3 Ways to Understand the Bible

My friend T. M. Moore writes a daily email devotional called Crossfigell in which he includes a quote from a noted Celtic Christian and a related portion of Scripture followed by his brief commentary on them. [Crossfigell means "cross vigil," a Celtic prayer practice in which one would hold out his or her arms in a cruciform position while praying. Legend has it that one Celtic saint prayed in this posture long enough for birds to build a nest in his hand!]

This week T. M. sent a series of 3 devotionals on the topic of interpreting God's Word. I've included the full text of all 3 here, but you really should sign yourself up to receive his rich daily messages. Sign up for Crossfigell at his website, Paruchia (see the menu on the left side).

Understanding Scripture (1)

For Holy Scripture is understood by three methods of approach. The first way of reading it is when it is understood only literally without any figurative purpose, as St. Jerome says, "The Acts of the Apostles seem to me to speak of plain history." - Liber de Ordine Creaturarum, Irish, 7th century

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundrend years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, full convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. - Romans 4.19-21

One mistake people make in reading the Bible is failing to allow it to speak to them with respect to the plain teaching of the historical record. There is much to learn simply from understanding events in their proper setting and time. How shall we lay hold on the promises of God? Paul says, Well, look what Abraham did: He looked past the restraints of his circumstances, gave glory to God for what He had promised and what He could do; thus, he envisioned himself in possession of the promised blessing and took the necessary steps of faith to attain it. There is nothing mystical or allegorical here, just the straightforward lesson from history as to how we, who are the heirs of those same promises, may expect to realize them in our own day. This is the starting point for all right understanding of Scripture: what does the record say, in its plain historical meaning and original historical setting, and what can we learn from observing this example? So don't be too quick to let your response to the Word of God fly to heights of spiritual implication and application. That may be important, as we shall see. Begin by asking, What's happening here, and how can what's happening help to shape my own walk as I take up the example of our forebears in the faith (Rom. 15.4)? Much power and many blessings are to be had by simply taking the Word at face value and bringing its historical lessons into our own walk with the Lord each day.

Understanding Scripture (2)

For Holy Scripture is understood by three methods of approach...The second way is when it is investigated following a figurative understanding without any regard for actual events, as with the first and final parts of Ezekiel, the Song of Songs, and the exposition of certain Gospel parables, which say one thing and represent another. - Liber de Ordine Creaturarum, Irish, 7th century

As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. - Song of Solomon, 2.3, 4

It may or may not be possible to identify the historical situation referred to in the Song of Solomon, but it matters very little. There are those who would reduce the Song to a kind of manual of human love. And, while the exchanges between Solomon and his beloved can yield insights into the beauty and wonder of marital love, deeper mysteries seem to be at work here. If we miss these, we miss the point of the Song altogether. Prompted by Paul and John to think of the Church as the Bride of Christ, we find the Song a bright source of illumination into the richness, depth, and fullness of joy that relationship affords. The Song teaches our hearts how to love our heavenly Groom, and creates in us a hunger for a deeper relationship with Christ and a more overwhelming experience of His love. If churches knew this love of Christ and loved Him as much in return, would not their common love for Him inflame them for one another as well, and lead them to overlook the many differences that divide us, so that we might celebrate and encourage one another in seeking greater heights of love for our glorious King and Groom? Let us sit in the shadow of Christ's love, cool and protected against the heat of the secular day, and let us feed on His fruit and grow fat in His spiritual provision, unfurling together and in every situation our banner of love by and for the King Who has saved us!

Understanding Scripture (3)

For Holy Scripture is understood by three methods of approach...The third way is when, retaining the record of historical events, it is understood with a mystical meaning, for instance, Noah's ark, the tabenacle, and the temple were actually built, and through them are traced with understanding the mysteries of the church. -Liber do Ordine Creaturarum, Irish, 7th century

I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. - 1 Corinthians 10.1-5

All that sad history of Israel's sojourn in the wilderness has ongoing spiritual significance for us today. That's Paul's argument in a nutshell when he is trying to get the Corinthians to live in a manner consistent with their profession. The Israelites "tasted" of the Lord, but they did not feed on Him. Just so, many who have been baptized and participate in the life of the church are merely "tasting" of the Lord; they have not truly known Him in a life-changing way. Their baptism, church attendance, even their public profession of faith won't save them if there is no turning away from the idols of the age and the lifestyle of unbelief to follow Christ in the way of self-denial and sacrificial love. "Therefore" Paul continues "let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (v. 12). The stories from Biblical history have important practical lessons to teach us, but they also hold vital spiritual significance, if only we know how to read them. We must read them in the light of Christ, Who is the Focusing Light of all the revelation of God, for in Him the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Our study of God's Word - like our profession of Christian faith - is not complete until we see Jesus in the text, meet and feed on Him there, and are through this encounter transformed into His image by the Spirit of God. Some of the Corinthians were deceiving themselves, for they had not yet come to know Jesus. May the same not be true of us. "Examine yourselves" (2 Cor. 13.5).

Book Review: The Jesus Way

The Jesus Way: A Conversation On The Ways That Jesus Is The Way
By Eugene H. Peterson (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2007)

In his introduction to The Jesus Way (which in my estimation is worth the price of the book) Eugene Peterson contrasts what he calls the “way of Jesus” with the way of American culture and the way of the American church:

The ways Jesus goes about loving and saving the world are personal: nothing disembodied, nothing abstract, nothing impersonal. Incarnate, flesh and blood, relational, particular, local.

The ways employed in our North American culture are conspicuously impersonal: programs, organizations, techniques, general guidelines, information detached from place…We cannot use impersonal means to do or say a personal thing—and the gospel is personal or it is nothing…

When it comes to persons, these ways of the world are terribly destructive. They are highly effective in getting ahead in a God-indifferent world, but not in the community of Jesus, not in the kingdom of God…the North American church at present is conspicuous for replacing the Jesus way with the American way (pp. 1-5).

Peterson argues that the American church is enamored with the truth of Jesus but ignores the method by which Jesus embodied that truth. But relational, word-made-flesh, life-on-life discipleship does not sell well in a culture that is steeped in mass production. We have found ways to efficiently mass produce almost everything, why not mass produce disciples? Peterson argues that we have come to exchange the way of Jesus for the way of industry:

If we have a nation of consumers, obviously the quickest and most effective way to get them into our congregations is to identify what they want and offer it to them, satisfy their fantasies, promise them the moon, recast the gospel in consumer terms: entertainment, satisfaction, excitement, adventure, problem-solving, whatever. We are the world’s champion consumers, so why shouldn’t we have state-of-the-art consumer churches?...There is only one thing wrong: this is not the way in which God brings us into conformity with the life of Jesus…this is not the way in which we become less and Jesus becomes more…the cultivation of consumer spirituality is the antithesis of a sacrificial, ‘deny yourself’ congregation. A consumer church is an antichrist church (page 6).

The Jesus Way is the third in a series of Peterson’s “conversation” books published by Eerdmans and starts off stomping some of our ecclesiastical toes in the introduction and first chapter before settling into six chapters of what amounts to an Old Testament Bible study. These chapters are rich, albeit long, and are meant to show us that the way of Jesus falls in line with and further illumines the way that God has expected His people to walk throughout history. The final three chapters of the book contrast the way of Jesus with the ways and means of some of His contemporaries. Peterson insightfully explores the answers to three questions:

• Why didn’t Jesus adopt the Donald-Trump-like, bigger-is-better way of Herod or the intense, moral-purist, preserve-God’s-tradition way of the Pharisees?
• Why didn’t Jesus follow the affluent-religious-professional way of Caiaphas or the radical, anti-corrupt-religion ways of the Essenes?
• Why didn’t Jesus buy into the charismatic-celebrity, play-both-sides way of Josephus or the might-makes-right way of the Zealots?

Jesus rejected or just plain ignored all of the popular leadership styles of His day and walked a different path, a path of suffering submission to God that only finds its way in us through the life and language of prayer.

A couple of other thoughts that struck me as I read The Jesus Way:

• I love the rich, colorful way that Peterson writes, but sometimes I think he could be more efficient with his words. Sometimes the middle and latter chapters seemed to drag on. (See, I’m a product of my culture, aren’t I?) In all those words, though, were many nuggets of pure gold wisdom.
• Speaking of nuggets, some of the best thoughts about prayer I’ve read as of late are in the last three chapters of this book.
• This is a nit-picky point, but it caught my attention. After a rather long, but interesting discussion contrasting the non-violent way of Jesus to the violent ways of the Zealots, I was surprised that Peterson never addressed passages like Matthew 11:12 where Jesus said that “the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force.”
• After beginning with a rant against the programmatic and impersonal American church, the book surprised me with an interesting thought toward the end. Peterson, who sometimes sounds overly sympathetic to those who want to throw off the ritual and regulation of church, said that “without the protection of ritual and doctrine and authority, Christian spirituality is vulnerable to reduction and desecration.” Comparing the organization of the church to the dead bark of a tree and the organism (people and life) of the church to the tree’s inner life, Peterson wisely points out that “while the bark both hides and protects the cambium, it does not create it. The bark is dead. And neither do religious institutions create life….” (page 232).

All in all I commend Peterson’s latest “conversation” to you. Again, if you get the book for no other reason but to read the introduction (and I would add the first chapter), then picking up a copy of The Jesus Way is the way to go.

"Am I Enough For You, Thirsty One?"

I'm a church planter. I send out prayer letters. It's tempting in these newsletters to "hype" what's happening at Riverside, trying to put our best foot forward. After all, everybody wants to know they've prayed for something that's successful, right? Well, we're learning that sucess in God's eyes has more to do with how much we grow in Christ-likeness than with how fast we grow our numbers. These lessons don't come without some heart ache and a few soul-searching moments. Here's one I experienced last Fall:

During a recent twenty-four hour silent retreat, I brought the questions of my thirsty soul to God. I took a long walk throughout that mountain retreat center and spent considerable time looking into the crisp, clear October night sky. Without the usual glow of artificial light to conceal what is real, I saw stars and constellations I barely knew existed. “I just want to know what’s going to happen,” I complained. “Is this church plant going to make it? What have I gotten us into?” I whined to God like the people of Israel moaned to Moses in the desert. “Have I invited these people to follow me into the desert to die of thirst? Would you have us start Riverside Church just to see it dry up in a matter of months?” I waited for an answer from heaven, but it seemed there was no reply written on the night sky.

After an awkward silence, God answered me with a picture. All at once my eye was drawn to the Big Dipper constellation, and the Lord turned the questions on me. “Do you see how big this dipper is? If it was full of water, would it be enough for your thirst? Am I enough for you, thirsty one? No matter what the future holds, will I be enough for you?” (When the answers to my questions come in the form of questions, I know I’m probably hearing from Jesus. He was prone to pose questions to those who put questions to Him.) Before I could answer, He continued, “Yes, I am enough for you. I will be your supply.” As I gazed at the stars that night, the Lord reminded me that He would be my Big Dipper, and that no matter what season of drought may come, He would be my supply.

In what dry place are you crying out to God with a thirsty heart? He'd like to know, "Am I enough for you, thirsty one?" He'd like you to know, "I Am."

[If you'd like to subcribe to Riverside's prayer update newsletter, go to the Riverside website and plug your name and email address into the newsletter sign up box in the left side-bar menu.]

Pray for Your Wife

Last summer I came across a little book called How To Pray for Your Wife: A 31-Day Guide and it has become an important part of my daily prayer life. Mark A. Weathers, a Presbyterian pastor, translated his love for biblical Hebrew into this practical prayer guide for his wife based on Proverbs 31. I have found that praying through this guide for my wife each month changes the way I look at her, think of her, talk to her, and talk about her in front of the children and others.

The following sample from the book is especially timely in light of new research that reveals that having a husband creates more housework for women, while having a wife creates less housework for men (HT: the evangelical outpost):

Day 7: Service

Proverbs 31:14 "She is like trade ships; she brings her food from a great distance."

Explanation

What a great analogy to describe the excellent woman! In this verse she is compared to a fleet of merchant ships that have sailed a great distance to bring back supplies.In today's culture we could use the analogy of supply plane, a fleet of eighteen-wheelers, or even a freight train--all of which travel far and wide to carry supplies.

The woman is undaunted in her service of providing for her family. Whether the children are sick or the husband is at work, the woman goes to great lengths to bring them "her bread" (the literal translation). She delights to serve her family.

Regardless of the time or culture, the role of a servant has never been a popular title. Servants have dirty jobs. Servants get no rest. Yet this is how Christ Jesus continually referred to himself: "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ranson for many" (Mark 10:45). The whole drama of Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection is a picture of God traveling a great distance to give us heavenly bread. The role of a servant, therefore, is a Christlike occupation. As a woman serves, she has the great opportunity to reflect the Savior.

Suggested Prayer

1. Lord, as my wife serves the family and me, enable her to see that it is a service rendered for you. Let her service be a sweet offering of praise to you.
2. Father, I know that I am not exempt from serving. On the contrary, as the head of this house it is my responsibility to set the example of service. Help me also to serve joyfully so as to reflect you.
3. As I see my wife "travel" to serve me, let me never take it for granted. Remind me to praise her for her selfless service.

[The book then gives the reader space to write his own prayers for his wife as well as a place to record answers to specific prayers.]

Some of my [Jimmy] suggested uses for the book:

1. You might try it yourself for a month first. Don't tell your
wife that you're doing this. See if she notices how your consistent prayer for her changes the way you love, serve, and honor her.

2. Get a small of group of men to commit together to using the prayer guide for a month. Get together weekly, once in the middle or at the end of the month to discuss what God has done in your heart and your relationship with your wife during the process.

3. Use this book to help disicple a younger man or newlywed in the ways of supporting his wife in prayer. (Pastors: require your pre-marital counselees to use this book during the counseling period before the wedding. Perhaps these soon-to-be-husbands will develop a pattern of persistent prayer for their new brides that will continue after the knot has been tied.)

Trinity Song

There's a little song I wrote and sing to God sometimes. It is a prayer expressing my deepest affection for Him. Here's how it goes...

Father, I love You, and I'm glad to be Your son
Jesus, I love You, and I'm happy to by Your servant
Spirit, I love You, and I'm pleased to have You fill me
with Your power, and Your presence, and Your purity
Three-in-One, One-in-Three, Blessed Trinity
I'm happy to love You
and to be loved by You
O, I'm happy to love You
and to be loved by You
I am.

I sang those words to Him for months until one day as I was taking a walk and talking to Him, He surprised me with His own version of the song. Here are the words that came to my heart according to the tune I have in my head:

You are my beloved, and I'm glad that you're My son
You are my beloved, and I'm happy that you're My servant
You are my beloved, and I'm pleased to fill you with My Spirit's
power, and My presence, and My purity
You're my son, and with you I am well pleased
I'm happy to love you
and to be loved by you
O, I'm happy to love you
and to be loved by you
I Am.

These words are for you, too, if you have been born again by the Spirit of God into a reconciled relationship with the Father because of the life, death, and resurrected life of Jesus, the Son.

Why Would God Ever Answer Me?

If you're anything like me, you sometimes need to be reminded that God does listen. This meditation on Psalm 27:7 by Paul Tripp will encourage you to keep seeking His face in prayer.

I needed that reminder today.