A Closer Look: True Freedom (Gal 5:1)

Lisa Spencer3 Comments

man standing on rock“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1 NIV)

Common Translation: At first glance, without any context, it looks like Paul is saying that freedom in Christ means a lack of bondage to things that enslaves. For a long time, I interpreted this verse as a stand alone that meant Christ has set us free from enslaving behavior, such as not doing x,y, or z. And I have heard enough messages about this passage that make the same reference of freedom for it to make the Closer Look list. I really don’t think that is what Paul is talking about, freedom from enslaving behavior.

What’s Going On?: Paul is writing to the church at Galatia because a sect of the Pharisees (possibly believers in Christ) indicated that in order for the Gentile believers to fully be accepted by God they had to comply with the law and be circumcised. Their perspective made sense to them since compliance with the law was imposed upon Israel as God’s chosen people as a means for obedience to God. While they accepted that Gentiles could now be granted the same promises too, their perspective was that Gentiles had to comply with the law, meaning outward prescriptions of the Mosaic regulations. Continue reading →

A Closer Look: Introduction

Lisa Spencer1 Comment

I’m kind of geeked about this new blog category. I’ve been wanting to do something this for awhile but couldn’t really make it work on Parchment and Pen.

What is A Closer Look?  Occasionally, I’ll want to examine select passages of scripture or terms that have adopted contemporary interpretations but ones that I think are a bit removed from the the author’s intent when he wrote it. I think it’s easy for a concept or interpretation to snowball into something big and acceptable. The more popularized something becomes the more it becomes accepted without reconciliation to authorial intent of the text. Reconciling it with authorial intent means examining it in it’s proper setting according to the theme of the book it’s placement within the meta-narrative of Scripture.

So as passages or terms come to mind, usually because they’ve come across my radar, I want to discuss them and write about them and give some examination. I won’t always be right but I just want to ask some honest questions that I think deserve a closer look.

First on tap: Galatians 5:1 and freedom that’s not really free. Stay tuned!

More Conundrums: Homosexuality and the Church

Lisa Spencer2 Comments

Well, here’s a touchy subject and one that I think the church has not handled particularly well nor have individual Christians handled well in the public sphere. In fact, I’d say the treatment of this particular subject has been handled rather hypocritically. Yes, I said that. But when I started this blog, I made a commitment to address issues in a straight-foward manner and to express what I really thought about them.

First off,  homosexuality is a sin. It says so in the bible. (If you are a Christian and deny the authority of the bible, then that is another subject altogether). There’s been a lot of hermeneutical gymnastics to make it say otherwise. Leviticus 18 is not a good argument nor is saying that Jesus never addressed homosexuality. Of course he did in Matthew 19:4-9. If he says that marriage has from the beginning been between one man and one woman, there is no default position of what he really meant. It is what it is.

We also can’t look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and the list of transgressions and turn that into exceptions. Romans 1:21-32 also identifies that when God’s creation denies the truth that He reveals within them, creature worship can result in same sex attraction.

But here’s the thing. Homosexuality is not the only sin mentioned in the bible nor is it classified as an unpardonable sin. In fact, if you look at the passages mentioned in the last paragraph, this particular sin is included in a list of other sins. That means we can’t highlight one above the other as if it is deserving of some special treatment. Continue reading →

Lessons from the Runway: Delusions and Community

Lisa SpencerLeave a comment

I don’t care for many reality shows but I confess to being a Project Runway fan and it’s a diversion from my the crime drama genre I like so much.  If you are not familiar with the show, 16 aspiring designers are given challenges each week to show their proficiency and creativity as a designer.  The ultimate goal is to win the prize of $100,000 to start their own line, a spread in a popular magazine and the notoriety that goes with it  Now in it’s 10th season, there is something about the combination of watching the creative process and the human dynamic unfold with each episode. Most of the designers come with some pretty well established experience. Some have worked with well known designers. And all of them think they are the next best thing out there.

The human dynamic that emerges on the show is fascinating. Some are consistently good and their work speaks for itself.  They may toot their own horn and even sound obnoxious in the process. But when their work product stands to their words, it is validated.  For the most, however, there exists a fair amount of delusion among many of the contestants who take aim at other designers and their supposedly inferior work.

Tim Gunn serves as mentor and fashion guru who lends a critical eye to designer’s products while they are in progress. Sometimes he has to tell that overly confident designer that there is something not working right with their design. He gives them some suggestions on how they can rethink the design to something that is more likely to wow the judges. For the most part, I have found myself in agreement with his input. The camera does not lie. If something doesn’t look right, it doesn’t look right no matter how much the designer engages in self-exaltation. Continue reading →

Galatians and Beyond

Lisa Spencer2 Comments

Every Sunday morning, I have a bible study with a small group of believers at my church, Fellowship Bible Church Dallas. The group emerged out of a 10 week class called Starting Point, that gives the basis of the Christian faith – the gospel – and a place to ask the hard questions that many seekers, returners and new believers have. Towards the end of the 10 weeks, some of the group members were hungry for more and I was eager to teach, so a new group was formed.

Compatible with my ministry philosophy of teaching Christians who God is and what he has provided, I like to focus on teaching the bible through this lens – the self-revelation of God. It fuels love for Him as we discover  his grace and mercy. So we spent the first few weeks discussing how the bible was put together, how it reveals God, his progressive revelation and culmination in the Son. This gives a parameter of how we consider the 66 books and read through them. We then spent several months plodding through the book of John, always connecting Jesus actions and his revealing of the Father. Next, we spent several weeks in the book of Acts to show how the apostles carried out the testimony of Christ and the establishment of the church. Both books were incredibly rich studies and brought many expressions of awe of our great God.

We started in Galatians today and I was reminded once again, of our tendency to trust in behavior of right and good, instead of placing faith in Christ. Grace is hard because there is something within us that makes us believe that we need to contribute something in order to be accepted by God. Faith in Christ is not enough, says our humanness that relies on human merit. And this was the problem with the disruption that was going on in the churches and why Paul was upset. Burdens were placed on belief. But faith plus some type of human endeavor for approval from God is a distorted gospel.  In fact, Paul says it is really no gospel at all. Continue reading →