As I might have mentioned if you have talked to me for more than a few minutes in the last 10 years, I think the term Christians has been gutted and stolen. And I think this has been made all the easier by people who claim to be Christians not actually reading the Bible.
I don’t mean the random verses on greeting cards. I mean ALL the verses. The ones that don’t make sense–“When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf.” Leviticus 19:5, NIV That verse seemingly has no impact on my life. I only know it was part of the rules God gave the Israelites to follow to be set apart for holiness. I don’t think it is something I need to follow as we don’t do sacrifices anymore, but it is part of the word of God that I will read and trust that it is part of the entire God story.
And in reading those verses I don’t see impacting my life, I will often find verses that very much apply to me. “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:9-10 NIV I don’t have a field that I harvest but I can easily read this to mean I should not keep everything for myself but need to share with others to help meet their needs.
This situation of things we can easily understand and things we grapple with continues in the New Testament.
As we see in 1 Timothy 2:15 NIV, “But women will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (See this explanation for some excellent thoughts on what this verse might mean https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-does-it-mean-that-women-will-be-saved-through-childbearing-1-timothy-2/) This verse appears to contradict 2 Timothy 2:10 NIV, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” This verse is talking about the elect causes one to pause and consider that God wants all to come to salvation in Him, not just a select few. We find this in 2 Peter 3:9 NIV “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
These verses are a fantastic example of why we must read the whole Bible, sit under good Biblical teaching that incorporates what the Bible says while drawing on other verses in the Bible, and a solid understanding of the language, time, and culture the Bible was written in. We, as Westerners, obviously read the Bible from our cultural ideals of individualism and our understanding of life today. It is important to consider that the Bible was written in a much more community-focused time and place. Not every verse is about how we think or feel as a single, solitary person on the contrary, much of it is written with an audience that would understand it more from a communal perspective. I suggest this book, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. It is not perfect, it sometimes feels like it is bashing Americans and refuting all of our understanding of the Bible, but it does a fantastic job of laying bare where we can go so wrong in reading the Bible just by focusing only on our cultural understanding. I also suggest Esther: An Honor-Shame Paraphrase and James: An Honor-Shame Paraphrase, both by Daniel K Eng.
Without reading our Bibles and working hard to understand them through study and biblical teaching, we run the risk of not really knowing what we believe or why. We are definitely unable to defend or explain what we believe if we don’t know what is in the Bible. We also run the risk of being taught only bits and pieces of the Bible if we don’t take the time to read it for ourselves.
It is not just me saying we need to study and know the Bible.
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 NIV and “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:9-11 NIV
As 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us we need to handle the word of truth correctly. We shouldn’t be out there saying the Bible says this or that if we don’t know what it actually says. That would not show us to be good workers or good representatives of God. If God is truth, as we as Christians rightly claim He is, then we need to know what that truth is. We can not give into contradicting the word of God just to fit our own personal prejudices or wants and desires.
