s covenant people. That’s why we do wear blended fabrics now. We eat foods that were once forbidden. We don’t follow dietary or purification laws. And we don’t bring animal sacrifices.

We recognize that those instructions belonged to a specific time, culture, and covenant. But if you notice, when it comes to certain issues, something interesting happens. Suddenly, context completely disappears. Suddenly, cultural background doesn’t matter anymore. Suddenly, those same ancient laws are treated as timeless moral commands of everyone. And if we’re honest, that’s not consistent interpretation, it’s selective application.

Or, to put it more simply: Too often, we don’t just read scripture, we also choose the parts that support the message we already want to defend. This isn’t new, people have done it for centuries.

But if we’re going to take the Bible seriously, we have to be willing to apply the same level of context and care to all of it—not just the parts that reinforce our position, because when we start picking and choosing which ancient laws still apply based on our own comfort, our own culture, or our own preferences, that’s not truly faithfulness to scripture, it’s good old-fashioned cherry-picking.

The question isn’t whether those laws mattered, the question is how they apply today—and that requires context, not selective quoting.

This debate isn’t really about clothing, it’s obviously about something deeper. It’s about fear that culture is changing and gender expectations are shifting. The world feels less stable than it used to for people unwilling to move with it. 

Calling something “basic reality” is just a way of holding onto a strict archaic certainty in a modern changing world. But faith that can’t handle context, history, and nuance is a fragile faith.

The Bible is complex. Faith is complex.  And taking scripture seriously means being willing to wrestle with it. It’s not unhealthy to question things, or to think for one’s self. 

Asking questions isn’t rebellion. Looking at historical context isn’t going against God. Studying cultural background isn’t rejecting truth. It’s just good Bible study, y’all.

Because taking scripture seriously means understanding what it meant back then before deciding what it means today.

When we reduce scripture to culture-war soundbites, something really important gets lost. The heart of the Gospel isn’t about policing appearances, it’s about transformation, grace, truth, and love. And over and over again, scripture reminds us that God looks at the heart, not the clothes or whether or not the women are in the kitchen while the men are plowing the fields.