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Hypocritical Christians: Cherry-picking the Bible

8/19/2013

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PictureTop Hit Google Search: Cherry Picking the Bible.
"You keep quoting the Bible saying that sex before marriage, homosexuality, or whatever is sinful but Leviticus says not to eat shellfish or wear clothes made out of more than one fabric!  How come you don't obey those commands?  You can't pick and choose, that's hypocritical."

Have you ever heard anything like that?  How do you respond?  An old friend recently asked me why Christians use some laws in Leviticus to condemn homosexuality, but then we apparently disregard any of the laws in Leviticus or Deuteronomy that we don't like.  So what's the deal?  

First, let's start by agreeing.  I totally agree that it’s not right to pick and choose parts of the Bible.  Here are the parts I like and will follow and the rest can go in the garbage.  That's no good!  However, that's not what Christians are doing when it comes to Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

We Christians do believe the Bible is true and is God’s Word.  But that doesn't mean we believe that every sentence in the Bible is supposed to be taken in the same way.  Some portions are poetry, others are narrative, others are epistles, others are commands, moral laws, civil laws, prophetic, and so on.  We run into problems when we open the Bible to a random verse or passage and read it without understanding what context it is in.  We can end up taking the Bible in a way it wasn't meant to be taken.

For example, if you’re reading in Genesis 38, you’ll see that Judah sleeps with his daughter-in-law whom he thinks is a prostitute.  Randomly flip your Bible to that spot, and you could be in trouble.  If you take everything in the Bible as a command, you just might think God is commanding you to be like Judah and practice incest, prostitution, or both.  This portion of the Bible is narrative.  It is telling us what happened, not that we should go and do the same thing!  Or check out Isaiah 55:12 where it says that the trees will clap their hands.  This is a prophetic portion and uses poetic language like we would in songs.  It doesn't mean trees have hands or will clap.  It is driving at a deeper point, that all creation glorifies God.  Those are extreme examples, but they show the danger of pointing at a passage or verse without understanding what context it is in and what God intends us to do with it.  

So…what about the Levitical and Deuteronomical laws?  What context are they in?  These laws were given by God through Moses to the Israelites after that whole Red Sea thing.  The Israelites had never been their own nation before and now they have emerged from slavery to Egypt as free people inheriting the Promised land.  This is over a million people with no government or laws of their own.  So God gives them civil laws by which to run a nation that’s purpose is to honor Him and be an example to the Gentiles.  They were also given to point to Jesus, the perfect man who would uphold them all.  The majority of the Levitical laws were given in that context.  They are laws for the nation of Israel to follow.  They were never imposed by God on Gentiles (those who aren’t Israelites).  Even in the New Testament, when lots of Gentiles were becoming Christians, the older Jewish Christians eventually decided not to hold these new converts to the Jewish laws.  Jesus fulfilled these laws and as a result, the Bible itself tells us we don’t have to live under them anymore in Colossians 2:16-17.  

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.  -- Colossians 2:16-17

If that’s the case, then what good are the Old Testament laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy today?  Well, we don’t have to follow them to the letter, but they do teach us about the heart of God and give us principles for how we should treat one another.  For example, one biblical law tells us not to move large stones on our neighbor’s property (Deut 19:14).  What?  Big stones in those days were ways of marking where your property starts and ends kind of like we use fences today.  What we learn is that God cares about whether or not we are ripping our neighbors' off and we should respect their property. 

What about the Levitical laws of not mixing clothing fabrics (Lev 19:19)?  God was teaching the people to be different from the rest of the world and this reflects His own holiness (set-apartness or differentness) and His desire for His people to be holy.  We aren't under the law anymore so we don’t need to avoid mixed fabrics but we should seek to dress in a way that sets us apart from the world and is holy and pleasing to God.

What about the Levitical laws of homosexuality?  Well, as I’ve been saying, we aren’t under the law.  So we don’t go around stoning homosexuals to death.  But what does this law teach us about God and how He wants us to act?  It teaches us that homosexuality is a sin and not part of God’s plan for human sexuality and marriage.

Is that a crazy interpretation?  If all we had were the Levitical laws, then some might be able to argue that we aren't under the law and this law doesn't actually mean homosexuality is a sin.  But we have lots more than these Levitical references.  We have God’s clear design in Genesis of Adam and Eve.  We have God’s condemnation of Sodom and Gomorrah for their sexual perversions.  We have not one, not two, but three explicit and clear condemnations of homosexuality as sin in the New Testament in Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and 1 Timothy 1:10. 

I’m not trying to harp on homosexuality or say it’s the worst or only sin.  I’m just trying to explain how Leviticus is to be understood and why Christians still consider homosexuality a sin.  

So there you have it.  We don’t blindly point to any verse in the Bible and do what it says.  We read the Bible in its context.  If it is a command, then yes we obey!  If it’s narrative, then we try to understand what God wants us to learn from the story.  If it is national laws for Israel in Leviticus, then we understand we aren't under those laws but they can still teach us about God and how He wants us to behave.  I hope you've found this helpful.  Let me know if you have any questions!
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Training: Penal Substitutionary Atonement Part 3

1/31/2013

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This is the fourth video in this training series.  You can find the previous videos in the links below.

  • Intro
  • Part 1: Defining Penal
  • Part 2: Defining Substitutionary

To recap, penal substitutionary atonement is a fancy theological term that answers the question, "What did Jesus do by dying on the cross?"  The word penal tells us that His death on the cross was the just penalty for the crime of sin.  The word substitutionary tells us that His death was actually paying the penalty for our crimes and sins. Jesus traded places with us sinners.  Today's video will focus on the word atonement.

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What Jesus Endured and Accomplished on the Cross

4/6/2012

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Today is Good Friday.  Its the day that we remember the death of our Savior as a sacrifice in our place.  But do we get it?  The only place I've ever seen any really violent deaths is through the television.  When I hear that Jesus was crucified, I don't have any experience to draw on to fully understand what he went through.  My guess is that most of you are in the same boat as well.  A crucifixion is so far from reality to us that its hard to comprehend.  So let's look briefly at what our Savior endured for us.  This will be detailed and may make some readers feel uncomfortable.  It should.  The goal here is not gore, but the truth of what our Savior went through for us.

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Giving 100% for God

3/15/2012

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*I've decided to move Theology Thursday to Theology Tuesday (or maybe Tough Tuesday...).  Thursdays have become a more and more busy day for me lately with meetings and weekend preparations.  Tuesdays are less packed and it will be easier to tackle the tough questions then.  So, Proving God Exists Part 6 will be up on Tuesday.*

I was reading a bit in Colossians today when an old verse struck me in a new way.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men... -- Colossians 3:23

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Represent Jesus in ALL You Do

1/27/2012

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I was at a Denny's last Friday with a friend and we got to talking about the tip.  That's when I shared something I had heard before.  If you go out to eat at a restaurant and you aren't going to tip well, then don't you dare pray before you eat your food!  One of my favorite pastors, Mark Driscoll, said that.  Do you know why?  He says that Jesus is generous and loving and the church should be too.  And when the waiter sees you bow your head to pray before you eat, he will connect the dots and realize you are a Christian.  Then when he gets no tip or a lousy single dollar tip from you, he will connect the dots (consciously or subconsciously) that Christians are selfish jerks.

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Feature Friday: AGT-Something Wicked This Way Comes

12/16/2011

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Howard Stern is joining America's Got Talent as a judge.

I enjoy watching the occasional episode of AGT on my day off on Hulu.  Last season was incredible with the Silhouettes and Team Illuminate.  I was rooting for those two acts.  Not only is it fun to watch for the serious competition, but the show is fun to watch because of all of the failed auditions and wacky participants.  After all, anyone and everyone is allowed to audition!  That brings in a lot of entertainment.

Unfortunately, it also brings in a lot of things you may not want to see.  Last season featured an act from a male pole dancer who danced in high heels.  I found myself fast forwarding through his acts quite quickly.  The only judge who seemed to agree with me that this was distasteful and the opposite of entertaining was Piers Morgan.  That man has class and on many occasions he fought to remove acts that were distasteful and classless.  In many ways, he held the gates and protected the show from being overrun with poor content.  Alas, Piers Morgan is leaving the show.  And he has a replacement: Howard Stern.

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Was Jesus Created?

8/5/2011

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Rather than a devotional today, I thought I'd answer a question for you that I was asked recently.  Hopefully this helps you be better equipped to defend your faith.

A friend of mine called me up with some questions the other day.  He was visited by some Jehovah's Witnesses who pointed out a passage and told him that Jesus wasn't God but that God had created Jesus.  Now, if you are a Christian or grew up in church, you know that Jesus is God.  But, would you know what to say if presented with this verse?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  Colossians 1:15


What would you say to someone who showed you that verse and said, "See the Bible says that Jesus was created.  He was the first born.  If He was created, then He isn't really God."?

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    Mark has been happily married for five years, has a year and a half old daughter, and serves as a youth and children pastor in Oak Park.

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