scripture

When I transferred schools in the middle of the eighth grade, I went from an elementary school (kindergarten to 8th grade) to a junior high school (7, 8, 9). By the time classes began for the 9th grade, I felt as though I was pretty important. After all, the 9th graders were top dogs.

Unfortunately for me, my imagined importance failed to benefit my lack of attention in Algebra class (why didn’t someone tell me that algebra is the foundation for all math classes from then on? Oh, they did?) Anyway, I studied little and stumbled through with a C average (C means I never fell asleep in class).

The following year meant high school and geometry class. A fascinating subject which focuses on shapes, sizes, angles, and properties of space. Guess what! Contrary to what I thought, geometry uses algebraic formulae to work out all the problems. Algebra. The class I barely passed and had little accumulated knowledge about. Instead of a hill, I had a mountain to climb.

While taking algebra, I had a textbook but used it very little, therefore I was poorly informed regarding its contents. That may describe some Christians; we have the textbook but seldom read its contents which leaves us poorly informed and ill prepared for spiritual warfare.

We Christians proudly declare our love of and faith in God’s everlasting Word, the Bible. And yet, when we read those challenging verses which would require life changes, how often are they disregarded or ignored? If I’m honest, fairly often. Let’s look at some examples:

1 Timothy 2:8 “In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.” Does this accurately describe men in our places of worship? Do we take time for men to pray during service with holy hands lifted up to God? If not, why not? Our textbook instructs us to do so.

1 Timothy 2:9-10 “And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.”

What? Are you serious? Women have fought long and hard to find equality in a male dominated world. This is harking back to ancient, caveman ideals. Surely this is not literal. This must be like a parable or thought-provoking words of wisdom, right?

What do these two verses say? Are they not clear enough? Just because the church has abandoned these instructions does not make them null and void. Rather it makes us haughty enough to believe we can disregard them since they don’t fit into our society today. To please those who find these verses archaic and offensive, the church has relegated them to “that was for those days, for that specific situation.”

Really? Remember the textbook example above? Ignoring these verses is like me ignoring the foundational algebraic instructions in my textbook. And how did that work?

Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Let’s take a vote. Everyone in favor of this verse being relevant to today’s world and our society, raise your hands. Don’t be ridiculous, you say. That verse is essential to the Gospel. We can’t just ignore important verses in the Bible. After all, the Bible is God’s Word that lasts forever (1 Peter 1:25).

And yet, deciding certain verses are no longer pertinent or applicable today is ignoring God’s Word. Somehow we’ve decided by consent that verses too challenging or distasteful should be altered or outright ignored. How can we possibly be that audacious? That irreverent?

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

If we are followers of Christ, we cannot allow ourselves to ignore sections of the Bible in favor of soothing ruffled feelings.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”

Charles was teaching an adult Sunday School class with 20-25 people. The same group had been meeting for several months and shared many of their fears, joys and challenges of walking with Christ as Savior. It was a class that seemed focused on serving the Lord, willing to make sacrifices.
One Sunday, Charles surprised everyone with a test! Of course there were protests and grumblings. “A test? Where are we, in school again?” He smiled and passed out the papers just the same. The test was actually not what they thought. Rather than finding out their knowledge of what he’d been teaching, it challenged the depth of their faith, forcing every person to face their “true life” walk with Christ. At the end of the test he included Luke 6:27-38 followed by this question: “Do you think that Christians today are to take these verses literally— to actually live our lives using this as our guide?”
Luke 6:27-38 (Words of Christ):
● Love your enemies
● Do good to those who hate you
● Bless those who curse you
● Pray for those who mistreat you
● If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also
● If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also
● Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back
● Do to others as you would like them to do to you
● “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners
love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why
should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those
who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
● Love your enemies! Do good to them
● Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked
● You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate
● Do not judge others, and you will not be judged
● Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you
● Forgive others, and you will be forgiven
● Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.

What do you think? Are these verses in the Gospel of Luke an actual blueprint for living our lives today or a metaphor, meant to encourage and challenge Christians to live more sacrificially? Do you find yourself thinking that most of these statements are good as a guide but a few of them are over the top?

Did God include these verses to be thought provoking but not literal? Perhaps the purpose of these verses is to provide a basic outline for Christian living but not to be taken literally. But then, how can we pick and choose which Bible verses are literal and applicable for today’s Believers? Do we have the freedom to ignore verses that present too great a challenge for our flesh?

If we believe the Bible to be God’s Word, given to its writers by the Holy Spirit, then who are we to disregard those which present too great a challenge? We only have to look to the Book of Job to be reminded of who God is:
Job 38:4-7 ~“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?”

Finally, what does the Bible itself have to say about all the verses contained inside?:
2 Timothy 3:16 ~”All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

Whatever seems normal seems right. In our American lives, we are brought up to believe that we are capable of guiding our own lives, reaching for that elusive golden ring which, once securely held, brings happiness and satisfaction.

However, there is no golden ring. Happiness and satisfaction may only be found through faith in Jesus Christ. His sacrificial death brought forgiveness of all our sins. Faith in Him allows us to love and be kind to our enemies— whether or not they reply in kind.