First and foremost, I would like to make it clear that "it is by grace that you are saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
This is not about replacing grace with a burden of works through which we might “earn” God's favor. This isn’t about legalism through which we can gauge how holy we and others are. God only ever cares about the heart. And he is the only one who can see each of ours clearly and judge it fairly.
Our actions aren't what save us, but our actions are a good indicator of what our heart believes.
If someone says, “Jump, I'll catch you.” And you say, “I trust that you will!”
That claim will be called into question until you take action. If you truly believe they will catch you, then you'll jump. If you don't believe, then you won't.
Seems straightforward enough, doesn't it?
It is along that vein that I am writing this post. And just as a fair warning to those brave enough to proceed, this posting is predominately for those who identify themselves as Christian. If you profess to “love” and “follow” Jesus, then this is for you.
So, let's get to it, shall we?
What does it mean to humbly accept the word planted in you? (James 1:21)
Humbly. What a completely foreign concept in our culture today. Especially in American culture. What examples do we have of humility? When self promotion and self worship are the norm. Who dictates morals? Who determines what should be? Well, the great and powerful ME, that’s who. The collateral damage of such a life philosophy isn’t really surprising. One such victim is the topic of my writing today.
The “Word” of God.
It starts out harmless enough. Was the earth created in a literal six days? Was Jonah really swallowed by a fish? Did a worldwide flood actually happen? Or is this just an allegory to learn from? Was it really God speaking when Paul writes that women shouldn’t teach in the church or have spiritual authority over men?
There’s arguable wiggle room on these issues. People could, in theory, doubt all these things and still believe that Jesus came to earth and died for their sins. Many Christians I admire and respect have claimed, “these aren’t issues I’m gonna fight and die over.” Meaning, people can believe what they want on these topics and still be considered followers of Jesus. And I get it. As humans, we want as many people to be saved as possible. We want to make it easier wherever we can.
“It’s fine if you question certain things about the Bible, as long as you adhere to the main points.”
And though I can track the thought process behind this conclusion, I have never felt totally comfortable with it. Those nagging objections in the back of my mind always remained...like crackling embers, the words of Jesus and the character of God were always posing a problem.
Was Jesus’ message “accept some of what I say; give me part of your life; trust me only sometimes”?
He said, “wide is the path to destruction and narrow is the path to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
He said, “whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.”
(Matthew 7:22-23)
Not exactly light fluffy material. Not exactly a message that it’s easy to be a follower of Jesus. Not exactly, “believe whatever you want, do whatever you want and you’re still golden.”
He says you must lose your life. You must deny yourself to be a follower of him. And what does “denying yourself” mean exactly? One manifestation is denying your own feelings or ideas of what is “good” or “true.”
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”
Lean not on your own understanding. That means believe God’s version of things over what seems plausible to you. Trust Him when he says “this is what happened.” Trust Him when he says, “this is what is good.” Take his word because “God is not human, that he should lie.” (Numbers 23:19)
So when God says he created everything in six days and rested on the seventh...why would we doubt it?
Well, because a bunch of smart men who studied the subject for YEARS say that is impossible. From their extensive research, they have determined that the Earth is much older than that.
Well, shucks, God. This is embarrassing. I can’t believe you got this wrong. Don’t worry, Lord, we’ll fix it for you. 'Cos when you said "a day," what you really meant was millions of years. Since "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8).
Phew! Glad we cleared that up. Let’s hope God doesn’t get things wrong again. ‘Cos it’s really awkward when a book that’s supposed to be the divine word of an infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing Being keeps being wrong.
Oh no, he did it again. Jonah, swallowed by a fish? And spit out three days later? Come now, this is highly unlikely. Reading the passage in the original Hebrew, however, we discover that it is extremely poetic...and since we never mean what we say in poems, we can safely conclude that this is just another fictional cautionary tale. (The caution being somewhat ironic...listen to God).
And then my favorite technique, and the one that inspired this post: “it’s 100% the word of God, but it was written specifically for the culture of the time, so we must extract the true meaning to make it relevant for now.”
If this philosophy was the reality, then the Bible would hold no truth. For what was “true” at one point in time is not necessarily true for another. If God is outside of time, if he is the author of Truth, and if he does not change, then how could this be the case? His truths are not dictated and swayed by culture. They are not subject to the constructs of time and space. (Constructs HE created, by the way).
Not to mention that most every command in the Bible is counter to the culture that it was born into. What God asked his people to do was not the norm of what everyone else was doing. It was radical. It was foreign. It was difficult, for the people that heard it the first time as much as it is for us. Which is why you read over and over again that “the Israelites forsook the Lord and didn’t obey his commands.”
It’s nothing new. God gives a command. We don’t like it. We blatantly disregard.
Or now the new way, we pretend to love God’s word and declare that he just didn’t mean it the way he said it.
Silly God, always saying things he doesn’t mean.
“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
(Numbers 23:19)
Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
(James 1:17)
Not at all! Let God be true, though every human being a liar.
(Roman 3:4)
God says what he means and means what he says.
So, what the what about head-covering? The concept first came seriously to my attention when meeting with a pastor to discuss women leadership in the church. Ironically enough, I was arguing the position that women shouldn’t hold roles of spiritual authority over men, i.e. be pastors, teachers, etc.
This particular gentleman commented that with my Bible degree and literacy in the Hebrew language, I was easily at the top 1% of my church in terms of Bible knowledge. Therefore, it would be silly for me not to be allowed to teach. I responded that the issue has nothing to do with ability or qualifications, it has to do with honoring God’s commands.
Submission and authority has nothing to do with who’s the best or the smartest or the strongest. The wife is called to submit to the husband, not because she is stupid or weak. It is to reflect the perfect relationship exhibited in the Triune God. Jesus submits to God the Father and the Holy Spirit submits to Jesus. Is Jesus stupid and weak? Is he incompetent and incapable? Not at all! We have a backwards idea of submission today. We think of it as a degrading role, a lesser role, a role to be ashamed of. When it is quite the opposite.
That, however, is not the point of this particular monologue.
Throughout our discussion we kept coming back to the question of literal or cultural. Are these commands given by God? (Should they be taken literally?) Or are they man-made commands, inspired by God but influenced by the patriarchal society of the time?
The passage that this whole debate hinged on, I felt, was the “head-covering” passage (1 Corinthians 11). This is one most Christians have no problem accepting as cultural. We definitely don’t live in a society where women cover their heads for any reason other than fashion. Therefore, this verse must not apply to us. And if one command is deemed merely cultural, what keeps any of the other commands from falling to the same fate?
...but is that how God’s commands work? If WE deem it unnecessary, then it is? If we determine “that would be so weird to do now, nobody does that now”...then we don’t have to do it?
“If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15)
“You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:14)
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22)
If all Scripture is God-breathed, if this is the very word of God, then Paul’s writings to the church in Corinth are God’s commands for the New Covenant Church. They are God’s commands for us.
And if "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [God's] ways higher than [my] ways, and [his] thoughts higher than [my] thoughts," (Isaiah 55:9) and if "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom," (1 Corinthians 1:25), then when I come across a command that is difficult to understand, what is to be concluded but that I need God to help me and show me the wisdom and goodness of this command? Rather than write it off as “no longer applicable” because it SEEMS wrong to me. It SEEMS backwards. It SEEMS foreign. It SEEMS oppressive to women. It SEEMS unimportant. It SEEMS legalistic.
Humbly accept.
Jesus came to give us life and life to the full. (John 10:10) [The first part of that verse being equally important...that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy].
If this is true, then the commands Jesus speaks through Paul to the New Testament church are commands that bring life. They are a blessing not a hindrance.
They are good. Because God is good.
God is love.
It was over two months ago that I came to the realization that these passages were less cultural than I had allowed them to be. But it was only two weeks ago that I finally followed through on what God had put on my heart. 'Cos let's be real, I wasn't chomping at the bit to be the freak that wears a head-covering to church.
And it wasn't just because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. My mind went through all the possible conclusions people would come to seeing me wearing a headscarf. They may think I've become legalistic. They may think that I think I'm holier than them, better than them. They may think I'm out of touch. That I'm taking this too far.
But at the end of the day, it all comes back to Galatians 1:10.
"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
Every breath, every thought, every fiber of my being belongs to the Lord. I want him to show me, teach me, and stretch me. I want to wait patiently for him. I want him to bring understanding in areas that I have none. "Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ- yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:7-12)
Last, but not least, I know this is one of those truths that has to be revealed by the Lord in order for it to make sense. I was hesitant to accept this reality in the beginning because it feels like a prideful way of thinking. But I have come to realize it's the exact opposite. If it wasn't God that revealed this truth, then it means it was because of my own understanding and intelligence that I was able to grasp this concept. And it would also mean that I could debate and persuade others into understanding it.
But just as God is the one that opens our eyes to the fact that he is God, so it is He that opens our eyes to all other truths.
That being said, I am open and willing to answer any questions and embark on further discussions of this subject, but I am under no delusion that I can bring ultimate understanding to anyone. That's God's job. And things always turn out best when I let him do what he's good at.
I love you. And I am praying for you.
-heather
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