From the Pastor’s Desk The Lord be with you. How can we become more
biblically literate? This is a growing concern in
the church at large. People have recognized that
our post-modern society does not read as much as
it used to. In fact, the Bible may still be the
world’s best seller, but it is still probably the
least read book. I think it begins with desire.
For all the beautiful poetry, history, and stories
of miracles, most people find the Bible a bit
wooden and its characters unreal. Therefore, they
have no passion for the Word’s words. Scripture,
like any good literature, can be understood if one
has a passion for its contents. We read the Bible
in order to learn God’s will. We read the Bible to
receive comfort during hard times. We read the
Bible because the pastor is preaching on a certain
text. These are all good reasons to read the
Bible. However, how many of us read the Bible
because of our passion to know Christ?
Second, desire should be accompanied by
intelligence. The Scriptures tell us to love God
with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
We sometimes forget the “mind” part. There is a
way to approach the Bible that bespeaks
intelligent inquiry. A saying I heard in seminary
many years ago goes like this, “A (Bible) text
without a context is just a pretext.” We are fond
of attaching our own meanings to Bible texts. We
affectionately appropriate a pretext of meaning
without thinking through the context of the
passage. For example, Jesus says that it is easier for a
camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew
19:24). Many have tried to figure out what Jesus
is trying to say. This attempt at explanation
includes mention of a gate in Jerusalem that
camels must kneel under in order to enter the
city. Well, no respecting merchant is going to
enter the city the hard way. More importantly, if
we understand the context of Matthew’s gospel, and
the whole New Testament, placing such an
interpretation on the text speaks of a God who
demands we work our way to heaven. In other words,
if we can humble ourselves enough, then God might,
just might, accept us. Such an understanding flies
in the face of grace. The context tells us he is
speaking to his disciples about the problems rich
people may have placing their trust in God rather
than their riches (a common theme or motif for
Jesus). Then, because we understand that Jesus
teaches the way rabbi’s commonly taught, we look
for the teacher’s rhetoric or style of teaching.
He is, perhaps with some humor, stressing the
impossibility for humans to save themselves. The
disciples are incredulous, “Who then can be
saved?” (v. 25) Jesus lowers the boom, “For
mortals it is impossible, but for God, all things
are possible” (v. 26). In other words, only the
grace of God, the free gift of God’s favor, can
save you and me whether we be rich or poor.
Finally, the disciple of Jesus may use a
commentary or Bible aid now and then. We have
wonderful examples of historical research and
language study systematically organized to help us
understand the texts of the Bible. The community
of Christ has gifted people who offer us these
gifts to help us appreciate Scripture. One such
book is "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" by
Gordon Fee and Doug Stuart. I highly recommend
this book to you for your own personal and
community study. In the mean time, keep on reading
and Happy New Year! Yours In Christ, Pastor Peter T. Johnson
Denton Presbyterian Church 2006
This page last modified: January 27 2007
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