Introduction
The question one must ask when reading any text
is how do I apply a text that was not written to me, to my life? The Western
Individual seems to have this issue because we like things spoon-fed to us and
filtered through our individualistic mindset. We like to think the world
revolves around us. It is a great revelation when we come to know that this is
not the case. Perhaps we never "fully know" this. But as we embark on
this journey from individual to collective, we must remember a few things. As a
Christian, my primary ancient text of choice is the Bible. The First time I
tried reading through the Bible was in 2001. My first Bible was a gift from
completing my First Holy Communion on Palm Sunday April 8, 2001. Suffice to
say, I did not make it very far. Genesis was exciting and Exodus was okay, but
when the ice finally melted from “Miles Rocks” and Opening Day came, I set
aside my Bible for a few years.
Giving a 9-year-old a Bible is dangerous. It is
almost like giving an 18-year-old access to a loaded gun without any training….
Unfortunately, many church goers are never equipped with how to read the Bible.
They are comfortable with the “surface” reading that misuses the purpose of
this amazing text. I believe we have misunderstood what the Bible was designed
to accomplish. I will use this short essay to detail the 3 things that I
believe the Bible is NOT. I will come back to this topic at a later time, and
detail what I believe the Bible is but that day is not today.
The Bible is NOT a political tool
The first thing we must remember is that Jesus,
Paul, Moses, or any other "writer" of the Biblical text or any other
ancient text has no idea about our current geopolitical landscape. It did not
exist. When politicians cherry-pick Bible verses to support their political platforms,
we should call them out on it. This is not to say that our Biblical texts do
have something to offer to important American issues such as abortion,
immigration, etc. But the warning here is using the Bible (or really any other
ancient texts) to speak directly to an issue in 2022 that they did not have in
the First Century.
The Bible is NOT a science textbook
This brings me to my second point. The Bible is
not a science textbook. Duh! In a post-Scopes Monkey Trial era, we SHOULD know
better than to use the Bible to support or disprove current scientific
discoveries. The false dichotomy is between faith and science. On the surface,
this seems logical. Science is about "proving" something exists
whereas faith is about "believing without evidence." I admit those
are pretty weak definitions, but this is merely a short essay so don't throw
too many stones from your glass house. Science is more than just proving, and
faith is more than just believing but I do not want to use my time to focus on
that matter for now.
I want to argue that the "writers'' of the
Bible did not think like you, and I think. They didn't think scientifically.
AND THAT's OKAY! Once again back to the first point, they aren't trying to
answer 21st century questions. If we turn to the Bible and say, "Did God
create the world in 6 literal days OR through some type of evolutionary
process?'' We are asking the wrong questions. The writer of Genesis (and the
rest of the Torah) was writing down the history of his people while in exile.
They were far from home. This was a matter of national security and identity.
This was a rally cry. This was a reminder of who God was to them when he chose
their patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). This was a reminder of who God
was to them when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt. This was a reminder of
who God was to them when he gave them to the Law. And this was a reminder of
who God was to them when they were disobedient, wandering in the desert for 40
days. God was with them through it all. And even now, in exile, though it
sucked, God was presence. He would be their light and hope.
So, did God create the world in 6 literal days
and take a break to watch the Steelers on Sunday? Idk? I wasn't there. Some
like to argue the Bible teaches that. I'm okay if you believe that and I'm okay
with you if you have doubts. It doesn't matter. Because I do not believe that
Genesis is answering the question of "How" the world came to be but
"Who" the world came to be made through.
The Bible is NOT a self-help handbook
The final point I want to
make is the Bible is not a self-help handbook. Since the Bible was not written
directly to me, I must be careful how I read it and apply it to my life. A key
hermeneutic tool is "A text cannot mean something to me today that it did
not mean to the original audience."
Here are some fun out of context Bible verses:
"Delight yourself
in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."- Psalm 37:4
"For I know the plans I have for you,
declare the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and
a hope."- Jeremiah 29:11
"I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who
gives me strength."-Philippians 4:13
In the first verse, if
you want, you could make the verse say that if I trust in God that he will give
me whatever I want. So, if I trust God really hard, he will give me X, Y, and
Z. However, when I think of the word "delight" I think of Mary of
Bethany. She was a sinful woman. She sat at the feet of Jesus and worshiped
him. She poured the anointing oil and washed his feet with her tears. She then
used her hair to dry his feet. "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven-for
she loved much. But he (she) who is forgiven little, loves little." She
delighted in her Lord. And she had her heart met in that moment.
David, who wrote this
Psalm, also knew what it meant to delight both in himself and in the Lord. When
he delighted in himself, it led to pride, adultery, and murder but when he
delighted in Lord it led to worship, confession, and joy.
In the second verse: we
read about a letter that Jeremiah is writing to God's people while in exile
(again). There were false prophets speaking that they would only be in exile
for a little bit longer so "hold on for one more day." Sorry, you
shouldn't never go full Wilson Phillips. Jeremiah writes this beautiful letter
telling them to not listen to the false prophets but to instead build houses,
plant gardens, and have babies. Does this sound like exile was ending soon? In
the middle of this letter, Jeremiah reminds Israel that God does have good
plans for them. His plan was that their situation was going to suck before it
gets better, but eventually it does get better.
I don't want to burst
your bubble, but life might not get better. It usually does. There are usually
good times and bad times. But it might not. It might get worse and worse and
then you die. “
“PREACH IT BROTHER!”- said no one ever….
God doesn't promise to
fix all of our problems, but he does promise to be with us. The word compassion
literally means "To suffer alongside." He sits with us in the muck
and mire. When your child dies, he says, "I can relate. They hung mine on
a cross." When your friends ditch you, he says, "I can relate. My 12
best friends were nowhere to be found on my worst day." Whatever the Gospel
is, it is not wealth, health, unicorns, and butterflies. And it is not a
self-help manifesto.
But that's okay. It
doesn't promise to be. God doesn't promise to fix everything. But he promises
to be with us. And that is Good News because it's worth more than a mansion or
owning cattle on a thousand hills.
And finally, you cannot
do everything. So, stop trying. St Paul is writing this as part of a letter to
the 1st Century church in Philippi. In context, he is basically saying be
content. Know how to live when you have a lot of money and when you have a
little bit of money because life is more than the things that you have.
In Conclusion
The Bible is not
1) A Political Tool
2) A Science textbook
3) A self-help book
So, what use does the
Bible have in our lives? Some would say, it has NO USE. To those I would say,
ha. haha. hahaha. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Literally or
metaphorically, bad idea. Stay tuned next week to discuss what purpose I believe
this ancient text has in our modern world.
But what do you think?
What role do you believe the Bible has in our lives?
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