Misuse of Scripture

On Sunday we talked about the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness from Luke 4:1-13.  In this story, the devil tempts Jesus, who is weakened from fasting for 40 days, three separate times.  One very interesting point of this story is how the devil uses Scripture against Jesus in a very convincing way.  Essentially, he uses Scripture out of context and applies it to a situation where he is then able to manipulate it into a sinful action.  Here is part of the text from Luke:

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you' and 'on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"

We discussed in the sermon how this third and final temptation was the temptation of glory, that if Jesus threw himself down and allowed angels to take him on, it would be a very visual spectacle to the Jews at the temple that he in fact was the chosen Messiah.  Jesus of course refuses this temptation to glorify himself, because, although he is worthy of glory, he comes to earth as a human to give his Father in heaven glory, inviting us as his disciples to do the same.  Jesus resists the human temptation to glorify ourselves, and instead seeks to glorify God.

But for our post today, let us examine the way that Scripture is being purposefully misused and abused in order to create an argument that encourages sinful behavior.  In the story, the devil quotes Scripture in such a way as to convince Jesus that his only option is to glorify himself according to Scripture.  However, when we read the greater context of that Scripture, we see that nothing of the sort is implied.  The Scripture that the devil is quoting is from Psalm 91, the full text of which follows here:

You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust."  For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.  You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.  Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.  On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.  You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.  Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.  When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble.  I will rescue them and honor them.  With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.

The words quoted by the devil in Luke 4 are in italics above.  When you read the entire passage, what do you see God is saying to us?  What is the situation it emphasizes?  I think about protection within a trusting relationship between God and us.  I see that regardless of the chaos around us in our world, God is a steady hand and a sure bet.  The dangers of this world are powerless before this God, who has our back!  And God is with us through eternity.

...what part of that psalm made you think about jumping off of a cliff to see if angels will really pick you up and into the sky?!  There is nothing here that indicates that God is literally and physically going to save us; rather, the imagery of physical dangers helps us to understand the greater message, that God will guide and lead and be with us through it all.  I know that I don't worry about adders very often--but I do have real concerns in our world today, true dangers that threaten our church, our families, and our society.  No, we shall not fear the politics or terrorists or corporations of this world; we will not allow economic and spiritual poverty stand in the way between us and God, for God will deliver us and in the end, God shares his eternity with us.

But, if you read the italicized verses out of this context, the devil's words are very convincing.  This is known as "proof texting".  It is the practice of using Scripture outside of its intended context to situations unlike those found in Scripture.  Unfortunately, proof texting is really common in American Christianity, and indeed all over the world and through history.  This coming Sunday there will be far too many preachers who fail to read the full context of Scripture and will quote their favorite verses, often twisting and stretching them until they have lost their intended content.  This is not to say that we cannot quote individual verses of Scripture; but we must have a robust understanding of their true message, and make every effort to apply that sentiment when quoting. 

Anyone who is literate can read the letters of the Bible; but as disciples we are called to understand the spirit of the text as a whole.  The Bible is wholly good, and is our first source of inspiration as a baptized people.  But it can be wielded for both good and evil.  There are many people, both within and outside of Christianity, who will utilize Scripture for the wrong reasons and handle it entirely inaccurately.  Sometimes this is accidental!  None of us will ever perfectly interpret Scripture, and we don't need to worry about that!  But we should seek proper avenues for our education and formation as Christians rather than buying any flashy book you might find in the bookstore.

And still others will intentionally use the Bible as a weapon.  These include non-Christians who are hostile to the faith, or self-proclaimed Christians who have a particular agenda that supersedes God's plans.  (We see this in politics frequently, as an example.)  The forces of evil and the principalities of this world are going to use multiple avenues to convince us that the Bible is not an inspired book, that its contents are outdated or irrelevant, or that it just plain isn't true.  And that has been going on for more than 2,000 years. 

Yet, the church grows.  Christianity is experiencing some of its most explosive growth worldwide in recent years, more than ever before.  The Gospel cannot and will not be extinguished as a result of improper interpretation, because God has resolved to draw good out of evil.  However, if we want to be faithful disciples and salty witnesses here in our local communities, we must reject proof texting and instead be formed by the whole message of God.  We must insist that our spiritual leaders, whether preachers, teachers, or other leaders in the church, should hold to this faithful reading as well.  No two people are ever going to fully interpret Scripture in the exact same way, but sometimes bad interpretation is just bad interpretation.  At least, Jesus thought so--and as a result, he refused to bring glory unto himself at the pinnacle of the temple at Jerusalem.  His life journey is our aspiration and inspiration--as told by Scripture, a place where we can enter into God's story and be safely and securely brought closer into his everlasting arms.

Why do we observe Lent?

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  And technically, Lent doesn't begin until sundown on Ash Wednesday, one of many facts about Lent I'm going to discuss in this week's post.  What is Lent, and why do we observe it?  What about all of those details around Lent?  And what is fasting?

One misconception about Lent is that it is a Roman Catholic practice.  This is true to an extent, because it is in fact practiced by Roman Catholics all over the world.  But the tradition of Lent dates back long before Roman Catholicism; we have evidence that Lent was observed at least as far back as the fourth century, when Christianity was more widely practiced in the Middle East than in the city of Rome.  In fact, most Christians observe Lent.  Eastern Orthodox Christians; Catholics; and some Protestant groups, including Anglicans/Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Methodists.  I even know of many Baptist churches who observe Lent, such as Liberty Road Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC!  But since many American Protestant churches do not observe Lent, and Methodism has only recently began to re-kindle its observance, the common misconception is that Lent is a "Catholic" thing.

Lent has been observed in different ways around the world and in history.  Modern practice typically includes the idea of fasting, which is an ancient religious practice of self-denial for the sake of growing spiritually and in discipline.  Fasting is discussed explicitly in the Bible.  One such instance is Matthew 6:16-18, during Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: "And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."  The variety of fasting that Jesus is talking about is fasting from all food, which can make one rather weak, and this would be visible on the face.  It is understood that particularly holy Jews at the time would show of their fasting as a way for people to know that they were religious, pious and even holier-than-thou.  His rebuke of making fasting public emphasizes the true purpose of fasting, which is to grow in relationship with God rather than making an impression on others.

But this has led to another misconception about Lent: that fasting must be done completely in secret.  This is simply not the case, and is impractical.  There is a big difference between public, showy display of fasting and informing those close to you who need to know what you're doing so as to be able to help support you.  Imagine that you were fasting from a certain food, such as pizza.  If you were to keep that a secret, but the rest of your family wanted to order pizza for dinner, it would help if they knew so that either they could eat pizza elsewhere, or at least order you something else!  The spirit of this passage is that we are to fast with God as our goal; if our fast becomes something we do for ourselves, placing our holiness at the center of attention, then we might as well not do it.  Fasting isn't about you, it's about God.

And this brings up another detail I want to clarify.  Fasting does not need to be from all nourishment.  Sure, there is a time and place for such fasting, but generally speaking, Christians will fast from specific foods, activities or other pleasures.  A prime example is how most Roman Catholics will fast from eating meat (not including seafood) for the duration of Lent; furthermore, most will also give up one or more additional things to make their fast more personal.  Whatever you choose to fast from ought to be something that you actually enjoy and will long for!  And every time you wish you had access to that thing, you can instead think about God, who is the true object of our desires.

Lent is a season of 40 days that ends with Easter Sunday.  Lent has long been a time of preparation for Easter, for the single greatest day in the Christian calendar.  But if you count the calendar days from February 10 to March 26, you will get 46 days!!  Why is that?  Well, that's because we do not generally fast on Sundays, which is the Lord's day, each one a mini-Easter.  Traditionally Lent excludes Sundays, and unless your fast is particularly difficult to re-start one day out of seven, you are actually encouraged to partake of whatever you've fasted from each Sunday!  This helps to train and discipline ourselves to look forward to Sundays as days that God has set aside for rest, relaxation and rejoicing.

Also, the way we count days is different in the post-industrial world than they were centuries ago.  In Judeo-Christian practice, the beginning of a new day is at sunset, not sunrise.  Therefore, we are allowed to break our fast on Saturday night at sundown, but we must resume our fast Sunday night at the same time.  If you have an easier time thinking of a day in terms of your clock, from midnight to 11:59PM the next evening, that's fine!  But it's important to know that this tradition is brought from centuries into the present, so if you have friends or family who break their fasts on Saturday night, you now know why!!

Ultimately, Lent is a season of disciplined growth in preparation for the cross.  Together we travel in this world with our Lord Jesus Christ, who taught us the importance of self-denial in the life of discipleship.  Lent is this season when we embark together once again giving special attention to this crucial aspect of our faith.  And as always, the center of our ambitions should increasingly become God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God in three and three in one.

Blessings and peace to you during this Lenten season.

God's Wisdom and Society

This week we're going to continue with our theme discussing the Wisdom of God, but will take it for a new turn as we delve into discussing the wisdom of our society.  It is no secret to Christians that the wisdom of this world is unlike the wisdom of God; and through the Book of Proverbs, we are given many admonitions to live in certain ways contrary to those around us, contrary to the ways in which we'd prefer to live ourselves, left to our own devices.  Let's use Proverbs 3:27-30 to help us understand how God's wisdom is so different from the ways of the world around us.

Here is the text (NRSV):

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"--when you have it with you.
Do not plan harm against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you.
Do not quarrel with anyone without cause, when no harm has been done to you.

These verses are talking primarily about relationships with our neighbors.  When Scripture, particularly the Old Testament, uses the word "neighbor", it is not referring strictly to people who live within three or four properties of your residence.  The term "neighbor" describes people who live in such proximity to you that you encounter them.  In ancient times, your neighbor would have been someone who lived and worked fairly close to you, since transportation was obviously more difficult; but "neighbor" also describes others with whom you would interact in places such as the temple or the marketplace.  So in Jerusalem, for example, a fairly major city in ancient times, you could describe your "neighbor" in similar ways as we do in modern America.  Our neighbor is anyone who lives in our proximity such that we encounter them, whether they live next door or halfway around the world (such as a colleague in Germany or India).

Our world in 21st-century America emphasizes the idea of doing no harm to others.  You may have seen the popular Gadsden Flag, which has been used in recent years as a symbol of libertarian thought:

The words on this flag, "don't tread on me", represent an attitude in our society that we ought not to do harm to one another, lest we violate one another's freedoms and liberties.  And this is certainly compelling!  I don't want people to come and attack, pillage or overtake my household!  And therefore I ought not to do this to others.  Doing no harm is certainly important when we think of how to treat our neighbors; I don't want you thinking I believe otherwise!!

But in Proverbs 3, Scripture has a different set of expectations for us in our relationships with our neighbors.  Verse 29 reflects the "don't tread on me" attitude, affirming the goodness of doing no harm; but verses 27-28 take this idea much further.  Verse 27 talks about withholding good that is due when it is in our power, and verse 28 talks about giving to a neighbor when it is available.  Rather than simply living in a world where no one hurts anyone else, Scripture wants us to go further and be part of a society that seeks opportunities to bless others.

As Christians, we are called to live and serve sacrificially to those around us, whomever we encounter in our daily routine.  When our neighbor is in need of something that we possess, we are not to merely defer assistance to the next day, hoping that by then someone else will provide, or the need will no longer be there, or, as in most cases, hoping that our neighbor will give up asking and not come for any more.  No, as this proverb and so many other passages of Scripture assert, we are called to help provide for one another in this society as far as we are capable.  This is very different from the attitude of "don't tread on me", which focuses on the well-being of the self, and then stops there.  The proverbs suggest that we are to focus on the well-being of others, who in turn will help focus on our well-being.  Of course, this is an ideal situation, but we see it happening every day in (some) churches around the world.  [Note: I'm not suggesting we don't take care of ourselves; I'm suggesting that our focus is on others, because as humans we become inwardly-focused so easily.]

What would our society look like if Christians took this proverb to heart?  What does it mean for us as a church to grow into this calling more each day?  I mean, no one is going to perfectly live selflessly, but what if we worked hard to retrain our thinking and actions to be part of a community where we take responsibility not only for ourselves, but for the well-being of others?  Does that sound like anyone you know...?