In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul told Timothy that all Scripture was breathed out by God and profitable. While most Christians would agree with this sentiment, I wonder if the practicalities of our worship betray the fact that we might actually have some reservations about this idea.
Many churches simply avoid difficult passages all together. Some do this claiming to want to make things “seeker-sensitive” or “understandable.” But what this actually communicates is that there are parts of the Bible that, at best, are less important than others, and at worst, not really profitable.
I have been thinking about some of these issues because at Grace Community Church, where I pastor, we have been preaching through the book of Genesis, and we just covered chapter 34. Genesis 34 contains a difficult narrative by any consideration. After leaving Laban and encountering Esau, Jacob and his family have settled just outside the city of Schechem. Dinah, Jacob’s daughter by Leah went into the city to have some female companionship. During one of these visits, Shechem, the son of Hamor, “the prince of the land,” sees Dinah, takes her and rapes her and then says he is in love with her. He and his father Hamor come to Jacob to ask for the girl in marriage. Dinah’s brothers find out what has happened and tell Hamor they cannot allow their sister to marry an uncircumcised man. Hamor and Shechem then convince the men of the land to circumcise themselves. On the third day, when the men were “sore,” two of the brothers, Simeon and Levi go in, kill every male and take everything from the city. James Montgomery Boice says of this chapter:
Here and there in the Bible we come upon chapters that report such disgraceful deeds that it is difficult to know how to comment or preach on them.
Some commentators like A.W. Pink skip the chapter simply pass over the incident as though it wasn’t included in the pages of Scripture. Pink simply says that he leaves it up to his readers to figure it out for themselves. Not much help from a commentary is it? Boice quotes H.C. Leupold who says:
We may well wonder if any man who had proper discernment ever drew a text from this chapter. As a whole it is an invaluable sidelight on the lives of the patriarchs. It is rightly evaluated by the more mature mind and could be treated to advantage before a men’s Bible class. But we cannot venture to offer homiletical suggestions for its treatment.
Such passages remind us of the importance of hard thought. Not only did Paul tell Timothy that all Scripture was breathed out by God, he told Timothy to think over what Paul was saying and that the Lord would give him understanding (2 Timothy 2:7). The implication here, of course, is that there would be sections that Timothy needed to think hard about. Peter said that Paul wrote some things that are, frankly, hard to understand (2 Peter 3:15-16). C.S. Lewis says that
God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you that you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But fortunately, it works the other way around. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself.
We must be on guard against the “dumbing down” of Christianity under the guise of making it more “accessible.” The Bible contains many difficult things and we do no one a service by pretending as though this were not so. While there is certainly the danger of over intellectualizing Christianity, this is not the danger most of us face. Instead, most of us face the danger of atrophying minds. Our tendency to want things made easy has crept into the church and into much preaching.
We must humbly strive towards a Christianity that demonstrates intellectual vigor (and rigor). If we truly believe 2 Timothy 3:16-17, then when we encounter “difficult” texts, we must take the time and effort to understand them and why God put them in front of us; what is it God is revealing of Himself in that section? We must reject the notion to simply skip over a section because it is difficult.
Much of the blame here, of course, lies with pastors who have come to believe that marketing should inform how we “do” church. If people do not like to think hard, we certainly shouldn’t push them to do so at church! Many pastors have given in to the pressures of the world, which certainly include a “dumbing down” of everything, including Scripture. As a pastor, I certainly try to make things understandable, but I also strive to do challenge myself and my congregation. The other side of the coin, of course is the American Christian, who has come to believe that everything should be easy, whether ordering food or studying the Bible.
God has chosen to include revelation of Himself in a book for His people. May we strive to honor God’s revelation, especially when it is difficult.
- Read James Montgomery Boice
- Read Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation by Graeme Goldsworthy
- Read The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text: Interpreting and Preaching Biblical Literature by Sidney Greidanus
Woah, I am so glad to find your website. It is pretty insightful. ;)
“What this actually communicates is that there are parts of the Bible that, at best, are less important than others, and at worst, not really profitable.”
I agree with your thoughts on the matter. I share your concerns. I have but one question. Would you say that all parts of the Bible are of equal import? It seems as if some, like historical narrative or poetry, would have somewhat of a lesser impact than, say, the deeply doctrinal passages or the clear commands. Isn’t there some gradation of importance of passages?
Scripture is scripture. It’s all inspired by God. How do you grade that qualification?
Brent I think you’ve got your finger in the sore brother. I’m convinced that one of the major reasons the Purpose Driven Church is so popular is that the pastor gets all that free sermon material. He can basically take a vacation through the whole 40 days if he wants. (You can file this one under your ‘dumbing down’ comment if you like.)
Stan, while I sympathize with your point, I personally would not say that there is any “gradation of importance of passages.” Is Genesis 3:15 somehow less important than John 3:16 because the light of the Gospel shines perhaps a bit more dimly from our perspective in Genesis than John?
I would say that understanding the idea of God’s progressive self-revelation helps to see how all Scripture works together and builds upon itself (see here).
I would say that yes, we now interpret the OT through the NT but that is not a question of importance, just place in progressive revelation. As Augustine says:
The Old is in the New revealed. The New in the Old is concealed.
While both are equal, they play different roles in God’s revelation of Himself. If all Scripture is breathed out by God, how can we say some is more “important” than the rest?
All of Scripture is important and worth studying because God gave it to us. However, when it comes to finding portions that are practical for Christian living, it should be acknowledged that some will be more practical than others. For instance, it’s probably more important for my Christian life to internalize the discussion of sin and justification in Romans 3 rather than internalize the genealogy in Ezra 8.
Unfortunately, our American bias is to believe that Christian living is the only lens with which to study the Scriptures. As a result we run into two major errors.
The first is that we act as if the Bible is just another self-help manual whose reason for existence is furthering the story of self. God becomes a supporting cast member in the story of our pursuit of happiness. If passages don’t “work for me”, then they’re not worth studying.
The second problem is that we construe all passages as “tips/principles for living” regardless of the literature type. We feel compelled to find spiritual analogies where none are meant, resulting in a very distorted idea of the Bible’s teaching.
Realizing this bias toward pragmatism will help us to counter it with God-centered and well-rounded thinking.
I would just add that questions of practicality are not the same as questions of importance. Thanks Jim, good thoughts here.
I hope this doesn’t come as a shock to anyone, but …
if we avoid, ignore, or omit certain Scriptures because they are hard or unpopular …
then the terrorists have already won!
Exactly what I was driving at, Brent. Good post.
[...] Brent at Colossians Three Sixteen posts an excellent article on Scripture entitled, All Scripture? Are You Sure? But What About the Hard Parts? [...]
Well, I would say that whether or not a person says some of the Bible is of more value than other parts, it is your life that tells the truth. So if you treat some parts with more attention and importance, go ahead and say so. In my mind, the Sermon on the Mount is of MUCH more importance than this story from Genesis. That is, to Christians in the 21st century. The Bible has the burden of being for all times, so we shouldn’t blame the old girl for her age.
In the case of Genesis and the behavior of the Patriarchs, I try to remember that God had not given them the law yet. God didn’t seem to expect much more of Abram and company than that they be willing to up and move, and that they throw their lot in with Hashem (Yawheh).
Once the Law is given, God will expect more. Once the prophets speak, God will expect even more. And now that Christ has come, God expects more and different things from us.
[...] just preached Genesis 34, and waxes philosophical on preaching ALL of scripture, even the hard parts. [Romans 9, Ephesians 1, or the book of John anyone? -ed] [...]
