BIBLICALLY INSPIRED

Living the Book with Humility

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."

(John 5:39-40)

The Bible is a supernatural, mysterious, simple, complex, and beautiful message to inform and transform the lives of believers, the church, and—ultimately—culture. Christians and the church, however, have not lately been known for thoughtful handling of God's word. Rather than viewing it with awe and humility, some Christians have, in their defensiveness, reduced Scripture to a personal tool belt of judgment. Instead of grace, they have shown a penchant for using the Bible for their own purposes—quoting verses out of context, extracting Scripture to support a position on a given topic, or hijacking biblical texts to judge others' behavior. This tendency has led to a sad unraveling of the Bible's reputation as the transformative word of God. No wonder non-Christians feel attacked and embittered. No wonder churches have difficulty drawing people to God merely by asserting, "We are Bible based." To people outside the church, this statement now sounds like a door slamming shut in their faces.

But Jesus clearly delineated the correct application of Scripture, and his manner of handling God's word was instructive for believers in every century since. Today he confronts the church, reminding us that the body must be built on him, not on dogma—on insight and mercy, not on condemnation. He is asking us to understand that when we value tight philosophical systems over the genuine message of the gospel, we become a stumbling block that injures the church and wounds those we are sent to serve. In our culture and context, it is imperative that people of faith return to an understanding and practice of biblical truth as modeled by Jesus.

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."

Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:23-28)

The day of Sabbath was originally designated by God to benefit people by setting one day a week aside for rest, community, and joy. The teachers of the law selfishly grabbed it for their own purposes and personal benefit. Adding one Sabbath law and regulation after another, they attempted to use the Sabbath day of rest as a means to direct everyone's attention and money to their religious systems and institutions. In the end everyone was forced to serve a legalistic notion of Sabbath rather than actually experience God's Sabbath rest. Jesus, using scripture, warned the Pharisees about manipulating scripture to serve them selves. Furthermore, he clarified that Scripture points to himself, the Lord of the Sabbath, and not their legalistic institutions. God's church must realign itself with this healthy, holy, and holistic view of the Bible to honor God and once again allow people to experience his word as irresistible and life changing.

Seeing the Sacredness of Scripture

Christians believe that God is the origin of Scripture. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "all Scripture is God-breathed." Some translations of this verse use the word inspired, alluding to the Holy Spirit guiding a multitude of writers.

There is a mystery here. If you believe that the words in John 1:1 are inspired, what does it mean to your life, the life of the church, and the practice of faith? God is the word. When we approach the Bible we are approaching God—not something to be glibly done. We must view God's word on those terms and in totality, not in bits and pieces that suit our view of the world. Only by looking at Scripture in total do we approach understanding. This is a lifelong quest. The word is immense—not visible all at once. We pull back the petals one by one to find infinite layers beneath.

Christians approaching the Bible will gain insight from the art of seeing the thirty thousand-foot view of God's word. It is only from this vantage point that we see the epic nature of the Bible. We then read the Scripture in total and apply it holistically.

Stanley Grenz, a Christian thinker of the twenty-first century, reflects:

Our world is more than a collection of incompatible and competing local narratives.... We firmly believe that the local narratives of the many human communities do fit together into a single grand narrative, the story of humankind.... As Christians we claim to know what that grand narrative is. It is the story of God's action in history for the salvation of fallen humankind and the completion of God's intentions for creation. We boldly proclaim that the focus of this metanarrative is the story of Jesus.

Not Always Literal

In a congregational meeting there was a vote to convert the historic church chapel into a gymnasium for outreach purposes. One church member stood up. "I don't see any mention of gymnasiums in the Bible." Another church member promptly responded, "I don't see any mention of urinals in the Bible either, but they sure are a good idea." The vote went in favor of transforming the chapel into a gym.

Postmodern Americans are accustomed to looking at a world of mystery. They understand incongruity, difficulty, and struggle. Faith deals with all of those elements of life. What they find hard to swallow is an insistence on the literal reading of Bible passages that are clearly meant to be understood another way. Churches hoping to speak to people in the twenty-first century must acknowledge that doggedly literal interpretations of the Bible can hold people at arm's length and keep them from the richness of the text. The Bible contains hyperbole, song, metaphor, poetry, allegory, and other forms of writing that bring God's word to life.

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth....
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:6, 8-9)

"Spoke" does not designate a literal movement of lips and tongue, of course, but is a way for us to understand and imagine in human terms and images. Rather than putting our literal selves in the way of God's message, we can read these words and faintly begin to sense the enormity of God's power. We must experience the Bible with our minds open to all that God has to say to us.

When we read the Bible thoughtfully, thoroughly, and with openness to the underlying message of the literature we avoid silliness that builds a wall between people and an encounter with God.

Reading in Context

The practice of wielding verses out of context has been devastating to the church and to the translation of Christianity into our culture. For instance, some churches have attempted to lift verses out of Paul's writings and directly apply them, without historical or cultural care, to our unique culture and time. We dare not ignore these verses' original intent and audience. Whereas the message of each biblical book is alive and vibrant, the words were originally written with a particular audience in mind. New Testament verses advising women to keep their heads covered and men to have short hair are not implemented in Christian churches today, yet we treat similar verses with strange superstition. Some churches, for example, elevate Ephesians 5:22-23 ("Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife.") to the level of serious dogma. They are willing to fight over this doctrine and exclude people who view these verses in light of a specific historical context. The church must wisely discern original intent, understanding the singular circumstances of Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome and avoiding the elevation of historical and cultural elements into legalistic doctrine.

In the twenty-first-century church we must return to the discipline of reading with a keen eye to everything the Bible has to say about any point of emphasis in order to avoid the improper application of isolated texts. Misreadings, misappropriations, and the extraction of verses are not new temptations. Throughout history the Bible has been inappropriately used to justify slavery, oppress women, excuse military aggression, and create theocracies. In addition to the pain these sins have caused, these misappropriations have justifiably turned people away from Jesus. Continuing in this practice will have a deadly effect. It will stunt our ability to offer hope to those around us. It is time to look hard at the practice of careless scriptural reading and application.

Proper Use of Biblical Truth

Some people read the Bible in order to gain ammunition for use against others, elevating specific passages above the generous grace of God. Henry Cloud and John Townsend describe this entanglement in their book How People Grow:

Some people make the mistake of missing the One to whom the Bible is directing them. They become enamored of learning the depths and complexities of the Bible, and they forget that it points us toward God. The problem is technically called "bibliolatry," which means making an idol out of the Bible. This occurs in some circles that emphasize doctrine or Bible study to the point of neglecting a personal relationship with Jesus, who said that the Scriptures actually bear witness to him (John 5:39).

A preacher once said this is like the man who goes to a restaurant and reads the menu. Then, exclaiming how great the menu is, he puts salt and pepper on it and proceeds to eat it.

Reading the Bible to gain information-focused knowledge for the purpose of elevating one's standing or advantage over others will neither nourish the reader nor lead others to faith. For example, it is tempting to read the Bible and assume that it is good and right to pray for vengeance because people in scriptural stories do. The Old Testament records several prayers that go far beyond asking for protection against an enemy (Psalms 44, 70, 74; Jeremiah 18:23). They are malicious, asking for the destruction of the enemy. When godly Nehemiah was ridiculed and threatened by Sanballat and Tobiah, he prayed passionately for the destruction of his critics: "Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders" (Nehemiah 4:4-5).

But Jesus and the teachers of the New Testament took exception to the imprecatory prayers of the Old Testament. The powerful grace and love of Jesus Christ confronted all vengeful mentalities and threw them down forever when he said: "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:43-45 TNIV). Echoing Jesus' directive, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse" (Romans 12:14). Jesus had reframed the entire conversation.

The church today must listen to Jesus' voice in order to interpret the Bible correctly. We can assume that if Jesus and Paul were commanding people to love and bless their enemies, we should also extend love to everybody on the continuum—irritating people; disagreeable people; people of various political bents; those who look at life differently; individuals who appreciate different music. The list goes on and on. As people in God's church we must ruthlessly push back the natural bent to love people like us and hate the people we disagree with. Without exception, as Christ followers, we are called to love and bless, showing grace and patience to everyone. Any response less than this is not Christlike and is wrong.

In an age where the Christian church is perceived by some in America to be as angry and intolerant as its critics, Christians of this century would do well to read, reflect, and respond like Jesus when critics lob destructive threats and insults. The lavish grace and love of God in Jesus Christ is so strong that we, like Jesus, should have no need for vengeance or name-calling. If we are settled, mature, and deeply rooted in our personal relationship and understanding of God, the sheer presence of God in our lives draws us away from fear and defensiveness. If God is who he says he is, and Jesus is powerfully present through the Holy Spirit, we will have a deep and abiding confidence in the face of even the worst of critics. Indeed, we even have the capacity to pour out compassion on those we individually view as our critics and enemies and pray for their well-being.

The Bible as a Spiritual Discipline

Anyone can read the Bible as a reference book to learn biblical facts or behavioral guidelines, but it is the daily spiritual discipline of Bible reading and meditation on God's word that entices believers to encounter God and to be changed. The Bible is given to us for spiritual formation and nourishment, yet some Christians have never learned that reading and meditating on Scripture can be transformative.

Jesus' disciple-turned-apostle Paul wrote to the new church in Rome that all people can see proof of God through general revelation in God's creation. "Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Romans 1:20 TNIV). God sending his word in the form of Jesus to all of humanity (John 1:1) is a special revelation. He also spoke his word through personal address into the lives of people (Deuteronomy 18:18-20; Jeremiah 1:9; and 1 Samuel 15:3). But it was through the power of God in the written books of the Bible that he gave the most direct special revelation. By knowing the Bible, we begin to know God and how to live today.

The church must encourage this ancient spiritual discipline of deeply experiencing and absorbing the life-altering word of God. People—young people in particular—will be intrigued to learn that the Christian faith offers this sort of supernatural power. It is a truth that has not been widely promoted. Spiritual transformation is a mystery and a gift, and the time is ripe. Young new believers are demonstrating their openness to and interest in ancient practices of faith in their styles of worship, incorporating everything from ancient poetry, classical art, and candles to alternative rock music.

Blessed are those
who do not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but who delight in the law of the LORD
and meditate on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2 TNIV)

The psalmist uses a beautiful metaphor from nature to describe what happens when people practice this discipline:

They are like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:3 TNIV)

Scripture nourishes us like water nourishes a sapling tree, enabling it to grow strong. Taking in the wisdom of God is the first step in growing people who will then participate in a vibrant, missional church.

The Bible is God's holy revelation to humans. God's purpose for revelation is to draw people closer to him, not primarily to keep them in line. People do not often encounter God through thunderbolts, but often do through sacred text. His desire for relationship is signified by his revealed message to the church.