The Necessity of Contextualization or Rethink your Facebook Verses

A good friend of mine is doing several blog entries concerning the story line of scripture. (You can read his blog here...it is way better than mine.) Anyway, I began to think about the necessity of understanding the grand scheme of scripture, and that brought me to another line of thinking.

Try and follow me here...if we are inerrantists(the bible is the sovereign word of God), and we affirm that Scripture is a grand story line concerning God's plan, then we can come to the conclusion that Scripture is revealed in a way that makes the ORDER of the Books and stories a necessity. The same way you cannot take a novel and remove parts of the story, you cannot take out pieces of the meta-narrative($10 word that means story of everything) and still have it make sense.

Scripture is placed in a certain order for a reason, and it was placed this way by God's design. Still tracking? Good...let's move on.

Now this drew me to the conclusion that it could possibly go deeper than this. If we assume the stories are placed in a certain order, then we can affirm that the verses themselves are placed in a specific order to tell the story.

Now why does this matter? I think that the loss of context among Christians is a problem. This is nothing new under the sun, but I want to add my two cents.

It came to me today sitting in class that there are a few very specific verses that seem to be prime targets for decontextualization.(taking them out of context) For example, In Jeremiah Chapter 29 the Lord says to the people of Israel "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call to me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you" (Jer. 29:11-12 NIV)    Does this verse sound familiar? It litters peoples refrigerators, facebook profiles, and anywhere else people write down favorite scripture. Heck, I like it a lot in that format. But let us take a step back and see what it is really saying.

This is a line from a letter that Jeremiah is writing to the people in exile. These people were taken from Israel into Babylon. There are false prophets everywhere saying that the Lord will deliver the people soon. Jeremiah writes this letter out of instruction from the Lord, telling the people what to do.  

These people are IN PUNISHMENT and DISCIPLINE when Jeremiah writes this to them. This is not a happy verse. The Lord is saying this to these people in a negative context. He is saying that this (the exile) is the plan I have for you. I am putting you through trials in order that you may learn to trust me better. There is NO OTHER way to go except my way and I am demonstrating this to you now. When you learn this, then you will come and pray to me and you will find me where I have always been, leading you down the straight and narrow path. 

The Lord shows us here that there is only his way, the way the Scripture demonstrates it to us, the way of the Gospel. When we look at the context of these snippet verses, we see that they are not always what people think they are. Examine Scripture closer, you will be amazed at what you can find. 

Wow....that was a long one. I hope you liked it, and I hope it made sense. Mine don't always do that...

-B

Responding to The Word.

Yet again, it has been a while since I have written. So I am going to stop procrastinating and I am going to hit the ground running with this first entry in a month. This one is for you Luke...

I was sitting in church on sunday and I heard a sermon that took a very well known passage/parable and turned it in such a way that I had never heard before. The passage was the parable of The Good Samaritan. If you have never read it or haven't read it in a while go ahead and flip to it right now and give it a look...I'll wait...Luke 10:25-37 if you need the rference

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Done? Good...So J.D. (Dr.Greear if you only know him by his pastoral name.) was discussing Injustice, and how many non-christians believe the church is responsible for tons of injustice over the centuries. (go here to listen to the whole sermon, it's worth it. I am only giving you a small slice.) He spoke about the parable of the Good Samaritan and how it relates to breaking down the injustice and hatred in our lives. 

Yes. It is true that the church has committed atrocities in the past...but would it be a stretch to say that these injustices were not caused by "Christians" or even just "Christ Centered Christians"(CCC for short), but by people who had lost the focus of the Gospel? I do not think so. This is what the parable of the Good Samaritan is addressing.

A lot of preachers and teachers have looked at this parable as "what we need to be/what we should be". They say that we need to be the good Samaritan being willing to help anyone we see in need. This is true, and I am in no way saying it is not a model that we should follow. But I think there is a better interpretation that was pointed out by J.D.

I think that we are better to look at ourselves as the man beaten on the side of the road. Why do I say that? Because it accurately describes our situation before the Lord. We are beaten and wounded by sin, left for death and destruction, with no hope of being healed under our own power. Then along comes Christ, our savior, who picks us up and brings us to safety and salvation in him. See how that fits? We were dead in our sin, and Christ lifted us out of it. Wow that sounds strangely like the Gospel to me...

Two "christians" (if I can be bold, but I do use a lower case "c") walked by this man and did nothing. English philosopher Edmund Burke once said "The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing." When we stop seeing ourselves as the Good Samaritan, and starting seeing ourselves as the dying man, I think we can begin to understand the true amount of grace in our lives. 

In summary, when we focus on grace, pride is smashed. When pride is smashed, atrocity and injustice go with.

Hope it made you think.

-B out

 

happiness, joy, or content? ...None of the above.

So how do you find joy in a situation you are completely discontent with? This is a question i honestly ask myself every day. I wonder out loud why God has put me in this place. I have no idea where to begin in finding joy here. 

I write this from the cave. This is the second cave i have owned. A cave is a bedroom with very little light. It is dark, like a cave. My cave. I Like it. Ask Spencer about my first cave. I like solitude during the week, and balls to the wall excitement on the weekends. Why do people think I am depressed? 

So what I am a little quirky when it comes to my living style. I find myself wishing for a fantasy world of ease of life. Where problems can be solved with a few kind words, and in less than an hour. I dream of a place where people to people interactions are easy. Where everyone gets along, and no one is looked down upon. Where is this place i drift off to so often?

I used to make alot of fun of teenage angst. But the older i have gotten the more i have realized it doesn't go away. It just manifests itself in different aspects of your life. You just start calling it different things. Stress, anxiety, etc etc. 

Reguardless of what we do we are still fallen. There is not one good thing in us. Chew on that. 

Broken vessels in a fallen world. We can never earn or work our way out of our pits and evil ways. 

True depression does not come from being weary of pain, it comes from being weary of pleasure.

When we realize the one thing in this world we thought would bring us happiness lets us down, that is when depression happens.

I am not depressed, i just think to much. 

I hate to sound like a whiney 14 year old, but sometimes that is just what falls out of my brain. Deal with it. And rather then cutting it down, answer some questions for me. 

-B out

so so long.

So my last post was on may 23rd, and here we are almost at the end of August and I haven't written one until now. So to my 4 loyal readers...i will update you all on my life.

-I am back at school. 

-I am taking 18 credits this semester. 

-I like my classes.

-I'm still tall.

I will try and write a more in depth entry about my thoughts and feelings as of late. But that will be later tonight. I write more in depth when i am sleepy. Ill see ya.

Summertime is finally here..

I apologize for the lack of posts the last few weeks, finals kicked me right in the nuts and I am still nursing them back to health. Once summer kicks off there will be more updates. I promise.

-B out

The Truth

What is more important in this world than the truth? Tell me this is not more factual than when you are on the receiving side of a lie...

The truth matters in the universe. This is why I do not understand people who say that there is no truth. Well obviously that statement is contradictory because they imply that that statement is true. Right? If everything is meaningless, then what I have said is meaningless, then in essence I have said nothing at all. Right?

It is amazing how much the truth matters in our everyday lives. 

Always search for the truth in whatever you do. It is the most powerful weapon on earth.

-B out

I dont have a clever title tonight

Life goes on. With all of my friends graduatiing, and me having to find a new job for the summer, that is what I have learned over the past week. Life goes on. 

And honestly...that is the best part about it. 

No matter which way you look at it, we are never stuck in the same place for too long right? We can always look forward to the future. 

Life goes on.

We are always on the move, and we need to appreciate that for what it is, if you understand the fact that something is going to end, you can treasure it more. Take it slow. Raise your hand if 3 years ago you thought you were going to be in college forever. But your not, and it is over. And guess what? Thats ok. 

There is something big, and beautiful, and amazing, and mind blowing, just around the next turn. LIVE YOUR LIFE...and love every second of it. Because you cant take it with you when you go. 

Do a random act of kindness, make a stranger smile, ENGAGE PEOPLE! Life is to short for us to be trapped in our little world forever. 

Life goes on.

-B