More on A Better Way of Reading the Bible

In my last two blog posts, I have asserted that we need a different way of reading the Bible—one that moves us beyond our default what-I-already-believe way of reading it, one that helps us know God and the ways of God, one that helps us hear God’s word for us today. This blog continues that line of thinking. It is adapted from a chapter in the book I am currently writing, The Plumb Line of God: Aligning Our Hearts with the Heart of God.

The Bible is not the final authority for discerning spiritual truth or determining God’s will. It is a vital part of the process, but it is not the ultimate authority. We cannot just say “The Bible says!” The Bible is not the final word on any issue for the simple reason the Bible must be interpreted. It is not enough to know what the Bible says. We must go beyond what the Bible says to what the Bible means.

 Knowing what the Bible means is the task of interpretation.

Interpretation is necessary because …

·        the Bible comes out of an ancient, prescientific, Near Eastern context that was significantly different from our post-modern, Western context. Our Western thinking has been shaped by the Enlightenment with its emphasis on reason and scientific inquiry. Thus, when we read the Bible, we naturally read through these Western lens. We overlook the prescientific, Near Eastern orientation found in every part of the Bible. We fail to understand the biblical authors’ use of story to communicate truth. As a result, we often focus on the facts of the story and miss the truth the story was designed to communicate. We ask questions the text does not answer—questions that lead to speculation while leading us away from the truth the author intended to communicate.

·        of the dual nature of scripture. The Bible has both a human component and a divine component.  In seeking to discern what the Bible means, both components—the human and the divine—must be considered. Interpretation involves distinguishing between what is human and what is divine. The human component means some of the things we read in the Bible are cultural and not necessarily of God. 

·        of the diversity of thought found in the Bible. The Bible does not contain one, consistent understanding of God or of historical events. Instead, it reflects diverse understandings that are often at odds with one another. It also reflects a progression of understanding, moving from a limited, culturally-shaped understanding to a fuller understanding. Some parts of the Bible reflect the cultural thinking of the time period rather than the revealed character of God. 

The failure to understand and respect the ancient, prescientific, Near Eastern nature of the Bible allows us to read our beliefs into the Bible while missing the truth the biblical authors were attempting to communicate. Failure to recognize and honor the dual nature of the Bible leads us to mistake cultural practices and time-bound perspectives for eternal truth. Failure to recognize the limited understanding of certain parts of the Bible will lead us to give equal weight to every part of the Bible and to every verse in the Bible. As a result, we treat partial truth as though it were the full truth, mistaking cultural understandings to be the will of God. 

Every time we read the Bible, we interpret it. We all pick and choose what to believe and what to follow. We recognize some things in the Bible are cultural practices that are not applicable to us today. Even though these practices are what the Bible says, we do not understand the Bible to mean we should do them today. We are interpreting. We are determining what the Bible means for us today.

The issue, then, is how well do we interpret. Understanding what the Bible means calls for our best thinking. It calls us to recognize and respect the prescientific, Near Eastern perspective from which the Bible was written. It calls us to deal with the human dimensions of the text so we can recognize the divine dimensions. Understanding what the Bible means requires us to think theologically, allowing God’s character and God's ways to shape how we think and what we believe. It calls us to follow the example and teachings of Jesus. Understanding what the Bible means calls us to explore scripture with an open mind, always open to more truth than we already know. It calls for a teachable spirit, recognizing that our understanding of truth is always limited, never complete and full.

Failure to bring our best thinking to the task of interpreting scripture means we fall back into our default what-I-already-believe way of reading scripture. The failure to think theologically results in us holding onto our old, pre-Christian ways of thinking. In other words, studying the Bible doesn’t change us significantly. We are simply a religious version of our former selves. Our lives and lifestyles reflect little significant difference from our previous life—or from those around us, for that matter.

The Bible is not God's most complete self-revelation. God’s fullest self-revelation was in Jesus of Nazareth. Thus, the Bible must be read and interpreted through the lens of Jesus and the character of God which he embodied. The life and teachings of Jesus is God’s final word on any issue. 

A Place for You

In last week's blog (Their Eyes Were Opened, May 3, 2020), I suggested we need a different way of reading and understanding scripture. We naturally read through the lens of what we already believe, looking for validation of our beliefs and values and positions on moral issues. Such was the way the two disciples, walking to Emmaus, had read their scriptures. In doing so, they had missed the truth of what scripture said about the messiah. So Jesus had to teach them what the scriptures said about the messiah and the messiah's work. He taught them to read scripture through a different lens. As a result, they experienced God's work in their own lives.

Today's gospel reading from the common lectionary - John 14:1-14 - illustrates how our what-I-already-believe way of reading scripture prevents us from seeing the truth scripture is teaching.

"I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:3). Jesus' words are commonly understood as a reference to heaven. The text is understood as Jesus assuring us of a place in heaven for us when we die. (How often have you heard this text and this understanding used at a funeral?) This understanding views "my Father's house" (verse 2) as a reference to heaven. "I will come again" (verse 3) is understood as a reference to the second coming of Jesus. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (verse 6) is understood to mean believing in Jesus is a prerequisite for going to heaven.

But a careful reading of the full text indicates Jesus was speaking about something other than going to heaven when we die. Jesus was actually teaching a greater reality than heaven!

"My Father's house" is a reference to family relationships. In Jesus's patriarchal culture, to speak of my father's house was to speak of being a part of the father's family. Thus, "my Father's house" speaks of relationship rather than location (i.e., heaven). Thus, in this text, Jesus was talking about relationship with God. A recurring theme is John's gospel is that Jesus came from the Father and was going to the Father. So when verse 3 speaks of "where I am there you may be also," Jesus was speaking of being with the Father. He specifically says this in verse 28, "if you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father." Jesus was speaking of preparing a place for us in relationship with the Father as a beloved child. He was teaching us to live in relationship with the Father as he did - "there you may be also." Verse 6 speaks of coming to the Father, i.e., having a relationship with the Father. Verses 7-9 speak of knowing Jesus as the means of knowing the Father.  This knowing is not an intellectual knowing about the Father (i.e., facts about God) but a knowing by experience - by living in relationship with Jesus. "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (verse 9). To know Jesus is to know the Father.

In this great text, Jesus was talking about preparing a place for us in relationship with God. The place he prepared is as a beloved child who lives in relationship with God as Father and shares God's life - here and now, on earth, NOT in heaven after we die.

Because we live in relationship with the Father, we share God's life (eternal life) here and now. We do the works Jesus did, "even greater works than these" (verse 12). Because we live in relationship with the Father, we are able to ask in prayer and receive (verse 14). We are able to keep Jesus's commandments (verse 15), specifically the commandment to love.

This here-and-now relationship with the Father is experienced through the indwelling Spirit (verse 16-17). The Spirit abides with us and in us (verse 17). "I will come again" (verse 3), rather than being a reference to the second coming, refers to the gift of the Spirit . "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you" (verse 18). The means by which Jesus comes to us is the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, Jesus lives with us and in us. In the Spirit, both Jesus and the Father indwell us. "We will come to them and make our home with them" (verse 23). The relationship (place) Jesus prepared for us is complete: God lives in us through the Spirit and we live in Christ.

Because of this relationship, the Spirit (Helper or Advocate) empowers us to do the things Jesus did (verse 12). The Spirit teaches us everything Jesus taught about God and the ways of God (verse 26). Through the Spirit, we experience God's peace (verse 27). Through the Spirit, the life of Christ flows through us, bearing fruit (chapter 15). We are able to love one another as Jesus loved us (John 15:12).

Our what-I-already-believe way of reading scripture causes us to miss spiritual truth the scripture teaches. In doing so, it causes us to miss the life God has for us. Even more, it causes us to miss God.

Thank you, Father, for the place you have made for us in your heart. Help us to prepare a place for you in our hearts. Come, Spirit. Teach us to live as beloved children of God, doing the things Jesus did, loving as Jesus loved.

Their Eyes Were Opened

"Their eyes were kept from recognizing him" (Luke 24:16).

This phrase described Cleopas and his companion (wife) as they walked the seven mile journey from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus on the afternoon of resurrection Sunday. (Their story is the primary resurrection story in the gospel of Luke, Luke 24:13-35.)  As they walked along, discussing all that had happened, Jesus joined them ... but they did not recognize him. "Their eyes were kept from recognizing him."

The text does not tell us what kept their eyes from recognizing him. The story guides our speculation: the mind-numbing shock of Jesus' crucifixion, their heart-wrenching grief over Jesus' death, their crushed hopes and disorienting disappointment, their struggle to make sense of the women's vision about angels, their speculations about the missing body, their questions about how to rebuild their lives without the hope Jesus stirred in their hearts (24:18-24). The story doesn't tell us what blinded them to Jesus' presence. It simply relates the fact. Jesus was present but they did not recognize him.

While the story does not tell us what kept them from recognizing Jesus, it does emphasize their lack of understanding of scripture. Three times, the text speaks of Jesus helping them understand his suffering and death in light of the teaching of scripture (24:25-27, 32, 44-47). Perhaps that lack of understanding was the blinding factor. They had not expected him to be crucified. Thus, when he was killed, they didn't expect to see him again. They thought of him as dead, not alive.

It seems to me, their experience reflects our experience. Their story is our story.

We, like them, do not recognize Jesus because we, like them, do not understand the truth of scripture. We misread scripture. We read through the lens of what we already believe. In doing so, we naturally look for what we already believe, using scripture to validate how we think. This way of reading scripture puts God "on our side" and makes us "right." It leaves us unchanged. We also read scripture through me-oriented lens.  We interpret it from how we want things to be or how we believe things should be. That's how the disciples interpreted what the scriptures said about the messiah. This way of  reading scripture makes us the ultimate authority. It creates God in our image.

This way of reading and understanding scripture is normal. But while it is normal, it creates a major problem: it blinds us to God. We miss God just as the disciples we kept from recognizing Jesus. We miss God's presence just as the disciples did not recognize Jesus' presence. We miss God's work just as the disciples did not recognize what God was doing in Jesus' death and resurrection.

If we are to recognize Jesus, a different way of reading and understanding scripture is needed.

That different way of reading and understanding scripture, the Emmaus story reminds us, comes through revelation. In the story, Jesus taught Cleopas and his companion the scriptures. In our stories, we are taught by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). The Spirit uses scripture to teach us the things Jesus taught (John 14:25-26). As a result of the Spirit's teaching, our thinking is transformed. It reflects the ways of God (what Paul called "the mind of Christ," Philippians 2:5). And our lives are transformed. They reflect the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, the servant spirit of Christ.

Scripture is the record of what God has revealed about the Divine Self. Its purpose is to help us know God and the ways of God. Its truths are to shape how we think and, thereby, how we live. The truth of scripture shapes us.

The Emmaus story ends with the statement "then their eyes were opened and they recognized him" (Luke 24:31). May our eyes be opened so that, in recognizing Jesus, our lives may be shaped by him.

Resurrection Means Reorientation

Poor Thomas! He has gotten a bad rap as a doubter (John 20:24-29) when all he was trying to do was wrap his head around a new perspective. How can a person move from one way of thinking to a completely different way of thinking? Thomas was being asked to move from "Jesus was crucified and is dead" to "Jesus is alive!" That's not an easy thing to do!

Can you imagine the kind of reorientation - the kind of shift in thinking - Jesus' resurrection required of the disciples?

• a different understanding of what they thought Jesus was going to do as the messiah
• a different understanding of the messiah's role
• a different understanding of Jesus' death
• a different understanding of who they were and of their role as Jesus' disciples
• a different understanding of how power is used
• a different understanding of suffering 
• a different understanding of what determines value and significance and greatness
• a different understanding of God
• a different understanding of what God was doing in/through the nation of Israel
• a different understanding of Israel's role as God's chosen people
• a different understanding of others, including the hated Romans and the despised Samaritans
• a different understanding of the resurrection.

You might say the disciples had to rethink everything from the perspective of the resurrection. 

This radical shift in thinking is precisely what is involved in being a follower of Jesus. We move from thinking from a what's-in-it-for-me perspective to thinking from a what-is-God-doing perspective, from a self-oriented perspective to a God-oriented perspective, from what can I gain to what can I give, from me-and-mine to ours. Our orientation shifts from my needs, wants, and desires to something bigger than me. It's like shifting from "the sun revolves around the earth" to "the earth revolves around the sun." Complete reorientation - a radical shift in thinking. It throw us off balance initially while aligning us with Divine Truth.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways, my ways, says the LORD" (Isaiah 5:8).

This shift in thinking is an on-going process. It lies at the the heart of the spiritual journey. Paul spoke of it as the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). It is what leads to a shift in how we live and what we do. We learn to live with the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).

And that's not necessarily an easy thing to do!

Death and Resurrection - the Pattern of Life

It seems to me most people think of resurrection in terms of death, as in the end of life. In this way of thinking, resurrection is the way we escape the finality of death. It is the doorway into life eternal. As a result, we only talk about resurrection at Easter and at funerals. Resurrection has little to do with our life today and everything about the future.

This kind of thinking about resurrection is man-centered. It's about us. And it is short-sighted. It is about going to heaven when we die. And it is impoverished. It misses the fuller truth about resurrection.

Resurrection lies at the heart of the spiritual life. Or, rather, death and resurrection lie at the heart of the spiritual life. Death and resurrection is the pattern of the spiritual life.

This pattern is based on a spiritual principle woven into the very fabric of life itself. Jesus expressed it this way: "Unless a grain of when falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). All of creation proclaims this great truth: death leads to life (resurrection). Until a seed dies, the life potential within it remains dormant. But when the seed dies, that life potential is unleashed. The "death" of the seed begins a process that ultimately leads to an abundance of fruit. The single seed is multiplied many times over.  In nature, the pattern of death and resurrection is called planting and harvest.

This pattern is true in all of life, not just in nature. Without death, there is no resurrection - in any dimension of life. Death and resurrection is the pattern of growth, physically and spiritually. An infant crawls on hands and knees. It is an effective means of getting around. Except there is a better, more effective, faster way of getting around. It's called walking. An infant moves from crawling to walking through a process of learning to stand, balance, and take a step. The infant dies to crawling in order to walk. As long as the infant is content to crawl, she will never learn to walk. When she is willing to leave crawling behind (die to crawling), she discovers the freedom found in walking. This pattern of leaving one stage behind in order to move into another, fuller stage is repeated throughout life. We die to one stage of life in order to move to a higher level of life.

Our problem is we fear death - not just dying at the end of our life, but any form of death. We don't want to turn loose of what is. of what is familiar, of what is comfortable. We hate change of any kind. It is a form of dying. By holding onto what is, we miss what could be. We miss the new life God always brings out of any dying. In other words, we miss resurrection as a daily occurrence, as a way of life, as the way to grow.

Death and resurrection is designed into the very fabric of life itself because it lies at the heart of who God is. It is the pattern of the Godhead. It is the way of self-giving love. As Paul said of Jesus, "though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:6-11). Death and resurrection - it was and is the pattern of the Godhead. And it is the pattern of being a follower of Jesus. Paul exhorted the Philippians, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).

Death and resurrection - it is the pattern of the spiritual life. We only make progress on the spiritual journey when we recognize and embrace this pattern for our own lives.

Easter 2020 - Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

With this joyful acclamation, we greet the sunrise this Easter morning!

But what are we saying? What great truth do we proclaim when we shout, "Christ is risen!"?

Isn't the answer obvious?! Christ is risen from the dead! Death has been defeated! It's power broken! Death no longer has the last word! It is not the end! We no longer have to fear the power of death. The power of God's faithful love is greater than the power of death!

Indeed, we proclaim the defeat of death. But our shout of joy proclaims something more!

Our shout proclaims God's faithful love. Christ is risen because of the faithfulness of God. God's faithful love did not abandon Jesus to the power of death. God raised him from the dead. Thus, when we proclaim "Christ is risen," we proclaim God's faithful love. We proclaim, along with the Apostle Paul, nothing can separate us from that love.

In Romans 8:18ff, Paul spoke of the pain and suffering we experience because of the brokenness of our world. He wrote of how God works in our experience of pain and suffering, using it for our good. God transforms the potentially destructive impact of our pain and suffering into a means of growing us into the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). Because of God's faithful love and transforming work, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37). We are not defeated by life's brokenness. We are not overcome by life's pain and suffering. Their impact on us is not final. We move through them into greater spiritual maturity through the faithful love of God.

Death is the final product of life's brokenness and pain. Just as the power of God's faithful love is greater than the power of death, so the power of God's faithful love is greater than the brokenness and pain that produce death. God transforms them so they produce maturity, wholeness, and life rather than death.

Christ is risen! Death is defeated! God's faithful love never abandons us! God's faithful love brings life out of death, wholeness out of brokenness, healing out of pain.

Thanks be to God!!



Another thought to consider, to be developed later: Death and resurrection is the pattern of all of life. It is the spiritual principle woven into the fabric of life itself. It is the pattern of life we find in the Godhead itself. We make progress on the spiritual journey when we recognize and embrace this pattern for our own lives.

Good Friday 2020

Good Friday - the day Jesus died on the cross.

How are we to understand his death?

The most common way of understanding Jesus' death is to say he died "for our sins." The understanding behind the phrase is stated in many ways. Jesus took our place. Jesus paid a debt we owed. Jesus bore the judgment that was rightfully ours and died the death we deserved. At the heart of this understanding is the belief Jesus died so God would forgive us.

The theological term for this understanding is substitutionary atonement. It is grounded in a court of law image. A wrong has been committed. Punishment is demanded to make things right again. Jesus took our place on trial, accepting the guilty verdict that we deserved along with the death penalty that went with the guilty verdict. In his death, justice has been served and righteousness upheld. God is free to forgive us.

Popular though this way of thinking is, I cannot embrace it as the way to understand Jesus' death.

This explanation of Jesus' death reflects the merit-based thinking inherent to our human nature. It portrays God as being like us. It says God relates to us based on what we deserve. The so-called good news in this thinking is what we deserved was poured out on Jesus rather than us. This explanation projects our ways of thinking and relating onto God as though they were God's ways.

And what does this explanation say about God? This understanding portrays God as one who has been offended and must be appeased, as one who is angry over a wrong done to him and is demanding justice, as one who harbors anger and resentment until restitution is made. This portrayal recreates God in our image; it fashions God in our human likeness.

Bottom line, this explanation is at odds with who God. It fails to recognize the character of God revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:5-7). In that self-revelation, two adjectives and three phrases are used to describe God's character. God is a merciful and gracious God (the two adjectives). That merciful and gracious nature is expressed in the three phrases: (1) being slow to anger, (2) abounding in faithful love that does not give up on or abandon the one who is loved, and (3) forgives every expression of sin (iniquity, transgression, sin). Forgiveness of sin is a dimension of God's nature, an expression of God's merciful and gracious nature. It does not have to be gained by some act on our part. It CANNOT be gained by some act on our part. It is a gift freely given out of who God is.

The character of God is the clue to understanding Jesus' death on the cross. Father Richard Rohr has said it best: "Jesus did not die to change God's mind about us. Jesus died to change our mind about God." In short, Jesus did not die to get God to forgive us. God already forgives us. That is who God is. That is how God deals with our sin.

Jesus death on the cross says as much or more about us than God, about our human nature than about God's nature. If you want to see what we humans are like, look at what those in positions of political and religious power did to Jesus. Look how far they would go and the means they would use to protect themselves and the positions of power they enjoyed. In that sense, Jesus' death was not an isolated event. It is repeated anywhere and everywhere people in power use their position to protect their own self-interests.

And if you want to see how God deals with people like us, look at the cross. God refuses to give up on us or abandon us. God forgives us. Thanks be to God!

At least, that's how I understand Jesus' death on the cross.