No Spare Tire: To Wrestle with Scripture is to be Blessed

 

To Wrestle with Scripture is to be Blessed

Recently, I had a dream that I've become somewhat obsessed with interpreting. In the dream, I was seated with others around a large conference table, and we were discussing some kind of pressing issue and having trouble finding a solution. We were also falling through the air during the meeting. In an attempt to try and find a solution, I pulled out a Bible from under the table. The person leading the discussion, one of my former professors, Dr. Chris Green, gave me a compassionate look but told me to put it away, saying, "people only use that as a spare tire." Those of us at the table never solved the shadowy problem, and I remember waking up feeling very puzzled.

What did the dream mean? Not every dream has a meaning. Sometimes dreams are just leftover bits of information your mind is still processing, and you're treated to a viewing of that process while asleep. On the other hand, I, like Peter, believe that the Spirit of God communicates to His people through dreams Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28), both metaphorically and physically. I think there could be several meanings in this instance, and I'd like to explore one possible application right now.

We only need spare tires when there's an emergency. We're driving along, and suddenly a tire blows, and we have to pull over and replace it. Or maybe we're getting ready to go somewhere, and we walk out to the car only to find we've got a flat. It's fair to say when we don't need it, we don't think about the spare. Too many times, that is the case with Christians. We get in the habit of not reading, but something happens that rocks us, and then we go straight for our Bibles.

One reason why this happens is that the Bible can be complicated to read. I don't mean with just the way things are phrased, but also with the differences between the Old Testament and New. By that, I mean how God is perceived. In the New Testament, Jesus, claiming to be the Son of God, tells his disciples and everyone who he attracts that we are to love our enemies. Similarly, Jesus dines with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus heals the sick and demonstrates what it means to live in the kingdom of God. In a final loving act, Jesus lays down his life and bears humanity's sin on the cross so that all who believe in him can be reconciled to God and be called his children.

However, in the Old Testament, people have claimed to have found a very different God throughout history. Some see the Old Testament God as wrathful, angry, and destructive, a far cry from the God Jesus claims to represent. In fact, there are several passages in the Old Testament where God seems to be commanding the slaughter of an entire people group. Such passages in the Bible are sometimes referred to as the "texts of terror." There are other passages where it seems like God is overlooking the behavior of those he has elected to lead, not to mention the horrible violence committed between Israel and its neighbors.

Such horror at some of the Old Testament texts isn't anything new. A 2nd-century Gnostic theologian named Marcion was repulsed by the violent texts, claiming Jesus was "derived from that father who is above the God that made the world...and abolished the prophets, the Law, and all the works of that God who made the world." You read that right; Marcion believed that an inferior or lesser God (the demiurge) created the world and that Jesus represented an entirely different God. Marcion's answer was to altogether reject the Old Testament. But since the New Testament is so entrenched as being the fulfillment of the Old Testament, Marcion also had to slice and dice the Gospels and leave large segments of them out if they didn't meet his interpretation. Sometimes he even plays the Gospels' authors against each other and against Paul.

Irenaeus, the 2nd-century theologian and Marcion's contemporary, easily refuted Marcion's criticisms of the OT and his poor interpretive skills. Yet, Marcion's views have persisted and are especially common today. We shouldn't dismiss these concerns, especially if the concerns are genuine. At first glance, it does seem like the concerns are valid. The truth is that many scholars and theologians have proposed several theories to handle such matters. Still, it takes careful and close reading by Christians to address our concerns about these troubling passages. Even seasoned scholars admit wrestling with what is communicated in the Bible from time to time.

That is precisely my point. Our reading of the Bible should cause us to wrestle with what it says! In Genesis 32, the Hebrew patriarch Jacob found himself wrestling against a divine opponent, often interpreted as God, because the opponent gave Jacob a new name; that's an attribute that is descriptive of God across all of Scripture. The passage says the two wrestled all night, and at one point, Jacob's opponent even put Jacob's hip out of joint. Jacob would not let go until his opponent blessed him, which his opponent did by giving him Jacob his new name, Israel.

There is, of course, a specific context for that passage that's important not to miss, but we can also apply it to how the Bible is read. Even if we're veteran readers, we must be honest that the Bible can be difficult to read and difficult to come to terms with. Parts of your reading may even break you, just like with Jacob's hip being put out of joint. However, it is my conviction that if you submit to living a life of wrestling with Scripture, God will bless you with wisdom and understanding as he continues to do with me and countless others. But that can only happen if the Bible isn't treated as a spare tire.

In a future post, I'll explore more in-depth why the Old Testament can be so difficult to read, but I hope you enjoyed this introductory post.