Christians and the Bible. How do we make sense of an ancient literature, written in a span of over 1,500 years by nearly 40 authors? Covering a time span from the stone age, bronze age, iron age, into the age of the internet. Life and times have changed so rapidly. Even the mode of transmitting the words of God have changed from the time Moses chiselled the commandments of God on stone tablets to how we access these same words on our digital tablets.
How we handle the Bible will determine whether we stay in the shadows or engage intimately with Christ. I propose a movement from principles to practice to the Person Jesus Christ. We draw principles from what we read in the Bible. We then apply those principles in our daily lives – that’s the practice. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s not practice for the sake of practice. We do not practice Biblical principles just to be better people or to book a place in heaven. We put into practice Biblical principles so that we draw closer to God. The Christian life is about believing in a person and living intimately with a person – Jesus Christ.
WE BECOME BETTER PEOPLE NOT BECAUSE WE ARE PRACTICING THE RIGHT THINGS. WE BECOME BETTER PEOPLE BECAUSE WE ARE BEING WITH JESUS AND BECOMING LIKE HIM TO THE POINT WE REFLECT HIM MORE IN OUR LIVES.
The becoming of a Christian is this this movement that must happen daily in our lives, where we draw principles from the Bible, endeavour by God’s grace to put them into practice in our lives, in order to draw near and abide in the presence of the person Jesus Christ.
FROM PRINCIPLE TO PRACTICE TO THE PERSON JESUS CHRIST
The problem with Christianity is that some Christians merely emphasise their version of truth that they have derived from the Bible. They insist that it’s all about what you believe. Get the doctrines right, make the right stands. Know what you believe and why you believe it – to the point that the Christian faith has become merely an intellectual exercise or in some cases a rallying point for political agendas.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to get our doctrines in order. If that’s all you do – if you stop at just believing the right thing without seeking how to apply these truths in your daily lives – then it is just another form of religion. Jesus came not to establish another religion but to become the way to God. Religion is God’s way to God. Noble gesture but unattainable however sincere one may be. Christianity as a religion is as futile as any other. We are not called to adhere to the religion of Christianity. We are called into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
MERELY BELIEVING SOMETHING WITHOUT LIVING IT IN OUR DAILY LIVES IS PLACING GOD IN A DISTANCE
You can’t just believe truth. You must draw principles from truth. Principles are livable truth. Truth that can be applied consistently in our daily lives. Let me illustrate with one example from the Old Testament.
Exodus 21:23-25 (NKJV) But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
In this passage, Moses seems to be laying down some practice that the people of Israel were to adhere to under his leadership in the wilderness. For ages this has been adopted as a principle. That’s how we should respond when a wrong has been done. The principle is “a life for a life, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth…”. When someone harms you, you have the right to harm them back. Let’s call it the doctrine of retaliation. That’s why we can justify the death penalty as Christians. That’s why there are Christians who can march into Washington DC, invade the Capital building carrying large banners that said Jesus Saves and Jesus 2020, without any concern about the harm to lives and property. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – if the government has done harm to me I have the right to harm them back.
First of all let me say this – I do not presume to understand neither to judge those who engage in political protests and dissent. I’m merely stating that if we read the passage in Exodus as a divine principle rather than a societal practice, then we can claim permission to harm those who have harmed us. By bypassing a principle and adopting a practice as if it was a universal principle, is a sure way of going off on a tangent, drifting further away from the presence of God.
You can’t just draw truth from a practice. You must draw principles it. Principles are livable truth. Truth that can be applied consistently in our daily lives no matter who, when or where.
Jesus’ interpretation of the same passage
Matthew 5:38-44 (NKJV) “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…”
Luke 6:27-31 (NKJV) “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
Both Matthew and Luke show us that Jesus interpreted that passage very differently from the teachings of his day. He first reverses the practice of the day – you don’t retaliate. You don’t repay evil for evil. In fact he teaches us to do the opposite. We are to respond with good. Luke gives us the principle behind the practice – “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”
Here then we get a glimpse of what was behind the practice Moses was implementing in the wilderness. Do to others as you want them to do to you. If you do not want to lose an eye, don’t harm someone else’s eye. If you do not want to lose a tooth, don’t harm someone else’s tooth. If you do not want to lose your life, don’t harm someone else’s life. Do unto others as you want them to do to you.
Get the principle right, the practice then will follow. The principle is not an eye for an eye. The principle is do to others what you want others to do to you. Apply that principle in your daily life. The practices will change depending on the circumstances of the day – but the principle remains the same.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THE PRINCIPLE RIGHT
Jesus goes on at the end of the two passages in Matthew and Luke to give us the reason why it is important to get our principles and practices right.
Matthew 5:45 (NKJV) that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Luke 6:35-36 (NKJV) and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
When we get the principle right, our practice will be right. Right living will reflect the God we worship. This is the real test wether your so called truth is a principle that will lead to good practice. If it draws you closer to Christ so as to reflect Him more perfectly.
Paul and the Sabbath
Here’s another example on how making a practice a principle can lead us away from God.
Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV) So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Paul had to address a situation among the churches that had Gentile believers and Jewish believers. Some Jewish teachers were insisting that Christians had to practice all the feasts, festivals and religious days that Moses had instituted. That included practicing the Sabbath the way the Jews practiced it – on the seventh day. They had taken a practice and turned it into a principle.
The Gentiles could never practice the Sabbath along with the Jewish believers on the seventh day as they would have had to join them in the synagogue. No Gentile would be allowed in the synagogue unless they were circumcised and were practising the laws of Moses. Paul clearly warned the church – that kind of belief will cause us to remain in the shadows without experiencing the true substance of the person Jesus Christ. Everything we do must bring us closer to experiencing more and more of Christ.
John 5:39-40 (NKJV) You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
The principles of God found in the Bible should lead us to practices that draw us closer and closer to Jesus. So let us reassess the way we are using the Bible. Are we merely going to the Scriptures to get truth? Are we going to Scriptures to imitate practises. Or are we going to the Bible everyday to draw closer and closer in our relationship with Jesus. Let’s go to the Word of God with this mindset:
TO KNOW CHRIST – WHAT ARE THE SCRIPTURES TEACHING ME ABOUT JESUS?
Philippians 3:10 (NKJV) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death
TO PUT ON CHRIST – HOW CAN I APPLY WHAT I HAVE LEARNT ABOUT CHRIST THROUGHOUT MY DAY?
Galatians 3:26-29 (NKJV) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
TO REFLECT CHRIST – IS MY LIFE REFLECTING MORE OF CHRIST AND LESS OF ME?
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
THIS YEAR LETS MOVE OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO REAL SUBSTANCE – KNOWING CHRIST, LIVING CHRIST AND REFLECTING CHRIST TO THE WORLD.