From the Vcc newsletter on 10/15: How Sages Validate the Bible

I would like to talk about how we validate the Bible without arguing or demeaning others. A hint: it doesn’t begin with just knowing what it says, but instead it begins with the collection of writings, genres, and even methods of study. We will discuss the history as well as the content of the Bible.

It is important to know what the Bible actually says versus what we believe about it, or what we have been told. Yet there is so much more to validating the Bible in the mind of worldly people than what we think of in the church. For most of us in the church we have been taught to prove the Bible through reason, debate, and proofs. While these things really help build our faith, they generally do very little for post-modern people whose idea of truth is fundamentally different than church folks. For most of them the greatest test of the Bible is you, your life, your attitude toward them, your family, and other believers. Is the Bible life-giving or something harsh, critical, judgmental? Too often we use the Bible and what it says to win an argument, and all that tells non-Christians is they don't need to know anymore about your God or your Bible.

Having the right attitude begins with the very character and nature of the Bible. The Bible is a collection of 66 writings, written over a span of 1,500 years, in four languages. It is a very large body of work, with a lot of cultural assumptions, and time specific events. It is full of history, poetry, wisdom literature, apocalyptic literature, stories, parables, Hebraic law text (which are very different in spirit than Western law codes), and many different writing styles. This ought to humble us and make us recognize that becoming biblically literate is more about being acquainted with the heart of God for his people than knowing all of the content. I have spent the last 30 years of my life learning the content, and I have a long way to go. One of the things I like to teach people who want to become acquainted with the Bible is the big story: the overarching narrative that runs cover to cover, the story of the kingdom of God and the redemption of creation. Once we know that story, our biblical literacy begins to rise, and our attitude can be aligned with the spirit of the whole rather than an attitude expressed in a single text.

Learning about the numerous genres of literature, the complex cultural and historical nature of the text, and magnitude of the Bible itself should make us more patient with people who don’t share our good vibes about the Bible. When people speak half-truths, when they disparage the Bible because of a single text taken out of context, there is nothing to get angry about. They are not stupid, and they are not necessarily doing the work of the devil. It is likely that the Bible has been quoted at them to correct, malign, or to judge them or someone or something they believe. Respecting the giant and complex nature of this text may make us cautious about how we wield a sword around others and help us understand how they might be confused, hold onto misrepresented truth, or feel beat up by the Bible unjustly.

Last, but not least, knowing more about the different kinds of literature, history, and how cultures all fit together in the Bible can help us grow and even be helpful to others. This is why I cannot stress enough the need for courses like Introduction to the Bible and How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth. Since we, as Christians, are putting so much stock in the Bible it only makes sense that we know its origins, how it is put together, the different kinds of literature, the central theme, and how to read for understanding. So that we might rightly apply the word for the purpose of giving life rather than using it to hurt those we disagree with.

Next week I want to focus on how we deal with the relationship between science and Christianity.

VALUING THE GENERATIONS

We talk a lot of about loving our neighbors and about how to treat the lost. Recently I have talked a great deal about objectifying people by placing them in categories by their religion, political party, sexual orientation, etc., and then reducing them to a set of bullet points we can attack. When we are filled with compassion it means we, at the gut level, feel their personal hurts and pains and empathize with the reasons why they think or feel like they do. Instead of judging them we can love them into a relationship with Christ. Without love we can never lead them to Christ from an objective position.

With that in mind, I want to talk to you about intergenerational relationships…

There is a lot of marketing being done by targeting age groups. It began with the Baby Boomers (those born between 1945-1965) and the  GenX/Baby Busters (1966-1986). Finally they identified Generation Y/Millennials (1987-2007), and on it goes. As each group is identified and marketed towards, the characteristics of each generation are used to make sweeping conclusions about each generation that are often unfair.

For instance, critics of Baby Boomers say they are greedy, self-centered, and materialistic. Critics of GenX say they  are deconstructionist, nihilist, and don’t play by the rules. Then critics of the Millennials think they need trophies for everything and melt at the slightest hardship. However, I can say I know lots of generous, selfless Boomers. I know GenX who are “by the book” and find meaning in everything. I know Millennials who live sacrificial lives on the mission field completely free of accolades. Assumptions about people based on age are not entirely unfounded, but when we use that information to dismiss,  belittle, or judge whole groups of people then we have violated the Spirit of Christ.  

These intergenerational struggles have been around since the beginning when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, when Cain killed Abel and their parents gave birth to Seth. It's normal, but normal is messed-up and sinful. Being normal does not make something ok. In 1 Timothy 5 we read: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” The church is called to view each generation as a gift to the body. Every generation has strengths (and, yes, weaknesses), and we need to glean from every generation what they know, what they do best, and value them for it.

Listen, the next generation does not lack information because they have the Internet, but what they need is sage wisdom in what to do with that information. The older generation may not know as much about the Internet, but they know how to do things you are trying to learn from a YOUTUBE video. They have life skills that once were common and now are virtually unknown. More than that, discussion about what is happening in the world right now, seeing it through the eyes of more than one generation, gives us perspective. I love when I get to talk with and listen to people from different perspectives because they help me develop a bigger picture.

In the church, we need the youth to engage and be the church today, not the church of the future. That will be too late. We must reach the young without dismissing everyone else.  

We need the life skills and resources of other generations. We need parents and grandparents; we need to remember every “new thing” is not really that new. In fact, it has often been done before, and we can learn from the past as well as the present. We need the patience of those who know “it” will still be here tomorrow, and we need the exuberance of youth who push us ahead because it seems like we will never get there otherwise.

Intergenerational ministry is as important as intercultural and interracial ministries. We are called to reach every ethnicity, every culture, and every age group with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s never ok to make it all about this group or that group or to value one group over the other. No matter how you justify that position, in the end, it violates the spirit of the gospel and the Kingdom.