Bible Bridges: Part 12 "True North"

Now that there has been some initial movement in handling some of the text of 1 Peter (and we'll return to that soon), this is a good time to take a look at the road map: we need to keep our eye on true north.

What do I mean? In our post-enlightenment / post-modern age, much of the Bible has been manipulated for alternative purposes. Notice that I don't say necessarily ulterior motives, though certainly there is plenty of that in history. Rather, much gets lost in contemporary attempts to make the text relevant. Now, it is true that the Bible is relevant, but not immediately so.

Allow me to explain: IF the reader's desire is to grasp the author's meaning and take away appropriate application for today, there is a lot of work to be done. It is not as though we are reading our Greek New Testaments and Hebrew Bibles in the eyes of the original audience. In our modern settings and English translations, we can easily fall prey to inappropriate relevancy.

For instance, our approach to Scripture must not carelessly rip things out of context. Many of us have seen this firsthand: a home Bible study leader asks the participants in a circle to share what the text means to them, and they proceed to give a variety—indeed, a plethora of meanings. We often come by this innocently, seeing a verse and immediately thinking about our life now. This is not necessarily a bad thing if we work through the text. Yet we need to realign our compass to true north.

Moreover, we must not attempt to subjugate Scripture to our agenda. Many people groups with various agendas enslave Scripture to meanings never dreamed of by the original authors. Frankly, we're all a little guilty of this. If we are aligned to true north, then the Bible will not so easily and neatly fit our systems, presuppositions, or dogmas. Guarding against such goals helps us surrender to God's Word, not the other way around.

So what do I mean by true north? The view that Christ is the center of Scripture must needs define true north. But even that is hard to define. It isn't about making Jesus my pal. It is much more about the culmination of God's myriad purposes that are fulfilled in Christ. More about this in a moment.

Let's return to the statement above that the Bible is not immediately relevant. We have come through two thousand years of New Covenant history. Those of us in the tradition of western civilization have traveled oceans, political revolutions, cultural revolutions, and other massive changes that simply distance us from Bible times. While God's Spirit illuminates his Word, it was through learned men that we have a copy in our native tongue. Much more translation is needed beyond mere words in a lexicon. I submit that we must humbly do business with the biblical text as respectful foreigners, not obtuse Americans (no offense, but ask those living abroad about some brazen Americans trashing their lands).

Thus, I offer three key take-home points to align to true north:

1. Dig hard and carefully in the text to uncover its intended meaning. Use natural rules of grammar, syntax, context, etc. to unpack the text. That is much of what this series is intending to stimulate, though it goes beyond just that. A helpful action item here would be to summarize in your words what a section simply says. You might do an outline or some other structure. Remember, this is a goal to grasp the intended meaning of the original author (knowing that we won't fully exhaust everything that is encoded in every part of Scripture).
2. As you study a selected text, tentatively identify its eternal significance. As some books like to say, these are timeless principles. However, let's be careful about that. I think true north demands that there is a divine purpose or goal to the Bible, not a random collection of good thoughts. So wrestle with the the final goal of God's purposes in mind (for us as Christians, the church, and ultimately for all of history).
3. Humbly consider personal and community relevance. This is most often called application — "how do I apply God's Word to my life?" This is fine, but I think overused. Moreover, it is so often exclusively individualistic. Healthy churches are ones that confess sin as a community, being confronted with the truth of Scripture. A good pastor will unpack a sermon in a way that will often lead to a gospel affirming, grace-enabled confession and repentance.

True north is Christ's purposes for his people. Just like in Pilgrim's Progress, the Christian faces an arduous journey if the final goal that God has for us is what we embrace. My prayer is that those reading this blog will "Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to" Luke 13:24 (NET).