What 'is' vs. what 'should be'

[aspen]

Lately, I am reading the Bible through the lens of 'what is' rather than 'what should be' and has been very enlightening.

The OT is record of humanity's interactions with God. Most of the interactions tell us what happens when people stop trusting God and take matters into their own hands. The story about the Israelites worshiping the golden calf is a good example of this; David and Bathsheba is another; and Sodom and Gomorrah is another - the larger lesson is God is powerful so you better not disobey Him, or try to apply a human solution to problems because you will end up creating greater atrocities (worshiping Baal / offering up your daughters).

Paul's writings are filled with stories of what is, which we interpret as what should be. Boasting, covering your head, women speaking out in Church - are we supposed to be imitating these practices - no. Paul is talking to specific churches about specific problems - what is.

As soon as we figure out which verses are communicating what is instead of what should be in the Bible, we will stop having dumb arguments over wearing long hair, or works vs, faith, or whether or not Jesus ascended under His own power to Heaven, or who should be kicked out of the church. None of these events or arguments should be getting in the way of loving each other. We are constantly missing the forest for the trees because we try to imitate what is instead of just interpreting as simply what happened.

Here is one more example of misinterpreting what is - my sister told me that it was really ironic that she drove her kids to school. I told her that there actually was nothing ironic about it - it just happened. There is no other interpretation to be applied.

Are there any examples that you can think of in the Bible that are simply descriptions of what happened, which we misinterpret as behavior we should be imitating?

 

[Brackenzee]

I think on some level reading things as 'what should be' when they weren't intended that way is something that a lot of people have trouble with, particularly when some on the far right want to ban books for depicting darkness and sin, even if the book was written as a polemic against the acts it depicts.

 

[Mal316]

Good post, Aspen.

Phinheas killed two people with a spear and God established His covenant with Phinheas. This does not mean we should take a spear and kill people we think are violating God's commands.

Paul was zealous for the traditions of his fathers (ancestors in the Jewish law and tradition) and persecuted the early church. While we ought to be zealous for our faith, I think persecution is out of bounds.

A sabbath violator was stoned for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. I earnestly plead with you, brothers and sisters, do not call for stoning Sabbath violators. We are not without sin. We are not to decide on our own who gets to be stoned for what. We are not judge, jury and executioner. There can be no punishment without sentence. There can be no sentence without conviction. There can be no conviction without truthful testimony of at least two witnesses who saw the act and warned the perpetrator not to commit said act.

 

[aspen]

Good post, Aspen.

Phinheas killed two people with a spear and God established His covenant with Phinheas. This does not mean we should take a spear and kill people we think are violating God's commands.

Paul was zealous for the traditions of his fathers (ancestors in the Jewish law and tradition) and persecuted the early church. While we ought to be zealous for our faith, I think persecution is out of bounds.

A sabbath violator was stoned for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. I earnestly plead with you, brothers and sisters, do not call for stoning Sabbath violators. We are not without sin. We are not to decide on our own who gets to be stoned for what. We are not judge, jury and executioner. There can be no punishment without sentence. There can be no sentence without conviction. There can be no conviction without truthful testimony of at least two witnesses who saw the act and warned the perpetrator not to commit said act.

Great examples