And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. | Luke 24:27
I love to tell the story
Because I know ’tis true
It satisfies my longings
As nothing else can do | Classic hymn
On Sunday, we defined wisdom as the fear of the Lord, codified in His Word, which cannot be found apart from Him. If we want to be wise, we need to use the Bible as the lens by which we discern all things.
This does not mean that any answer derived from Scripture is right. I was reminded of this on social media this week when I saw the Exodus being used as an analogy for the abolition of slaves (with white people plying the role of Egypt and black people as the people of Israel).* While this meme was derived from people trying to apply the Bible to a current issue (which is good), it did it in a way that pulled a portion of God’s story out and used it apart from the Biblical narrative (and this is done by people from ALL different ideologies and perspectives).
The problem here is that the Bible is not meant to be used this way. It is not written for you to read through your already developed perspective. The wisdom of God given in His Word, changes us, by replacing the various ‘stories of meaning’ that we are offered by the world. This is described well in the introduction to a book, The Drama of Scripture, which was written to help build a worldview that begins with God’s story:
Many of us have read the Bible as if it were merely a mosaic of little bits – theological bits, moral bits, historical-critical bits, sermon bits, devotional bits. But when we read the Bible in such a fragmented way, we ignore its divine author’s intention to shape our lives through its story. All human communities live out of some story that provides a context for understanding the meaning of history and gives shape and direction to their lives. If we allow the Bible to be come fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers, we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation for our thoughts and actions, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an adulterous culture. Hence the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol-worshippers!
Their warning here is that by fragmenting the story of God, it ends up getting co-opted by the dominant cultural narratives. Parts of God’s story are ripped out of context and become the fuel for competing explanations of what it means to be human and what flourishing looks like. The problems with this are two-fold:
1. We rob the Bible of its power.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Bible has the great power to change lives and to reverse the destructive results of sin in individuals and culture. It puts us face to face with our own depravity, our inability to solve the problems of sin, and our need for a Savior. Even more, it provides that Savior in Jesus Christ, who gives His life in order to give us hope and peace.
When we take parts of the Bible and apply them apart from Jesus atoning work, it becomes a tool to progress Humanism:
an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.
God becomes a tool for humans to use to solve their problems. This often leads to the second issue:
2. Our fragmented solutions create new problems.
Since every human answer is limited in scope, it will always have unintended consequences. When we pull something out of God’s story to apply apart from His complete solution, we end up with all of these new problems we didn’t see coming. Having brokenness in a broken world should not surprise us, but when we have attached God to these incomplete solutions and deemed them the Biblical response, the issues get connected to Christianity. The history of Christianity is littered with people declaring their actions in line with God, while unwittingly creating devastation around them (Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, et al).
How can we avoid making this common mistake?
Know God’s story. The book referenced above is a great resource. I also preached a sermons series called THE META, which tells the story of the Bible (and the world). Having a robust grasp on Biblical theology helps the individual stories and solutions to be ordered as God saw put when He revealed Scripture to us.
Read your Bibles. This one is obvious, but the more that you are steeped in the living and active Word or God, the more you are allowing it to shape you rather than vice versa. This won’t prevent fragmentation, but the more you are interacting with the real thing, the more chances the Spirit has to work.
Worship God. This one may sound odd, but much or our need to create answers beyond what God has given comes from a sense of inadequacy with what He has said and done. We repurpose parts of His story because we aren’t satisfied with Him. Declaring His goodness and our thanksgiving roots us into His story.
Do your application humbly. As we are all trying to figure out how to live as part of God’s story, we will struggle. We will make mistakes. We will misapply texts. The Bible is amazing at continually curbing our extremes and correcting us, IF we are willing to continue to be shaped by it. What prevents this is when we think we have better answers. Without humility, we are setting ourselves up for failure.
*As for the meme, the Exodus is a foreshadowing of God’s work to rescue His people from the consequences of sin. The people of Israel represent the people of God, Egypt is the oppression of sin, the plagues are God showing His authority over the whole earth, and the Passover Lamb is a picture of how Jesus will save His people through sacrifice.