How NOT to Apply the Bible

After playing in a bluegrass band my first year in Cru’s Music Ministry, there was a massive reorganization and the leadership asked me to become a vocalist in a choral/orchestral group – you know the type where the women wear evening gowns, the guys sport tuxedoes, and everyone on stage does elaborate hand gestures. NOT my style at all. I told them I would rather run sound, carry the equipment, or do anything that would rescue me from that fate. When I mentioned that I had played cello in high school, they agreed to assign me to the orchestra instead of being on stage. What a relief!

Along with playing in the orchestra, I also worked in the Music Ministry national office with about a dozen other people. Our schedule included weekly devotional messages given by one of our fellow musicians.

One particular talk stands out – but not for a good reason. The speaker fit the stereotypical profile of the sensitive, “heart-driven” musician, perhaps a bit lacking in common sense. He focused on the prophet Daniel’s spectacular visions in which he saw tumultuous oceans, grotesque beasts with multiple heads and horns, and numerous angels. In these visions, various heavenly beings also laid out God’s plans for earth’s future.

“Talk about a quiet time!” the speaker exclaimed. “They should all be like that.” He admonished us to never end our devotional time until we had truly had “met with God,” just like Daniel had.  One of the other office staff guys – a more practical type – raised his hand and pointed out that just the week before the Music Ministry director had laid down the law and told us we absolutely had to be at our desks by 8:00 a.m. sharp. “What do I do,” he asked, “if it’s 7:30 and I don’t feel like I’ve had a supernatural encounter with God?”

The presenter hadn’t thought of that and, trying to recover, he blubbered a few words out.

He made two errors in urging us to have spectacular encounters with God every day.

1. Although he didn’t say so, he implied that we can dictate what our interactions with God should look like – a particularly dramatic experience every day. Wrong. I can faithfully present myself to God, but he is the one who determines what our time will look like.

2. He made a basic error in how to apply the Bible by assuming that an event that is described in the Bible means it’s a pattern always to be followed. There’s a difference between a descriptive passage (simply reporting an event) and prescriptive one (presenting something that is always true for every Christian). Even though the Bible reports something happened at a particular time, it doesn’t necessarily mean it always applies to everyone throughout the ages.

Here’s another example. People who say that every believer should speak in tongues point to Acts 2 where all the believers spoke in tongues. “When the Holy Spirit came,” they say, “everyone spoke in tongues. So we should too.” However, verses 44-45 in the very same chapter report that all the believers had everything in common and sold their property and possessions. My question to those who promote universal tongue-speaking is that if they take the report of everyone speaking in tongues as necessary for all Christians, shouldn’t they say the same about living in communes?

I’m neither speaking for nor against speaking in tongues or living in communes. My point is that just seeing that something happened once is not enough to establish it as a universal requirement. You need other verses that show it always applies to everyone.

So let’s be careful in how we apply events reported in the Bible.

+++++++++++++++

• Have you ever heard someone apply a Bible passage in a way that sounded fishy? How did you react?

• What steps can you take to make sure you interpret and apply a lesson in the Bible in the way the author intended?

Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth – 2 Timothy 2:15

Bible-Reading Atheists and Some Christians Have This in Common

Jim’s a friendly, outgoing self-described atheist I know from the gym. “I don’t believe the Bible. And I don’t believe in unicorns either,” he told me. When he declared that the Bible is full of contradictions, I suggested we get together for breakfast so he could give me some examples.

As we enjoyed our breakfast burritos at a local hangout, he showed me a meme from one of the atheist Face Book groups he follows. “Here,” he said. “Look at this.” In Matthew 28:19 Jesus tells his followers to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them, yet in 1 Corinthians 1:17. Paul says, ‘Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.’ That’s a clear contradiction.”

That was such a simplistic example of an alleged problem that I had to hold myself back from chuckling. I gently explained that the context of those two verses couldn’t be more different. The Matthew verse was given to his disciples at the very end of Jesus’ time on earth as he is setting the pattern for his followers through the ages to come. Baptism is to be a hallmark of the church. Does this mean that any Christian who fails to baptize others is violating Jesus’ command? I hope not. I’ve never baptized anyone.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul is helping a particular troubled church at risk of splintering at it struggles with a specific theological controversy. Some of its members are identifying more with particular church leaders than they are with Jesus. Some favor Paul; others prefer Apollos; still others like Cephas the best.

Paul reminds them he wasn’t crucified for them and that they weren’t baptized in Paul’s name. He then states that he is glad he didn’t baptize many of them because his principal calling was preaching the gospel, not baptizing.

Jim’s meme takes the words from Matthew 28:19 and 1 Corinthians 1:17 in a completely wooden way. It erroneously concludes that since Paul was a follower of Jesus, he was personally under Jesus’ mandate to baptize. Since he states that God didn’t call him to baptize, 1 Corinthians 1:17 directly contradicts Matthew 28:19. Voila! Instant inconsistency.

The writer of the meme’s mistake was treating the Bible as a totally “flat text.” All words and all applications should be taken to mean exactly the same way wherever they appear regardless of context. There is no nuance of interpretation. Never mind that the audiences and the circumstances for these verses were completely different.

You may be surprised that I say that these atheists and some Christians do the same thing. We can treat the Bible as if it were a magic book. If I can find a sentence I like, I can claim it as a promise from God. Never mind that I might be completely misunderstanding or misapplying it.

There are many examples, but probably the most abused verse in this regard is Jeremiah 29:11:  “I know the plans I have for you, . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” How many mugs, pens and plaques displaying this verse are sold every May during graduation season?

As theologian Walter Kaiser would say, “Great concept. Wrong verse.” Certainly, God loves us and blesses us in many ways. And if we let him, he will generally bring prosperity into our lives. That prosperity can take many forms:  spiritual vitality, life-affirming relationships, and (sometimes) even career or financial success.

The problem is that in its historical context, Jeremiah 29:11 has absolutely nothing to do with any of that. It is God’s message through Jeremiah to the people of Judah who were exiled in Babylon because of their collective sin. After 70 years in captivity, God will restore them and once again prosper them as a nation but (according to verses 12 and 13) only if the people repent of their sin and seek God with their whole hearts.

Consider this. Virtually every one of the people who heard those words from Jeremiah died before they were fulfilled, so there is no way this was a promise any individual today can “claim” about their next endeavor.

So don’t get caught in the same trap that the atheist meme writer fell into. Continue to recognize the Bible as God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible word to us, but make sure you understand what a passage means in its linguistic historical and cultural context before you try to apply it.

++++++++++++++ 

• What steps can you take to make sure you don’t make the mistake of ignoring context or the writer’s original intent?

• Do you think it in any way undercuts the Bible’s authority to realize that some popular interpretations or applications may be flawed?

Do your best to present yourself to God as one . . . who correctly handles the word of truth.

2 Timiothy 2:15 (NIV)

Are You Listening to the “Wrong” Bible Verses?

I have a theory. I believe that many people gravitate toward Bible verses that are “wrong” for them. Before you label me a heretic, let me be crystal clear. Since the Bible is 100% inspired, inerrant and infallible, in reality there are truly no “wrong” verses. God intentionally placed each one there, and we are to take all of them seriously. All Scripture is God-breathed ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

What I mean by reading the wrong verses is that some people gravitate – sometimes in unhelpful ways – toward the sections that reinforce their predisposition while minimizing verses that would round out their conclusions. Let me explain.

The Sermon on the Mount includes these startling statements from Jesus:

• “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 5:20

• “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” – Matthew 5:48

And then, just a few chapters later, he offers these incredibly comforting words which seem to be in tension with his former comments:

• “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” – Matthew 11:28-30.

These statements almost seem contradictory, but they are all simultaneously true. Jesus wants us to live lives that reflect our changed nature once we’ve received his forgiveness of our sins. But he also offers the power to do so through the Holy Spirit, so we don’t have to “grunt it out.”

As I said, my theory is that many people naturally resonate with the verses that align with their temperamental bent while overlooking the “opposite” ones.

For example, I know some very conscientious people who sincerely want to please God in everything they do. But since they are only human and sometimes fail, they constantly beat themselves up. They point to the first two verses from the Sermon on the Mount and say, “See. Jesus’ standard is nothing short of perfection, and I certainly am not perfect. He must constantly be disappointed in me.” These folks need to balance their conscientiousness against Jesus’ invitation to enjoy his rest.

On the other hand, some people lack vigor and prefer to relax in their spiritual hammocks, clutching their “get out of hell free” card and “counting on” Jesus’ easy yoke and light burden. These people should reevaluate the extent to which their behavior truly matches God’s prescribed lifestyle.

Let me recommend two excellent books that focus on each end of the tension created by these verses. Kevin DeYoung states in Impossible Christianity, “One of the reasons Christianity can feel impossible is that is that we’ve concocted a Christianity unsuitable for finite creatures. . . . (W)e are not infinite beings. We have limits – lots of limits, God-given limits . . . We simply cannot do everything.”  My overly conscientious friends would greatly benefit from DeYoung’s encouragement that God knows their heart’s desire to please him and that he understands their failures.

A book at the opposite end of this discussion is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic The Cost of Discipleship in which he rails against what he calls “cheap grace.” “Cheap grace,” says Bonhoeffer, “is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” Lackadaisical Christians would do well to weigh their lives in light of this truth.

Both books are must-reads, but I encourage you to start with the one that is the opposite of your natural “bent.” Overly serious Christians should start with Impossible Christianity, while the spiritually flabby should crack open The Cost of Discipleship. Both books have the potential to revolutionize your relationship with God.

Don't Do This to the Bible

In the 1980s I worked at a religiously sponsored hospital, and in 1988 they issued a wall calendar featuring a beautiful photo, a Bible verse, and an inspirational thought for each month of the year. Here’s the January entry:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me - John 14:6

Great verse! It comes from the lips of Jesus himself, and he claims the only way to truly know God is through him.

But look at the calendar’s reflection on that verse:

Am I the Way for others – or do they see me as a barrier?

Is my Truth evident in what I say – as opposed to what I do?

Does Life fill my days and nights – or is mere existence all I know?

Although these are important questions, the only thing they have in common with John 14:6 is the repetition of the words, “way,” “truth” and “life.” Jesus is pointing to himself in this verse, but the calendar turns that around to make the reader the focus.

This application violates the most fundamental principle of biblical interpretation:  understand what a verse means in its context before you decide how it applies to you.

Here’s John 14:6’s context. Jesus has just told the disciples he was going to the Father to prepare a place for them and that he would come back to take them with him. He then says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” This prompts Thomas, one of the disciples, to ask, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

This is when Jesus declares himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one came come to God apart from him.

Do the calendar’s three questions bear any relationship whatsoever to Jesus’ statement? When Thomas heard Jesus’ words, I suspect he was no more likely to wonder if he (Thomas) was a barrier to others (as mentioned in the calendar’s reflection) than he was to wonder what the weather was like in Rome that day.

The calendar’s questions are good ones, and we should consider whether or not we are following their advice. The problem is that the questions have no more connection to what Jesus said in John 14:6 than they do with advising me whether or not I should eat organic food.

It’s been said that you can use the Bible to prove any point. That’s true. In fact, I can show you that the Bible declares that God doesn’t even exist. Psalm 14:1 says – and this is a direct quote – “There is no God.”

Does that trouble you? Well, let me put you at ease. That’s only part of the verse. This is what the entire first part of Psalm 14:1 says: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

That’s quite different.

But my manipulation of that verse demonstrates how it’s possible to find a string of words that states something I already believe and then act as if God endorses my position. This amounts to treating the Bible like a book of magic. If I can find just the right combination of words, it has to be true. Never mind that that’s not what the passage really teaches.

Instead, we must fully understand what a particular passage means in both its immediate context and the Bible’s larger, overall framework before rushing to questionable interpretations or applications. Occasionally, I have gently challenged a well-meaning Christian’s interpretation or application of a particular passage I think they are misinterpreting only to have them question whether or not I really believe the Bible. Of course I do. But it has to be read responsibly.

Let me point you to a very helpful book about how to get the most out of reading, interpreting and applying the Bible:  How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. It’s both comprehensive and accessible to any reader.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TAG7UYYL90KB&keywords=how+to+read+the+bible+for+all+its+worth&qid=1708108859&sprefix=how+to+read+the+bible+for+%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-1

Reading and applying the Bible responsibly takes some work, but doing so is enormously rewarding as it will help you more completely understand how to live in the fullness of God’s love for you.

You’re in the Bible Even if You Don’t Realize It

According to The Biographical Bible, there are 3,237 named characters in the Bible. The mentions range from just names in genealogical lists to detailed, fully developed portraits.

Recently, our pastor challenged us to find ourselves in the Bible. “Which character’s story,” he asked, “most closely resembles yours?” The goal was not to identify who we want to be. Otherwise, most guys would gravitate toward David, Peter or one of the other impressive heroes. Instead, he asked us to decide whose story and circumstances most closely parallel ours.

I would like to pass this challenge along to you. With hundreds of people to pick from, you can almost certainly find at least one character with a story similar to yours.

Rather than just including its major characters’ triumphs, the Bible is surprisingly candid about their flaws:

• Although Abraham was a great man of faith, he was also a coward who twice tried to pass his wife off as his sister to avoid possible danger from hostile rulers (Genesis12 and 20)

• David was a triumphant warrior, an inspiring leader, and a gifted poet but also an adulterer, a murderer, and a terrible dad.

• Despite his impressive leadership skills, Peter also had the habit of speaking and acting well before thinking.

Some of the Bible’s less prominent individuals showed great strength and faithfulness:

• Boaz (who ended up marrying the destitute Ruth), was a man of great integrity (Book of Ruth).

• ·The prophet Hosea was willing to follow God’s instructions to marry a prostitute to illustrate God’s willingness to reclaim the wayward people of Israel (Book of Hosea).

• ·The unnamed Centurion who recognized that Jesus could heal his servant without even being physically present received Jesus’ commendation (Matthew 8).

Other characters were less admirable:

• Achan sinned by secretly stealing some of the bounty after the conquest of Jericho, violating God’s specific instructions (Joshua 7).

• The prodigal son represents those who openly disregard God’s standards (Luke 15).

• The prodigal’s older brother parallels the Pharisees’ rigid and graceless legalism.

So how about it? Which Bible character’s story most closely matches yours? And beyond just identifying your “spiritual doppelganger,” what lessons or insights you can learn from their circumstances and reactions. Did they turn to God? Did they act irresponsibly? Was their life changed for the positive?

How about you? How have you handled your circumstances?

For the record, my Bible “twin” is the man by the pool of Bethesda who was disabled for 38 years and who Jesus singled out for healing (John 5). There were many others present with great needs too. But for some reason, Jesus walked past them all and restored just the one man sitting by himself in the corner, leaving everyone else with their problems. Why did he select that man and no one else?

His story is a lot like mine. Faith was almost entirely absent from my upbringing. In fact, there was great indifference and even some hostility toward the church and Jesus’ claim to be the only way to God. I was also subjected to considerable emotional abuse by mentally ill people. Bottom line:  there was virtually nothing in my background to predict that Jesus would change my life by singling me out and rescuing me from my depressingly dysfunctional circumstances.

In one of my favorite scenes from the awesome streaming TV series The Chosen, Simon the Zealot offers his allegiance and service to Jesus. Of course, Jesus accepts. But listen to what he tells Simon: “I have everything I need, but I wanted you.” I love that! Jesus wanted Simon, and he wanted me. He bypassed all kinds of people in my family and circle of friends to “get” me. I don’t understand why or take any credit for it, but I am eternally grateful.

I would love it if you would let me know who your spiritual doppelganger is, why you identify with them, and what you have learned from their story.

Growing Up in a "Reverse Whack-A-Mole" Family

I was raised by crazy people.  Not the “wild and crazy” type.  The mentally ill type.  All the men in the family had significant issues.  My dad left our family when I was 12 and never provided either financial or emotional support.  Some divorced fathers become “Disney Dads” – showering their kids with gifts and fun events to make up for their physical absence.  Not mine.  He rejected virtually everything conventional, including even giving birthday and Christmas gifts.  

He was emotionally abusive and, according to my mom, seemed to relish picking on me.  Instead of reaching out to my brother and me in terms we could relate to, he would badger us for not having warm feelings toward him.  When I see Jesus ask in Matthew 7:9-11, “Which of you fathers would give a stone instead of bread?” I have someone I can nominate. 

My dad’s dad thought he had cancer when he was in his 60s, so one day he jumped in front of a speeding train at a railroad crossing about a mile from our house.  

My brother, who was a year older, suffered from schizophrenia and manic depression.  We never had any kind of relationship.  He spent most of the last 20 years of his life in and out of mental hospitals and eventually hanged himself. 

My other grandfather had an emotional breakdown and was also hospitalized for several months. 

And then there were the uncles and cousins.  Among them were at least one alcoholic, one who was unfaithful to his wife, a hoarder/hermit, and (allegedly) a small-time criminal.

In short, there were no healthy men anywhere in sight, and I always felt on the “outs” with all of them.  

You probably know the carnival game Whack-A-Mole where nine mechanical moles pop out of their holes in a random manner, and the player tries to whack them with a mallet before they retreat.  I have concluded that I grew up in a “reverse whack-a-mole” world where there were about nine whackers and one mole – me.  

Several years ago, I visited a counselor to try to piece all this together.  After hearing my story, he said – on at least four occasions: 

There is no explanation for you.  Someone with your background should be unemployable, divorced three times, abusive, an alcoholic, or some other kind of addict.  The fact that you’re none of these things is an incredible testimony to God’s grace.

Whenever my wife calls me out on something I’m doing wrong, I love reminding her that I “should” be a whole lot worse than I am  😊.

You may know that I wrote a book called That’s a Great Question, which is a critical thinking/apologetics book.  It’s aimed at the “intellectual” side of the faith.  I love discussing skeptics’ “head” problems with the Bible.  I can’t necessarily answer all their questions to their satisfaction, but I can hold my own in the discussion.  After we have tap-danced a bit and they realize I’m not brain-dead, I like to say something like this:

I’ve appreciated our conversation.  Even if we don’t agree, I respect your perspective and I hope you respect mine.  I don’t think I can convince you conclusively of the truth of the Bible at this point, and I have studied these issues enough to feel there is probably nothing you can say that will convince me to walk away from the faith.  So, we’re at something of a standstill.

However, I want to point out a totally different reason that I know that Jesus is real.  And that’s the fact that he absolutely changed my life.  

I then tell them my story, and they typically listen attentively.

So, yes, Jesus can even rescue someone brought up in a reverse whack-a-mole family.  Praise him!

Saving a Life 3 Times

Some jobs are just plain cool.  Chad – one of my favorite people in the world – has one of the best.  Besides being a faithful follower of Jesus and a great guy, Chad is a helicopter paramedic.  We met when our family lived in Ann Arbor, and we have stayed friends ever since.

Chad recently told me an awesome story about one of his late-night rescues.  About 18 months ago, Chad and his team were called to a serious car wreck in rural Southeast Michigan.  Inside a car that had careened off the road was a seriously injured 18-year-old high school football player.     Paramedics do all they can to extricate patients without creating further damage, but this boy’s foot was so thoroughly entrapped in sheet metal that the paramedics finally realized what they had to do to save his life.

Last summer, Chad – who is a beast – was participating in a Spartan race, one of those insane athletic events that combines running with crazy obstacles.  As he was climbing a steep hill, he saw a fellow participant with a prosthetic leg struggling to make it to the top.  “I’m dying,” the younger man gasped.  Being a big-hearted soul, Chad said to him, “Put your arm around me and I’ll help you up.”  

On the way up the hill, Chad asked about his injury.  Based on the young guy’s age, he thought perhaps he was a soldier injured in overseas combat.  “No, I was actually in a real bad car wreck last summer,” he said.  As he started sharing the details, Chad realized that this was the young man he had helped airlift to the hospital.  Unfortunately, besides losing his foot, he ultimately lost his entire leg.  We they reached to summit of the hill, the young guy said with a big grin, “Thanks!  That’s twice now that that you saved my life.”  

When the boy’s dad, who was at the finish line, realized who Chad was, he had difficulty communicating to Chad the extent of his gratitude.  He told him that even though his son was a good kid, before the accident he was starting to make some poor choices.  Once, out of exasperation, he said to his son, “I don’t know what it’s going to take to get you back on track.”  

In the aftermath of the accident, both the son and his dad – both of whom are Christians – have grown much deeper in their walks with Jesus.  Of course, if the son hadn’t been physically rescued from the mangled car, he wouldn’t have been on that hill where Chad was able to “save” him, so to speak, the second time.  Nor would he have been around to experience a renewed commitment to Christ.  God used that tragedy in both the son’s and the father’s life, and their spiritual walks are far stronger because of the accident and the son’s subsequent survival.

So Chad had a hand in “saving” this young man’s three times:  once literally, once metaphorically, and once (in a sense) spiritually.  What a blessing for Chad and for everyone who hears how God can work through even the most tragic of circumstances. 

I hope this story provides major encouragement to you.