Well, perhaps we are to be pitied. Because we are far from the truth if we are to assume our understanding is the truth, that OUR gospel is, indeed, THE gospel. This is what Michael Slaughter say about this in his book, Change the World.
In our quest to rediscover and reclaim the biblical interpretation of Jesus, it is important to remember that Jesus’ hermeneutic was at odds with the schools of biblical orthodoxy during his earthly ministry. He was considered a blasphemer and violator of the law of Moses. Like many reformers through the centuries, he was branded and ultimately executed for the crime of heresy. Ironically, however, yesterday’s heresy often becomes today’s orthodoxy. As we follow the Lord of lords, we need to continually seek the wisdom and guidance of living in his Spirit. He said, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you” (John 16:12-14)
Jesus pointed out a critical deficiency in the biblical hermeneutic of religious leaders that continues to plague the church today, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding onto human traditions” (Mark 7:8). All of us bring to the interpretation of Scripture certain prejudices. We view life through the window of our life experiences, culture of origin, and family value systems. Each of us brings a blend of political ideology, personal prejudice, and folk religion (such as the maxim “God helps those who help themselves,” which is a quotation from Ben Franklin, not Scripture) and mixes it with some scriptural truth to form a personalized system of life doctrines. What we emphatically proclaim as God’s absolute law becomes our version of Israel’s golden calf. We cannot begin to grasp the eternal wisdom of the written word apart from and ongoing relationship with the Living Word! We must approach the scripture with the humility of children and not the arrogance of Pharisaical judges. (Mike Slaughter, Change the World, 23-24, emphasis mine).
Those who know me well know that I say, “When we all get to heaven, we’ll say, ‘Now I get it." That’s the perspective that we need to have, for we don’t have all of our “I’s” dotted and “T’s” crossed. We desperately need to be aware of our own limitations as we deal with others...particularly those with whom we disagree most. Our version of “gospel truth” has been shaped by so many of our own life experiences and our learnings through life. And, even our quests to find some “historical Jesus” puts Jesus in the box of our own cultural understandings. Our own quest for orthodoxy is shaped by our own heresies.
Still, it’s hard to be humble when we’re sure we have all of the answers.
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