You wouldn't take medical advise from Lucky Strike, so...

As is occasionally my pattern, the following post is overtly religious. If you're not interested, don't read further. Feel forewarned.

This is an advertisement...



...and this is an article.



We can see these two things next to each other in a magazine, and when we read them, our brains naturally understand that the difference between the two: what they're purpose is, what they're meant to communicate, how reliable the content is, etc. So you wouldn't take medical advise from a Lucky Strike ad.

Newsflash. The same is true with the Bible. No. You won't find health food articles there, but you will find very different forms of literature. The 66 books that comprise the Christian Bible (or the 39 that compromise the Hebrew Bible) were each written in very different literary styles because they were meant (originally) to communicate in a very contextual way to the people of that day and even to specific audiences.

So ask yourself why someone would ever think it was logical to blankly, blindly, and uniformly read the Bible and assume that the words hold some ethereal truth that exists outside of their context. Does the Bible contain universal truth? Yes, I believe so, BUT that universal truth is God's character, not the specific instructions given by Paul to the church of Thessalonica or even the specific laws handed down by Moses to the Isrealites in 1400 BC. The Bible can teach many things, but it mostly clearly communicates one thing: the character and actions of God in the course of human history. If you believe God was involved in its writing (and I do), then you can believe that if you understand what was written and why, you can know something about the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and maybe get to know Him better.

In a nutshell, that's why I study the Bible, and why I get very angry when I see others who claim to be speaking for God misusing it, picking and choosing which verses apply to people's lives today, completely missing the point, and ultimately misrepresenting God to the people who (I believe) He cares for. The issue is not which words in this book apply me or even to us today and how but what does this writing teach me about God! If you can seek to understand that, THEN you can start to understand how that word applies to God's intention and interest for life.

As I've done that very thing, I've found that it makes all the difference in the world. In Paul's letter to the Romans, he challenged the 1st century church there to engage their faith in this way:

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God."

Happy 4th of July, and thanks to Mel for inspiring me to write this.

Cheers - cause I'm so British,
tango