How Do We Approach the Bible?

As we’ve been reading through Exodus this summer, it’s been very clear that there are different approaches to the story. In the American South, those who enslaved Africans edited down the parts of the Bible that they felt didn’t help them in their cause - and they regularly taught the ‘slaves obey your masters’ (Ephesians 6) parts by themselves.

So how about us - what is it that guides our approach to the Bible? Certainly we each come to scripture with certain assumptions, making the text fit some way of seeing things. Whether God is angry and judgmental or always loving and forgiving - these become lenses through which we see the scriptures.

So take some time today with this wise soul and listen in to her musings. Spend time with the Spirit asking for help in understanding your own assumptions and approaches so that you can be more honest about yourself and less defensive… and maybe even open to new ideas.

If you are looking for verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to liberate or honor women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, you will find them. If you are looking for an outdated, irrelevant ancient text, you will find it. If you are looking for truth, believe me, you will find it.

For those who count the Bible as sacred, interpretation is not a matter of whether to pick and choose, but how to pick and choose. We’re all selective. We all wrestle with how to interpret and apply the Bible to our lives. We all go to the text looking for something, and we all have a tendency to find it. So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: are we reading with the prejudice of love, with Christ as our model, or are we reading with the prejudices of judgment and power, self-interest and greed? Are we seeking to enslave or liberate, burden or set free?

- Rachel Held Evans, Inspired