Great post by Scott Thomas of the Acts 29 Network !!
Go read them here (2 posts): Part One / Part Two
Scott outlines the 5 ways we can read the bible. Sola Ecclesia is the one that probably gets the most attention (by teaching – not so much by name) simply because of the prevalence of Catholicism.
But in my experience, the ones that bug me the most are as follows:
When I was a kid, I learned all the important nursery rhymes. I had all the fundamentals necessary for moving into adulthood. One of the basics was “this little pig”. (For those of you who did not grow up in America, “this little pig” is a prerequisite for learning anatomy of the foot.)
This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed at home.
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy cried “Wee! Wee! Wee!” all the way home
I remember a day in my twenties when I figured out what the first line meant. You see, I always thought the little pig going to market just needed to do his weekly shopping. My wife, who grew up on a farm, had an entirely different understanding. Turns out hers was the correct one! For those of you who are still in the dark as I was… the first little pig never came home. He ended up in small individually wrapped packages in the butcher’s cooler.
It turns out that context is important. Each of us brings baggage with us into life. We hear a story, or encounter a situation, and see it through the lens of our experiences. This can lead us to a happy shopping store rather than a walk to an execution.
The bible works the same way! Each passage has a broader context of the book it is in, the times it was written, and the people it was written to. It also has a narrower context of the specific conversation and the participants involved.
There are tons of specific verses that come to mind. I’ve even written on some of them, and I’m sure I’ll write more.
What are some verses you hear used out of context most often?
I read a great post by Tony Morgan today, titled “Is it hard, or is it easy?“. He has been struggling trying to reconcile two passages.
First, the passages:
(1) “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it’” (Matthew 16:24-25, NLT).
(2) “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light’” (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT).
Tony has wrestled with these for good reason. In his words, “Does taking up my cross mean there’s sacrifice and pain involved? Or, when I take up his yoke, is the burden light?” Do these contradict each other? Is there a tension we should live in? Surely, there is benefit in thinking this over and wrestling with the meaning.
Tony goes on to say that he’s currently at a place where he holds both in tension. In other words, both are true, but they seem to oppose one another in a way. He would say it is important for us to recognize that we will experience pain (1st passage) but that we’ll also have peace and joy (2nd passage). I encourage you to read his post here.
I don’t disagree with his thoughts. And I’ve enjoyed my own thinking and wrestling today. I had a few initial thoughts though, and I’m curious what you think. Here is what I came up with and posted as a reply:
Great thoughts Tony! I should be working, but you’ve made me think. I’m sure I’ll be chewing on this for while, but here are my initial thoughts:
The first (Mt 16) is speaking to the selfish. The second (Mt 11) is speaking to the weary. The first group need to be broken, the second need a break.
The first speaks of carrying a cross. This is really hard work! Crosses are not designed for ease of carrying – they are designed to destroy us. The second speaks of taking on a yoke. A yoke is a beam designed to connect two oxen together for hard work such as plowing. If we are “taking his yoke on”, who is on the other side? He is! The burden is easy because he is doing the heavy lifting!
I wonder if the cross in the first passage speaks of sacrificing our life and giving it to him, while the yoke in the second passage speaks of the process of us working on our life.
The literal cross in Roman times signified the end of life. The figurative cross signifies the end of our living for ourselves. (I wonder if the figurative yoke could equate to discipleship.)
Great topic! I’ll be watching for more developments.
So, what do you think? Am I on the right track? Wrong track? Additional insights?
No, this is not something that requires a shot.
Hermeneutics is essentially the study of how we interpret the bible.
For example:
Everyone has their own hermeneutic, or underlying set of beliefs that dictate how we read the bible. It is influenced by our childhood, the church(es) we’ve attended, our friends, our culture, and numerous other factors. It likely changes as we age as well.
Scot McKnight has an interesting book on this topic called “The Blue Parakeet“. He has also written a quiz to help you determine where you fall in the spectrum. Before you get too critical, this quiz is not scientific, and it is not perfect. However, I believe that the result it presents is a pretty good picture of where you stand. Perhaps even more interesting is the actual taking of the test, where you see some of the other possible interpretations.
Take the test! It’s only 20 questions. Post your score here when you’re done.
Click here for the test
