CIRCUMCISION IS an initiation rite for Jewish newborn babies. The ritual is an ancient practice that has been carried out by Jewish parents for more than 3,000 years.¹¹ To Jews, circumcision is a sign of the eternal covenant between God and Abraham and all his descendants. The Apostle Paul taught that true circumcision – the kind of circumcision that counts in God’s eyes – reflects the inward attitude of the heart that is obedient to God (vv.25-29). It is a circumcision of the heart that is done by the Holy Spirit. God’s people are those whose hearts are circumcised “to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD” (Deut 10:12-13). Jesus taught that the greatest commandments were to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37-40). Indeed, what matters to God is the heart. Jackie Pullinger, a veteran missionary who worked with drug addicts, gang members and sex workers in Kowloon, Hong Kong, once said, “God wants us to have soft hearts and hard feet. The trouble with so many of us is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.”¹² Having soft hearts means to love people by empathising with their pain and helping them. Having hard feet means to continue loving people who are difficult and to act on behalf of the poor, the marginalised, the vulnerable and the oppressed.

¹¹ https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/jewishethics/circumcision_1.shtml
¹² https://thinkaboutsuchthings.com/jackie-pullinger-quotes/