Here we are with Episode 3 in my series called “The Bible Does NOT Mean That!” The goal is not to tell you definitively what the Bible does or does not say. The goal is to talk about how we can look at the Bible with intentionality and understanding. Since it is God’s revelation to humanity it’s not supposed to be filled with secrets locked away to all but the elite. It’s designed to guide us ALL!
The problem is that many of us are simply never taught how to read it.
So today we’re talking about hermeneutics (her-men-oo-tics): the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation. It can be used with interpreting anything, really, but is often used when we talk about interpreting the Bible.
The other day I published a post about Feminist Theology and how it damages the text of Scripture. While there is a spectrum of thought within Feminist Theology, most of the thinkers within the movement tend to move away from affirming the authority of the Bible.
Long story short, I upset some people who thought I was marginalizing feminists. One went so far as to tell me:
There isn’t a singular interpretation of any religious text. It’s a 2000 year old comic book in my eyes. To say one reading is holy and another reading is “destroying the bible” is the most ridiculous, selfish, onerous thing [you] can say.
But here’s the thing. There is only one meaning to a text. Fee and Stuart say, “The Bible can not mean now what it never meant then.” That means that the author’s original intent is the foundational guideline for understanding any given text.
“What does this mean to me?” is not a valid method of interpreting a text. How I respond as a reader is not as important as what the author was trying to say. The author’s meaning is what we need to be looking for. In that sense, then, there is only one meaning to any text.
There are, however, multiple applications to a text. Era, culture, technology, and other elements all play a role in how a text is applied to our lives today, but the original meaning never changes.
In that regard, theologies that attempt to skew the original meaning of the text, whether they be feminist, liberation, systematic, whatever…all damage the text when they set aside the original intent in order to pursue their own agendas.
So the next time you read the Bible, the first question need to ask is, “What was God trying to say when this was first written?” Only then can you follow it up with, “How can I work to apply this to my life?”
One of the enduring fights among the faithful is the “proper” role of women within Christianity. People really get heated when they talk about it. I have made no secret how I feel about women in ministry. You can get a pretty good understanding of my view in my post, “Skirts in the Pulpit.”
But even though I support women in ministry, I cannot get behind feminist theology that views every single biblical story as a story of oppression and abuse.
Case in point: a Twitter account popped up not too long ago that seeks to tell the story of every woman in the Bible through a feminist lens. I like the concept of telling the stories of people whose voices are not always heard. The problem is that the feminist lens falsely colors the stories and the new interpretation does damage to the text of Scripture which, in all honesty, is actually a sacred text that contains a high regard for women.
I have never written a blog post about a specific Twitterer before but I guess there’s a first time for everything, so let’s look at a few of these feminist renderings of biblical women with a few comments. Then let me know what YOU think.
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 27, 2014
This one interests me. Hannah, Samuel’s mother, was praying desperately for a child. When the priest, Eli, saw her lips moving but couldn’t hear her voice, he thought she was intoxicated (see 1 Samuel 1:9-18). So the feminist lens judges Eli as being misogynistic.
I take issue with this for two reasons:
1) Eli isn’t concerned about her gender, only about her appearing intoxicated before God. Once Hannah explains the situation Eli replies, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you’ve requested from Him.” Yup – he’s a real woman-hater. 😐
2) When Jesus’ disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, some who overheard sneered and accused them of being drunk. Peter has to stand up and say, “We’re not drunk. It’s only 9 a.m.!” In both stories gender isn’t the issue. The issue is the appearance of drunkenness.
The feminist re-interpretation damages the text.
How about:
Lois and Eunice: We were women of great faith, but you only know us because of our son/grandson Timothy.
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 27, 2014
This tweet assumes that there is something wrong with these women being remembered as the mother/grandmother of Timothy, as if they are being slighted for not having a more fully-developed story.
The problem is that there are many names in the Bible – men and women – who are only given a brief mention. How about Simon the Cyrene? How many Christians actually know who he is without looking him up? He’s the man who carried the cross of Jesus but he only gets one sentence. Just because the Bible doesn’t give pages and pages to a biblical character does not mean that the character is ignored or slighted. The feminist reading is creating a false dilemma.
The feminist re-interpretation damages the text.
Okay, just one more, because the tweets are starting to get my blood boiling…
Hagar: Because you think you own me, use my body without my say, and when I finally gain my voice, set me loose to die #yesallbiblicalwomen
— YesAllBiblicalWomen (@AllBibleWomen) May 28, 2014
In the ancient world, carrying on the family line was of extreme importance. When Sarai couldn’t give Abram children, Hagar (an Egyptian slave) was taken to be a surrogate mother in order to provide offspring. Later on, Hagar and her child were removed from the family and sent into the wilderness. It is a tragic story, to be sure.
The problem is that it’s not misogynistic violence against women. From beginning to end, Sarai is the one who mistreated Hagar. It was Sarai’s idea to use Hagar as a surrogate. It was Sarai who asked to remove Hagar and Ishmael. The feminist reading doesn’t admit that it is a WOMAN who is mistreating Hagar. It plays fast and loose with the text, ignoring certain elements in order to make the case for the Bible promoting female oppression.
The feminist re-interpretation damages the text.
The Bible illustrates many women who are terrific people of faith: Deborah, Jael, Huldah, Anna, Mary, Junia, Philip’s daughters…and on and on. So why go to the trouble to make up these problems? It’s about promoting a non-biblical agenda rather than reading Scripture honestly.
Don’t make up stuff in the Bible just because you have an axe to grind.
In fact, there could be a movie with the worst production value EVER on tv but I will ultimately be drawn to watch.
If the tv is on there is a weird pull. I think it’s genetic. It must be, because my children suffer from the same affliction. If the tv is on and I need to talk to them I have to turn it off (putting it on mute doesn’t work).
And there are some movies/shows that I will sit and watch no matter how many times I’ve seen them. So, as I often do, I turned to Twitter:
Name a movie you could watch every time it comes on tv: The Rocketeer
It made me think about our attitude towards the Bible.
There are certain verses, stories, and passages to which we always turn. Preachers often find themselves preaching from the same handful of texts over and over again during a career in ministry. But even the church member in the pew (or chair, if that’s how you super hip churches roll) has a few key verses.
Usually it’s the passage that really resonates with us, or helped us get through a rough time.
They have a special place in our hearts. Cherish them.
But there’s a lot of other good stuff in the book, too. So change the channel.
Read part of the Bible you’ve never taken the time to read before. And when you come across something that makes you scratch your head, write your questions down and go talk to your pastor. Most of us LOVE when people approach us with questions about the Bible.
How about you? What’s story or passage from the Bible speaks to your heart? Where can you turn no matter how many times you may have seen it before and still find enjoyment?
So the other day a lady in the church approached me and said very hesitantly, “Um…can I ask you a question?”
My automatic response was, “Sure. Shoot!”
She then went on to ask a question about faith that had been bothering her. But she felt really uncomfortable asking the question.
After I answered her another question popped into her mind. “Um…can I ask another question?”
Answers kept spawning new questions. Every time she felt bad about asking, as though her very speaking the questions would ruin her salvation.
At that point I told her, “Any god that is not big enough to handle honest questions is not a very big god. My God is so big that he can handle any question we might have about faith.”
It’s true. The Bible is filled with people asking God tough questions. Don’t let atheists and agnostics fool you – Christianity has never been mindless and blind following. Faith is tough stuff. We wrestle with serious and difficult issues – the most important questions humanity has come to faith for answers.
No matter what your question, you won’t offend God. He’s heard them all. He knows how broken we are. In spite of our brokenness he loves us anyway. That’s real love.
So when you wrestle with the tough stuff, it’s okay to ask God, “Why, God? I don’t get it!”
You’ll be in the company of biblical writers and faithful Christian men and women throughout history.
The issue of giving money to the church is often a touchy subject for many. Even within Christianity there can be great division regarding the tithe. I’m reminded of an old joke:
Three ministers are out playing golf and they’re trying to decide how much to give to charity. So the first says, “We’ll draw a circle on the ground, throw the money way up in the air, and whatever lands inside the circle we give to charity.” The second says, “No. We’ll draw a circle on the ground, throw the money up in the air, and whatever lands outside of the circle – that’s what we’ll give to charity.” The third and most senior pastor says, “No, no. We’ll throw the money up in the air and whatever God wants he keeps!”
Tithe is an old word for tenth, and the overwhelming model in the Bible is that people of faith give back to God (via the local place of worship) one-tenth of all our income. For example:
This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me. (Genesis 28:22)
Every tenth of the land’s produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. (Leviticus 27:30)
You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. (Deuteronomy 12:6)
Sometimes it’s hard to think about giving away 1/10 of our income – a dime of every dollar. So I asked on Twitter: Do you tithe to your local church? Why or why not?
And responses came pouring in:
@chrislinzey Yes I do. Taught to tithe by my parents & believe it's scriptural and an act of worship. And I tithe on the gross 🙂
There is no promise in the Bible that if you tithe then God will repay you with worldy riches. God doesn’t have a savings plan – you give 10% and you’ll see dividends 100x what you paid. It doesn’t work like that.
Giving says several things:
1) God, I give you this as an act of worship.
2) God, I recognize that all I have is from you.
3) God, I trust that you can take care of me even if I give my income away.
I believe that God will be faithful to us even if we give away 10% (or more) for his kingdom.
What’s your gut reaction? Are you a tither? How does the idea of giving a dime of every dollar sit with you?
Here we are with Episode 2 in my series called “The Bible Does NOT Mean That!” The goal is not to tell you definitively what the Bible does or does not say. The goal is to talk about how we can look at the Bible with intentionality and understanding. Since it is God’s revelation to humanity it’s not supposed to be filled with secrets locked away to all but the elite. It’s designed to guide us ALL!
The problem is that many of us are simply never taught how to read it.
I once joked that there are two kinds of people who take the Bible 100% literally: Fundamentalists and Atheists.
Fundies hold that the Bible is 100% literal or else you can’t trust ANY of it. Atheists hold that the Bible is 100% literal to shoot holes in Christian faith. I doubt either group would ever think they have anything in common with the other.
But here’s the truth: the Bible is NOT meant to be understood literally.
The various books within the Bible represent different literary genres, and each genre is interpreted a bit differently from the next. Genre cues us how to read and what to expect from the literature.
For example, when we read a story that begins: “Once upon a time…” we are automatically cued as to what kind of story is going to follow (fairy tale) and our brain processes the story as such.
The Bible is filled with histories, parables, poetry, letters, and even this funny genre called Apocalyptic Literature.
Sometimes we understand the Bible to be communicating literal truth. Sometimes the Bible uses symbolism and poetic language to make a point.
Reading the Bible honestly means that we ask the questions: What genre of literature is this passage I’m reading? How should that genre influence my understanding of the text?
I had a Bible teacher who was fond of saying: If we took everything literally we’d have a faith that believes God is a great cosmic chicken (see Psalm 91:4).
Have you ever had a disagreement with someone over what a particular part of the Bible meant? Maybe you were talking about the meaning of an Old Testament story. Perhaps it was one of the Apostle Paul’s passages in his letters. The funny thing is that good Christians who take the Bible seriously as God’s revelation to humanity can arrive at different understandings.
The different understandings of what the Bible means does not mean that one person is a “bad” Christian and one is “good.” In fact, there are some instances where both understandings are valid – they simply represent different perspectives; different lenses through which we see things.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be writing a blog series called “The Bible Does NOT Mean That!” The goal is not to tell you definitively what the Bible does or does not say. The goal is to talk about how we can look at the Bible with intentionality and understanding. Since it is God’s revelation to humanity it’s not supposed to be filled with secrets locked away to all but the elite. It’s designed to guide us ALL!
The problem is that many of us are simply never taught how to read it.
So here we are – Episode 1. The buzzwords for today are prescriptive and descriptive. These words cause a lot of fights between faithful Christians.
Simply put, a prescriptive interpretive lens looks at a passage and says, “This is the way things are SUPPOSED to be.” The story prescribes the behavior or life we’re supposed to live.
A descriptive interpretive lens looks at a passage and says, “This passage simply describes how things are then.” The story is not saying how things are always supposed to be.
Let’s take an example from the Bible, shall we? Look at Gideon.
In one of the most famous stories from Gideon’s life is that blasted fleece. You’ve heard it. God told Gideon to go defend Israel and Gideon says:
“Look, if you’re gonna do what you promised, I’ll put a wool fleece out overnight. If the fleece is wet with dew tomorrow morning but the ground is dry, I’ll know that you’ll keep your promise.”
SO GOD DOES IT! But Gideon says again:
“Look, this time I’ll put out the fleece and you make the fleece dry but the ground wet with dew tomorrow morning.”
SO GOD DOES IT!
A prescriptive reading of this passage might say:
When you’re going through troubled and puzzling times and you’re not sure what God is telling you to do, throw out a fleece and seek God’s direction.
A descriptive reading might say:
Gideon’s kind of a blockhead. God has made promises, spoken to Gideon through an angel, and Gideon still is fearful and doesn’t trust God to keep his promises. Gideon should have had faith to trust what God already told him. This passage doesn’t tell us to throw out fleeces before God.
See the difference?
One of the difficulties in understanding the Bible is that it takes discernment. We need to ask: is this story/passage simply describing something to me or is it trying to tell me how I need to do things?
When we can ask that question every time we approach the Bible we come a long way in getting down to a proper understanding of the meaning of the text.
Even still, there will be times when we disagree on which lens through which we ought to read a passage. In those cases, as always, I advocate love and grace. We can disagree and still love each other. After all, we serve the same Lord.
Image courtesy of Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Have you ever had one of those REALLY awkward moments?
I had one last week. I was in the local coffee shop having coffee with a couple from the church. Our conversation turned to faith and religion – specifically difference between Christianity and other faiths. I talked about Islam and Christianity and some of the difference between them.
Then the awkward moment came.
Apparently the dude in the booth behind us was a Muslim.
He came up, said a couple words in Arabic, then sarcastically said, “Brother, it’s good to hear your views on Islam.” Then he walked away. He was clearly unhappy with me.
But that doesn’t change my mind. I have a problem with Islam. Islam has a problem with me. Please don’t turn this into a race or patriotic issue. This is a biblical issue.
It’s really quite simple and can be summed up in one word:
EXCLUSIVITY.
The distinction between Christianity and all other faith groups is the idea that our path to God is found through Christ. There is no other road walk.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
This is my problem with Islam – it’s an attempt to find God apart from Jesus. Some claim that everyone will find God in their own way as long as they are faithful to their beliefs. This is contrary to Christian belief. The idea that everyone will get there on their own is called Universalism.
I’ve been accused of being a Universalist.
In my post You’re Not Really Saved I talked about how Christian behavior is not as rigid as some would like to believe. There is a wide variety of behavior people engage in and can still be Christian.
People accused me of being a Universalist, of throwing Christian morality out the window. Not so. Universalism says that everyone will get to God on their own. My view is that there is only one way to God – through Jesus. We come to Jesus with all sorts of brokenness. It is when we begin our spiritual journey with Jesus that we start living out a new life. We don’t always come to the same conclusions about what is “proper Christian behavior” but we have the same foundation – Jesus Christ.
After reading my post about Christian behavior an atheist asked me if Hitler was then saved. In the sense described above (the exclusivity of Jesus) Hitler, who was not a believer in Jesus as the only way, will not spend eternity in the presence of God. The same is true for Muslims, Hindus, Jedi, or any other faith group.
This is the fundamental problem that authentic, biblical Christianity will always have with the world. And the world will have a problem with biblical Christianity. It’s that exclusivity that bugs people.
Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
What makes you joyful?
At my church’s Wednesday night adult group once we were talking about joy. It’s one of those things that the Apostle Paul talks about as “The Fruit of the Spirit.” That is to say, when the Spirit of God is in us one of the things that should be produced in us is joy.
So we split into two groups (men and women) to come up with the top 5 things we think the average person in America thinks would bring them joy. If you had to pick 5, what would you think the average person would say?
Here’s what our men came up with:
1. Propane – yes, we lived in the Midwest. If you weren’t aware there was a propane shortage there. Go ahead, read all about it. It was leaving many people without heat (or paying exorbitant prices). Yes, having propane would make many joyful.
2. Financial windfall/winning the lottery. I’ve got 100 problems and 90 of them would be resolved if I had more money. That would definitely make me joyful!
3. Romance/significant other. I just want someone to share my life with. That would make me joyful.
4. Good health. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I would be so much happier if I had good health.
5. Helping others. I get such a good feeling when I help others.
Were these close to what you came up with?
The problem with all of these answers is that they are connected to temporary things. None of them is permanent. Cold weather, bills, people, health, and good feelings all come and go. If we look to these things for our joy then we’re always going to be chasing.
That kind of joy is a pipe dream.
It’s not the kind of joy we see in the Bible when Peter writes:
He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while…you have been grieved by various trials. (1 Peter 1:3-6)
Finding joy in the middle of trials and tough time feels impossible, yet time and time again the Bible talks about joy in the midst of suffering. You see, from the Bible’s perspective, joy isn’t based on temporary things and events. Though such things might give us joy for a bit they will eventually fade. It is when we are able to shift focus and take our eyes off of this world and focus on what’s coming for us later that we can know joy no matter what we face in this life.
It’s about holding on to our eternal circumstances over our temporary trials.
I might not know what you’re going through. It may be excruciating. But we know and believe that one day we will rest easy in the presence of Yahweh. All the wrongs will be made right. All the hurts will be healed. We will know a permanent and lasting joy unlike anything we have ever experienced.
Until that day, that hope anchors us here and now. May we learn to say with the Apostle Paul:
I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:11)
Image courtesy of mapichai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The year was 1992. The place was Barcelona, Spain. You see, it was the Summer Olympics. The U.S. Track & Field coaches put together a real doozy of a team. Guys like Michael Johnson and Quincy Watts, fast as blazes, joined the team. These were some of the fastest individuals in the world. Do you know what happens when you take the fastest individuals in the world and put them on the same relay-race team? Lightening. Watch this.
Four men running with the same purpose – to cross that line before anyone else while still holding the baton, running faster than 20 miles per hour! But if you take any one of them out of the race and the team is no good. You need someone to pass the baton and you need someone to receive the baton. Only then can the team move towards to goal – winning the race.
There was a spiritual man a long time ago who needed to learn this lesson. His name was Elijah. Elijah loved God and always stood up for God, even when most of the people around him seemed to be going a different direction. It’s hard to go against the crowd. Our human nature tends to conform to the world around us. That is one reason it is so important to surround ourselves with good people that will build us up. Good people tend to make us better. Bad people tend to drag us down. But Elijah stood up for God even when others turned against him. But the opposition got so bad at one point that Elijah had to high-tail it out of there – he literally ran for his life and holes up in a cave.
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Like Elijah, sometimes we feel like we’re running alone. Can’t you just hear Elijah? “God, this is supposed to be a relay and there are supposed to be other runners with me! I’m the only one left. How am I supposed to run alone? I can run fast for a little bit, but then I get tired and will collapse!” Do you ever feel like you’re running the race alone? That feeling hits us in every area of life. As parents sometimes we feel that way. You’re tired and just cannot run another step. In our jobs sometimes we feel that way. “Why am I the only one pulling my weight around here? There should be other employees to help out!”
In our ministries at church sometimes we feel that way. “God, I’m here to serve you but nobody will do it with me – I’m burned out and fed up!” Has this ever been you? I’ve been there. We feel like we’re running the race alone, and everyone knows that you can’t win a relay race with only one runner. But then God answers.
“There are others who will run with you!”
In fact, God says, “Not only are you NOT alone, there are 7,000 more God-fearing people who are on your side!”
How cool is that?!?
In our human weakness we like to hold on to that suffering servant role. “It’s just me, only me. I’m the only one!” And here comes God who gives us a gentle nudge and says, “Hey, you’re not as alone as you think you are.” God will always have people on His side. Though it may be hard to recognize at times, we never truly run alone. God has people who are ready, willing, and able to run with you.
We need to find people who are willing to help us, people who have already been running the race and are willing to pass the baton to us. This means finding mentors, teachers, and others who can help us on our journey. Proverbs 12:15 tells us:
“A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.”
We become wiser and better prepared if we surround ourselves with people who have run the race and can give us good, godly input. Just the other day I ran an idea by someone and said, “I was thinking about this, what do you think?” And he said, “Well, I tried that once and this was the result and what I discovered.” It altered how I thought about things, and I was glad I took the time to hear him out.
Have you been intentional about putting good people in place who can speak into your life? Not just anyone, mind you. Sometimes people ask advice and counsel from the WRONG people. Ladies, why do you seek relationship advice from your girlfriend when she doesn’t know how to have a healthy relationship with a man?
“Girl, this is what you should tell that man…”
“Really? Did it work for you?” Make sure that your counselors are not telling you simply what you want to hear. Good people build us up. Bad people drag us down. Surround yourself with good people who can pour into you.
Have you set up people in your life that can mentor you, train you, and pass the baton to you? No matter what our age we always need good counsel. It is time to drop the bad counsel and the people that drag you down. It is time to surround yourself with people who will build you up and speak God’s truth to you
Chris Linzey 