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June 30 - July 8, 2023
Like Procrustes of Greek mythology, who shortened or stretched his guests to fit his bed, our unconscious assumptions about language encourage us to reshape the biblical narrative to fit our framework.
Our tendency to emphasize rules over relationship and correctness over community means that we are often willing to sacrifice relationships on the altar of rules.
It still seems to us that the best way to avoid sin is by knowing and keeping the rules, even though Paul asserts, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). It is an uncertain path, but it leads to abundant life. To do this, we have to learn to identify when the Bible is prioritizing relationship instead of rules or laws.
As far as Augustine was concerned, reading Scripture should encourage the reader’s love for God and for his or her neighbor. “So anyone who thinks that he has understood the divine scriptures or any part of them, but cannot by his understanding build up this double love of God and neighbour, has not yet succeeded in understanding them.”[3]
Our preoccupation with me also leads us to confuse application with meaning. We attend lots of Bible studies. After a verse is read, participants are frequently asked for comments. People often begin their replies with, “What this verse means to me is . . .” Technically, the verse means what it means. What the participant actually means is, “How this verse applies to me is . . .” which is a wonderfully appropriate point to make. We affirm that God’s Word has application for his people. But when we confuse application with meaning, we can ignore the actual meaning of the text altogether. This
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