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.
