scripture

The Bible and Hypocrisy: Another Take

Lisa Spencer2 Comments

Hypocrisy_man with maskOne of the most commonly cited grievances against Christianity is the hypocrisy of its believers. I doubt there is anyone, Christian or non-Christian who has not encountered such hypocrisy. I certainly have. In fact, I’ve been that Christian. The incidences of public moral failures don’t help the case either. Yes, there is hypocrisy amid the body of Christ.

But I think there’s another kind of hypocrisy afoot that gets little notice. In fact, I’d say, it’s gaining widespread acceptance. If we consider what hypocrisy means. Merriam Webster provides these definitions.

1) The behavior the behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do: behavior that does not agree with what someone claims to believe or feel.

2) Feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially; the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.

The second definition is what I want to focus on. I’m coming to the conclusion that hypocrisy is not just Christians who behave in contradiction to what they profess they believe they Bible says. Another kind of hypocrisy is non-Christians who embrace the Bible but reject it’s author – Jesus Christ. It’s quoting Scripture for life application but rejecting the One who gives life. It’s being spiritual but not Christian and using the Bible as some kind of inspirational talisman. It’s saying “God” but not “Christ” and portraying a form of Christianity.  In a way, it’s like stealing-going into a store and taking stuff without paying for it. That’s thievery and it’s hypocrisy. Continue reading →

The Gospel in the OT

Lisa Spencer2 Comments

OT_Tents of IsraelI spent many years of my Christian life reading the Old Testament in a disjointed and fragmented way, reading the events more as prescriptions than as a revelatory phenomonon through which God communicated himself. Over the past several years, an evolution of sorts has occurred that has caused me to consider the 66 books more holistically.

I’m working through the section of my thesis in connecting the Jesus the word incarnate to the written word of God, having built on themes of revelation and prophecy. As I mentioned here, the OT is more than just examples for us to follow but shows how everything God did testifies to Christ. He is the subject of Scripture. Scripture is sufficient because it testifies to Christ. Jesus tells us this in Luke 24:27

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

I loved the way Philip Ryken put it in his commentary

Jesus is not just here or there in this prediction or that prophecy; he is everywhere in the Old Testament. He is the ark of the covenant and the blood on the mercy seat. He is the light on the golden lampstand and the bread of life. He is the prophet who preaches like Moses, the priest who prays like Aaron, and the king after David’s heart. We follow his method of interpretation when we see Jesus in the redemption of Ruth by Boaz, the selfless act of Solomon, the kingship of Josiah, the miracles of Elijah, and all the other types and signs and figures of the Old Testament. Continue reading →

Eight Bible Interpretations That Make Me Scream

Lisa Spencer4 Comments

black-woman-screamingAs a follow up to this post on caricatures that drive me nuts, I thought I should highlight interpretations of passages that have that same effect.  Now these are not about differing opinions that can have some validity. Rather, its interpretations that I think really miss what is being communicated and another meaning is imposed that is foreign to what the original author intended. Typically, I find the reasons for this are 1) not considering what the word means in that cultural and/or literary context 2) not considering what the passage means in light of what the author is trying to communicate 3) not considering the genre of literature and 4) not correlating it with the whole of Scripture and how that relates to God’s redemptive plan accomplished in the Son.

So in no particular order…

1) John 10:3-4 – the small still voice:

Placing Jesus’ use of voice in consideration of what he is revealing about himself, the voice is not a speaking voice but the ability to respond to him in faith according to who he is. How do I know this? First, he says it is a figure of speech (vs. 6); Second, based on his explanation of the shepherd and the gate (vv 7-18), he is identifying the contrast between those who do not believe in him and those that do believe. Hearing his voice is a metaphor for believing.

2) Proverbs 29:18 – find your vision:

The word there is actually used for revelation, which refers to God’s self-disclosure not our discovery of something we think God wants us to do.  Revelation in that context meant the word of the Lord that related to his authority and and communication concerning himself and his intentions. To put it in a contemporary setting would mean that wherever there is no proclamation of the biblical message (word of the Lord)the people perish. Continue reading →

The Bible Study I Think We Really Need

Lisa Spencer4 Comments

person reading bibleI recently saw a publishers list of forthcoming books, most of which were academically oriented but at the same time, user-friendly type material. I couldn’t help but notice yet more books on “how to read the Bible”.  Now anyone who knows me, knows my passion for this area. As one who spent many years reading Scripture in a fragmented way with the tendency to impose presuppositions on to the text. This is because the teaching I was exposed to informed the method by which I was reading Scripture and interpreting accordingly.

Over the past several years, my studies have reverted to understanding Scripture more holistically, historical and cultural background, how language is being used, who the author’s were and what were they addressing, how the events of each book relate to the overall grand narrative of what God is accomplishing in redemptive history. But most importantly how Christ is at the center of it all. This has cut down on the tendency to take passages out of context and impose prescriptions where they really don’t exist in the narrative.

So I get that we need the “how to” books that break down good reading methods. A good study bible will have articles in it for this very purpose (I recommend the ESV Study Bible). Also, there’s Gordon Fee’s How to Read the Bible for All its Worth.

But I don’t think this goes quite far enough. I could be wrong, but the problem does not seem to be that Christians don’t read the Bible, though that has been on the decline. Even the ones who do are already reading with certain presuppositions. The rise in Biblical Studies have given the impression that we can read Scripture with a neutral lens but that’s a problem. I love what Derek Rishmawy says about that here. And as I wrote about here, no one comes to the text neutral. No matter how objective we think we are being, there are presuppositions that are being imposed on the text. Continue reading →

Re-fashioned Relationship: Creating an Emotionally Satisfying Christianity

Lisa Spencer5 Comments

I’ve been reflecting recently on the concept of relationship that seems to be rampant within Christian circles. Somewhere along the way, we’ve created the false dichotomy of religion vs. relationship, something I addressed in this post.

One of the neat things about God’s revelatory process is that he contextualized himself to the culture of the ancient Near East, adopting the various symbols, structures and norms but doing something unique to show that he is the one true God. This is no different when he established the covenant with Abraham, Moses and David (some would say Noah) to secure relationship with his people. Based on what a covenant was in the ancient Near East, there was both promise and expectation.

Looking at the breadth of 66 books, the fulfillment of covenant relationship in Christ was of course the whole point. One only need look at the book of Hebrews to understand that the “better way” foreshadowed in the Old Testament was Christ himself, establishing a new covenant (cf Jeremiah 31:31-34), thus fulfilling previous covenants…

The main point here is that this was the means by which God established relationship. It was not just some willy-nilly, feel good, “being in love with Jesus” type of thing that typically gets associated with our Christianity.  Relationship with God is governed by promise and expectation specified in Scripture. We can expect for him to be God based on his promises to us ultimately found in Christ. There is expectation for us to love him with our heart, mind, soul and strength and to love neighbor as ourselves. There is expectation for us to walk in his ways. I think that is an accurate depiction of religion based on its own definition.

I think the problem is that we’ve taken the concept of relationship further to define what that relationship must look like and often it is according to what we expect from our earthly relationships. We’ve imposed these expectations on Christianity. Imposed is a good word, I think, when we dictate the terms. So when we say that God is relational, it has come to mean in many cases a relationship that are emotionally satisfying to us. Continue reading →