Krish Kandiah has been musing on Bin Laden’s death and how scripture has been used by Christians responding to it on Twitter.
If we are not careful Bible verses become bumper stickers – ways of publicly labeling our beliefs. Or worse we end up not trying to seek God’s will but rather draw on the Bible’s authority to back our own positions- we turn the word of God into a mascot for our politics.
I completely agree. As Krish goes on to say, a ‘high’ view of scripture means not taking a verse out of context to back up our preconceived idea but rather engaging with the narratives on their own terms. Scripture is not a collection of proofs to tweet but a series of different and sometimes seemingly competing narratives that interweave and must be wrestled with.
Here’s Krish’s ‘working list’ of guidelines on how to avoid misusing scripture:
- We must avoid offering proof texts rather than letting the grand narrative of the Bible direct us.
- Let the original context of a passage direct its meaning for today.
- Be aware of our own cultural, political and economic biases when we come to scripture.
- Don’t avoid difficult texts that challenge your own position.
- Exploring the Bible with a posture that opens up a discussion rather than closes it down is a mark that we are seeking to humbly submit to scripture rather than use scripture to bully others.