Suppose you were vacationing at the beach one summer. Work has been hard this past year and the kids have been a challenge. You dream about wading out into the clear, cool water and relaxing with no phones and no computers and no kids! You love the water, you find yourself taking longer baths as you imagine floating on your vacation. It's going to be incredible.
Then you arrive at the beach only to find this...
That's right. The beach is closed. There have been multiple shark sightings and even an attack or two in the past couple of weeks. Your dream vacation is ruined. No floating, no fishing, no surfing. At that moment you have a choice regarding the sign. First, you can get mad at the sign and complain that the sign is completely unfair and how it is ruining your vacation. You can curse the sign and you can even spit on the sign. Or, you can recognize the sign for what its purpose is - to protect you from sharks. The sign doesn't remove the sharks, it just tells you they are there.
The law is now like this sign. It's purpose is to protect you and allow you to live in the freedom of life, not death. It's message is clear: If you do this, you will die. Without this warning, we are free to wander into destruction.
Has this been your view of the bible or have you seen it as a cage that keeps you from having fun and enjoying all that there is in life? Can you see how the law might be beneficial to you, rather than constricting? Sure, you are free to swim with the sharks, but...
What Paul is saying makes me think of rules and children. Telling a kid NOT to do something is just the same as telling them TO do something. We have this book called No No Yes Yes and we read it to Clara once and then she started dumping water out of the bathtub onto the floor.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the Bible as being a cage or constricting... In a way it outlines what SHOULD be common sense... Don't steal. Don't kill anyone. Be nice. Respect your parents. Don't use God's name in vain.
Good to see you again Emma...glad your back and sharing thoughts again. I am tracking with you here. I agree totally with you on the big commands that "should" be common sense...I like all those. What about the ones that we don't like? If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If a man looks at a woman lustfully, he's committed adultery. Women are to be silent in the church. Women are to submit to their husbands. Keeping and observing a Sabbath day. Not having tattoos, men not shaving the hair on the sides of their faces, observing dietary restrictions, and on and on and on...
ReplyDeleteWhat is it that keeps us from seeing the Bible as a list of rules that inhibit our freedom rather than expanding it?
Having not read the entire Old Testament (or for that matter, the entire New Testament), I can't fully argue my point... BUT! I'm pretty sure that some of these such as shaving and dietary restrictions were laws for Jews, not Christians, some are taken out of context (submitting to husbands), and some I know churches do but I've not seen the words written in red in my Bible that say "women cannot lead in church", cause I'm pretty certain that Jesus used women to spread his word as well (John :17-18 regarding Mary and Jesus resurrection).
ReplyDeleteThe others (well, the tattoo thing and earring thing I'm not so sure about) are still common sense. If you always sin when hanging with a certain group, quit hanging with them. Don't lust after people - that is the same as coveting your neighbors things, right???
But other than that, I don't have an answer to your exact question. It just doesn't feel restrictive to me...
Point taken, Emma. Can we go another direction?
ReplyDeleteWhat does the bible free you up to do that you otherwise wouldn't be doing?