Are You for us or for our adversaries?” So He said, “No” … Josh. 5:13
Let God be true, and every human being a liar. Romans 3:4 NIV
Okay that verse doesn’t use the phrase word of God but work with me. If God is true and and without error, his words are true, therefore the Bible is reliable and if all humans have errors in their thinking, they have errors in their words. This belief I have in human fallibility and Divine infallibility is why I say, ”let’s go back to the Bible.” The Bible is the most spectacular and greatest book ever to exist. No book has been translated, copied, or read as much as the Bible. There are 66 books, 35 authors, and 5,000 years of history without contradictions. At least in principle every human problem can be answered in the Bible.
That is not to say that we are not to listen to people. Listening to intellectuals and human carriers of wisdom both inside and outside the faith has tremendous benefit. Those who spend their lives researching human behavior and analyzing the socio-political landscape give us vocabulary for the issues of the day and help frame conversations needed for going forward. Understanding my times helps me go back to the Bible with clearer intentionality. I find in these unique times, many of the Christian thinkers I normally listen to seem paralyzed to speak out on important cultural matters for fear of offending. Even Jesus said, “the children of darkness are wiser than the children of light.”
I have paid close attention to the public debate between the modernist and the postmodernist. Modernist are those who put their trust in science and research. Modernism has created the enormous economic machine that gives humans the opportunity to accrue enormous wealth. Postmodernist are guided by emotion, empathy, and a focus on the people growing economies leave behind. I happen to agree with the modernist when they point out that the postmodernist have gone too far in claiming things like “truth is just a social construct for one group to gain power over another” and that all of our interaction can be explained by the “oppressor/oppressed narrative.” But having said that, what makes God’s word irreplaceable is that throughout history both the modernist and the postmodernist have at times gone too far and as far as I know, only the Scripture carries in it the balance of truth. Remember the truism, “truth out of balance is heresy.”
Proverbs 13:4 says “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” That’s the message of the modernist and is in fact the “protestant work ethic” that built this great Western Civilization. Then there’s Proverbs 31:9 “Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. “ That’s the emphasis of the postmodernist who says correctly that over time modern economic structures tend to push certain marginalized groups further away from sources of wealth.
The Bible, when properly adhered to, brings rich and poor to the same table to share the dignity of life. If we would follow the Scripture you would neither neglect the poor or despise the rich. James 2:3 says, If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? James doesn’t say, no more rich people allowed, he just says if you’re a rich Christ follower you must invite the poor to fellowship at your table.
The current divide over our political worldviews is off the charts. In January of 2017, the New York Times reported that more than ever before, parents want their sons and daughters to marry within political party lines. The dating app Tinder conducted a study and found that 71 percent of its users said differing political beliefs were a deal breaker. The story of the captain of the host of the armies of the Lord, (who I think is Jesus) forever settles for me whose side God and his word are on. This story also underscores for me why God’s word is the shelter from the chaos.
Joshua 5:13-14 (NKJV) “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
The “Captain” of our salvation says, in other words, “I didn’t come here to take sides, I came here to take over.” God’s word is on the side of righteousness not a political party or even a political ideology. Joshua fell before the author of life and said, “ok, tell me what to do.” This is why I have decided that after I hear what both sides have to say, I’m going to go find out what the Bible says.
I never once heard my hero, Billy Graham, in any conversation or communication in which he didn’t say multiple times, “the Bible says.” It didn’t matter if he was preaching to a packed out Wembley Stadium or being interviewed by Woody Allen he made “the Bible says” his mantra. Recently I heard an evangelical leader say, “we need to quit saying, ‘the Bible says.’” I think he means to say, “‘the Bible says’ is not the best way to lay the foundation for a defense of our faith with a skeptic.” I can actually agree with that. However there’s no better way to calm your soul and refocus your mind amid the insanity of uncivilized debate than to find out, believe and build your life on what “the Bible says.”
