Thursday, February 9, 2017

Put Your Jesus Glasses On When Interpreting Scripture


        There was a big picture of Neil Armstrong standing on the moon with the earth in the background hanging behind his desk.  He was proud of that picture and he should have been, because he helped put him there.  He was an engineer with NASA back in its heyday, back when they were fully funded, fully staffed, and working day and night  to achieve President Kennedy’s dream of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.  They succeeded, too, as the picture behind Tom’s desk bore witness.

        After the moon landings, NASA slowed down.  The funding was cut.  Public support wavered.  Many of the most dedicated NASA employees found themselves without a job, including Tom.  He moved to North Carolina, to his wife’s hometown, and became a member of the church I was serving as pastor.   That is why I was sitting in his office one day, looking with admiration at the picture of Neil Armstrong, trying to find something pleasant while Tom lectured me on the Bible. 

        “When I worked for NASA,” he said pointing to the picture, “everything we did was according to the book.”  We had a manual for everything, for every possible situation, for every foreseeable scenario.  There was a very deliberate, intentional, detailed protocol for every move we made.”

        Then he glared at me and asked, “How do you think we put a man on the moon?”  I didn’t answer.  I knew he was about to tell me.  “We followed the manual to the letter of the law!” he practically screamed as he pointed his finger at me.  And then he added, “And that is the only way to interpret Scripture.  The Bible is our manual and we are to follow it to the letter of the law!”

        There was no point trying to discuss the issue with Tom.  His mind was made up.  He had all the answers.  Not long after that lecture he left my church because, “I didn’t believe the Bible.” 

        I know a lot of people who interpret the Bible just like Tom.  I read their letters to the Editor.  They use this misguided approach to judge and condemn people, to discriminate against those who are not living according to their standards, and to divide and demean others with the harsh and caustic language of hatred.  They isolate certain passages of Scripture and use the Bible as a battering ram to slam those who disagree into humble submission. 

        The Bible is not a fixed manual.  The Bible is the living, dynamic Word of God.  It is alive and fluid.  Interpreting Scripture is hard work; it is not simple and straightforward, it is a spiritual exercise.  I believe that Scripture is Divinely inspired and that inspiration guides the interpreter just as it guided the writers.  And I believe you should use Scripture to interpret Scripture. 

As a Christian, I have a very intentional focus when I approach Scripture.  I seek to interpret Scripture through the eyes of Jesus.  When I read something that is judgmental, harsh, or divisive, I put on my Jesus glasses.  I filter what I read through the witness of Jesus, through his example of love, forgiveness, and grace.  When I see a Scripture passage that appears to condemn someone, I put on my Jesus glasses and see that individual as a child of God and as a person of worth.

        I learn that I am a sinner in interpreting Scripture and I have fallen short of the glory of God.  But then I put on my Jesus glasses and see that it was for sinners like me that Christ died, that he has washed all my sins away and I am a new creation in Christ!  

        There is too much harsh, critical, discriminatory, and hateful language in our world today.  Those of us who follow the Christ need to be to put on our Jesus glasses and turn the rhetoric of division into the promise of reconciliation and grace.  Saint Francis certainly had on his Jesus glasses when he wrote, “Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon.”  May we go and do likewise.
                                                               

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