InterpreTorah

I find the relationship between the Torah (the first five books of the Christian and/or Hebrew Bible) and many modern Christians to be quite interesting. 

Sometimes the Torah is deemed to be so outdated and foreign that we ought to ignore it, e.g. “do not make garments out of wool and linen” (Deut 22:11).

Sometimes the Torah is affirmed whole-heartedly and constitutionally imposed upon all citizens of a state, e.g. “do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman” (Lev 18:22).

Sometimes Jesus is used to negate things in the Torah, e.g. Sabbath (Exo 20:8-11 vs. Jesus is our Sabbath rest) and the sacrificial system (Lev 1-7 vs. Jesus is the ultimate atoning sacrifice).

And finally, sometimes the Torah is dismissed because it is far too impractical, e.g. the Year of Jubilee and Land Sabbath (Ex 23:10-12, Leviticus 19:23-25, and Leviticus 25:1-7).

When the Torah is thoughtlessly dismissed, or shallowly used as a proof-text, it ceases to be Spirit-breathed scripture and converts into a mirror of one’s own ideologies.  In fact, I believe this is true of the entire Bible, or any other sacred text.

I believe that if we begin to approach Scripture as a tool to challenge our assumptions and beliefs, instead of using it as a self-gratifying affirmation of the things we already believe, we would be more likely to be transformed into more genuine and thoughtful followers of Jesus.  Approaching scripture in this way keeps us from the dangerous assumption that God is an ever-faithful endorser of our actions, prejudices, and beliefs. 

Does the idea of an economic system that forgives all debt every seven years trouble you?  Spend some time studying and reflecting on the possible benefits or downfalls of such a system.  Look deep and try to find out why it is so troubling to you.  Do your best to seek the mind of God, and figure out why anyone under spiritual inspiration would even fathom penning such an idea.

Perhaps, after much time wrestling with a text we will still conclude that our initial assumptions were better than the alternative interpretations.  But it is not the finding of conclusions that transforms us into more mature followers of God. 

It’s the wrestling.

The struggle allows us to be opinionated and humble… strong and flexible… as the psalmist writes, “like a tree planted by a river.”

The defining characteristic of a healthy tree with deeply watered roots is not its rigidity, but rather its flexibility.

May we all be kind of tree.