The letter of the law

A while back--maybe a year or more--my mom was at our house.  As she usually does, she was helping me by washing the dishes.  Luke had been recruited to help (which he loves for some reason), so there they were washing dishes.
Kurt said it was fine for Luke to help, but please don't let him handle anything glass because it might break.  Only plastic or metal.  So mom, being the kidder that she is, help up a METAL knife with a PLASTIC handle.  Har har, mom.  Somehow I don't think that's what Kurt meant.

Isn't this what we do with God, though?  He tells us something very specific, and we figure a way around it by obeying the letter of the law instead of the spirit.  In our scenario, the spirit of the law was don't give Luke anything dangerous, even though what was said was don't give him anything glass. This is exactly what the Pharasees were doing when Jesus rebuked them.  They would meticulously tithe even their herbs, then tell their parents they didn't have enough money left over to care for them.  The spirit of the law of tithing was, and is, to give joyfully to God and people.  It was not how the Pharasees did it which was to give God the minimum He asks for and then blame him that you don't have enough to care for others.

I call this attitude "smart aleck."