Tough Question #3 – Do Christians pick and choose parts of the Bible they want to follow? If so, aren’t they just creating their own religion and using the Bible to justify what they want to do?

My two friends and I leaned back in the grass on the hill across the street, watching the newly arrived freshman mull around awkwardly in front of their dorm. Most bit their lips with anxiety or stood rocking on their heals with their hands jammed in their pockets. They were to afraid to go back to their rooms and face their new roommates, but also to terrified to explore the campus alone. So there they were, trapped on the front sidewalk, hoping to think up something to do.

We judged them – one by one. We mused about how the thin frail boy with delicate hands and red hair had to be a music major, probably piano. We laughed about how the pock marked faced one with a giant soda in his hand should go ahead and give up on dating now. We were certain the mop haired, thin boy in baggy pants hoping someone would join his game of hacky-sack was a business major. It was a fun game for us superior sophomores. One we’d watched last years sophomores play with us as we stood in front of the dorm a year before.

A new group of faces burst through the front doors of the dorm. There was confidence in their eyes and pride in their stride. They smiled wide and laughed with one another. These were cheaters. They’d known one another in high-school. We disliked them because they were ruining our game. Comfortable community masked the anxieties and eccentricities that fueled our fun. The trio stopped at the bottom of the front steps were a fourth friend joined them. They smacked hands and hugged victoriously, as if there mere presence at the university was cause for celebration.

“Way to go gang,” I sneered, “two points for showing up.” Then I added to my two friends seated on either side of me,  “They were probably all on the same small town football team.”

“Nah,” my friend on the left responded. “Baseball. There two small for football.” He was right of course. The boys were lean and muscular, but none of them had the bulk Texas high-school football demanded.

“I think we should pray for them,” my overly-evangelistic friend said from my right with deep sincerity.

“Yeah,” the friend on my left said. “Definitely. You want to lead out?”

“Wait a second,” I said with frustration, but not surprised by my zealous friends. “What are we praying for?’ I asked, knowing their answer. It was what they always wanted to pray for.

“For their salvation,” my friend on the right said with disdain for my hesitancy.

“How do you know their not saved?” I asked for the sake of being antagonistic.

“I can just tell,” my friend on the right said firmly.

“Even if they are, it can’t hurt to pray for them,” my friend on the left said with optimism.

“If you’re so concerned for their salvation,” I said. “Why don’t we get up and go talk to them? Let’s go and share Jesus right now.” I started to stand even though I had no intention of crossing the street to talk to a bunch of strangers.

“It’s not the right time,” my friend on the right said with authority. “But you’re right. We should pray that God gives us a chance to talk to them later. We should ask for a divine appointment.”

“Nope,” I said, now in full combat mode. “If you believe they need salvation we should go and talk to them right now. What if we never see them again? Didn’t you just lead a Bible study last week about not missing an opportunity? You can’t pick and choose,” I accused. “If you think they need to be saved then we should go and do some saving.”

“You’re one to talk. Weren’t you just spouting off last week about the power of prayer and how ‘it’s the most important thing we can do.’” my friend on the right said mocking my voice as he quoted me. “Besides,” he continued comfortably. “I don’t feel like God is calling me to speak to them right now. In my Bible study, if you were paying attention, I also talked about being shrewd and wise. We shouldn’t change in there like fools.”

“Yeah,” my friend on the left said. “We should pray we see them again.”

Defeated I took my place back in the grass and joined my friends in prayer.

Before I jump into my argument, I feel the need to distinguish between picking-and-choosing out of ignorance and picking-and-choosing with intention.  These are completely different things. To base my belief system on certain aspects of the Bible because I haven’t read or haven’t understood other parts is natural. We are maturing creators who learn and grow. Ignorance is part of our DNA. It is the foundation of wonder and new beginnings. To selectively follow some aspects of a world view because we have not encountered other ideas should be expected.

This is not what my friends and I were doing in the grass. We’d read Jesus’ teachings on not judging our neighbors. We’d studied his thoughts on loving and serving. We’d discussed at length concepts of evangelism and discipleship. But rather than drawing on our wealth of knowledge we chose to do that which made us comfortable and then return to our well of understanding only to justify our actions.

This is not rare to Christianity. It is the human condition. When given the opportunity, it is our instinct to reinforce existing world views over challenging them.  We listen to speakers who affirm our current trajectory. We read books that bolster our established position. We surround ourselves with people who see the world as we do. Not completely, mind you. A little push back is good for the soul. It keep dialog going. Ravens fans love to argue over whether or not Joe Flacco is worth his pay. Ravens fans even enjoy debating a Steelers fan over who is the greatest. But Ravens fans have no interest in debating whether or not Spain will repeat in the 2014 World Cup. We like to stay in our lanes.

Knowing the strong drive for comfort is part of the human condition, rather than spending more time debating rather or not Christians pick-and-choose, let me instead share how I think we should push back on this urge. Acknowledging that there are things about our world view we don’t know, that we are picking-and-choosing out of ignorance, there are three things I believe we must routinely do.

1) Acknowledge that we don’t know everything.

The key to avoiding the intentional picking-and-choosing I and my friends on the hill practiced is to recognize that I am not mature. I must admit to myself that I do not have everything figured out. I must allow myself to take the position of a child, not an adult. In comparison to the speck of knowledge I have gained there is an ocean of perspective I have yet to encounter.

If I reject this posture, and rather convince myself that I know, than there will never be growth. The only seat available to me is the judges bench. I cannot hear or see new things from such a lofty position. I can only bang my gavel and announce over and over, nauseating everyone around me, my limited perspectives on life.

The dark void of my ignorance is terrifying to peer into. While turning my back on the cliff before me and refusing to acknowledge its existence might be comforting, it is not helpful.

2) Study, study, study.

The responsibility for pushing my understanding of the world past the current boarders defined by my ignorance is on me. It is my job to discover what I don’t know. No one else can be held accountable for pushing me out of my comfort zone. Thus I must discipline myself to study new things. Never fear, this does not mandate hours in a library. It does not necessarily require evening after evening reading vast tomes by candle light. We learn in different ways – some of us grow through conversation, others through experiences, others are visual learners who need pictures as guides. I’ve found the key to living in a mode of study that expands my world view is to be awake. To study the world is to be alert to what is happening around me. If I’m sleeping through conversations with people, lulled into a slumber by my narcissism, then I will learn nothing from those around me. If we hope to grow than we must be in a constant mode of learning. Such learning demands we are actively engaging in life around us.

3) Lean into things we don’t understand.

I can read the Gospels over and over. I love the stories. I get lost in Jesus’ interactions with the other characters. I enjoy imaging the scenes, trying to place myself inside of them, dreaming about what each character must have been feeling. The Letter to the Romans on the other hand, I’m not a fan. It’s complicated and wordy and weighed down with scholarly voices I don’t enjoy. It is difficult for me to read. It stabs into my comfort zone like a knife into a balloon, so I delve into it again and again. I’ve spent more time in it than any other of the sixty-six books in the Bible because it makes me uncomfortable.

Recently I was working through 1st Corinthians, a book I love. The letter is a like a warm blanket. My soul is eased when I wrap myself in it. But then I noticed a verse I hadn’t seen before. In chapter 15 Paul says, “The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.” The verse is confusing to me (for reasons I won’t go into now). It made me uncomfortable. My first reaction was to move on and not think of it any more. Fighting against that urge, I typed it up, printed it off, and stuck it on my wall.

This of course goes beyond Bible passages. It applies to every bit of knowledge we encounter. As we live an alert life of study, when we find something pushing against our understanding of the world we must deny our natural urges to run from it, and instead lean into it seeking to understand why it is pressing against us.

Conclusion:

Do we, Christians, pick and choose what we follow and what we don’t?

No more than any other human. Ideally only in ignorance and not out of intention, but I know I have been guilty of the latter.

To avoid the temptation of the judges seat, it is not simply enough to acknowledge the chasm of our unknowing. We must dive head first into it. Remaining tethered to our foundation, we must stab into our comfort zone with new ideas and challenging thoughts.

This is part of a larger series. You can read the introduction here. And parts one and two here and here and here. Next week I’ll attempt Question #4 – How are we to understand Biblical violence in union with a loving God?