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When Humility is not Easy (Prov. 3:27-35)

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It’s easy to forget humility and act like violent men when facing certain types of people.

1. Those who have hurt me deeply

Charlie Barker (2011), Creative Commons

Charlie Barker (2011), Creative Commons

James has this first group in mind when he quotes Proverbs 3:34 to instruct the community to stop quarreling (Jas. 4:1-12).  James argues that we each tend to love ourselves more than anyone else, so we fight for our rights.  In the course of such conflict, we get hurt and want to retaliate.  Instead, we must remember that our desires cannot give us what they promise.  So we must turn to the Lord, because he always gives more grace than the world does.  As we fear the Lord instead of focusing on ourselves, we become more humble people.  Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4:6).

2. Those who don’t deserve my trust

Peter has this second group in mind when he quotes Proverbs 3:34 to instruct the church to submit to the elders (1 Pet. 5:1-11).  Elders are shepherds of the flock of God, but they must never be mistaken for the Chief Shepherd.  When we put our leaders in the place of Jesus, they fail to deliver because they are neither divine nor sinless.  When they fail, we tend to become disillusioned, anxious for the future of the church, and proud in our own opinions.  Instead, we ought to fear the Lord more than we fear failure.  This makes us both humble and effective, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5).

3. All the rest

Paul has all of us in mind when he draws us back to Christ’s humility to empower our own (Phil. 2:1-18).  Does Christ encourage you?  Does his love comfort you?  Do you participate in his Spirit?  Has God shown any affection or sympathy toward you?  Jesus gave up what he deserved (his rights as God) and took on what he did not deserve (the role of a servant, the limitations of a human body, and the utter disgrace of death by crucifixion).  He did it to rescue you from what you deserve (God’s judgment) and to give you what you do not deserve (God’s pleasure).  Paul was so affected by Jesus’ humility that he was prepared to die himself if it meant his people would hold these truths more dearly.

Loving others wisely and humbly is not optional for followers of Christ.  It’s the meat and potatoes of living by faith in community with other sinners.  Wisdom must penetrate this crucial area of our lives.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning, and when you fear the Lord you can’t help but become like him.  That means dying for others, even if they’ve hurt you or if they don’t deserve it.  When Jesus’ humility grips you, it changes everything about you.  Don’t turn inward and deny yourself the opportunity to fear the Lord and know Jesus in his humility.  As Raymond Ortlund writes:

If you would like to experience God with that humility, here is how you can.  You look at the cross.  You see a wise man hanging there, dying in the place of fools like you, because he loves you.  You may despise him, but he does not despise you.  You may be above him, but he humbled himself for you.  Look there at him.  Look away from yourself.  Look at him, and keep looking until your pride melts.  You will not only worship, you will begin to grow wise.[1]

[1] Proverbs: Wisdom that Works, Kindle location 537-540.

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Theology is Never an Academic Exercise

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Knowable Word LogoMike Riccardi recently posted a great article at The Cripplegate on the book of Philippians. He shows how studying theology and growing in virtue are inseparable.

Although Riccardi’s point is well-made, I commend his article to you more for his excellent model of Bible study. He identifies the main point of Philippians, and he traces out Paul’s flow of thought effortlessly.

The Book of Philippians is about the Gospel. It’s not quite an exposition of the doctrinal content of the Gospel, like Romans is. And it’s not quite a defense of the Gospel in the face of heresy, like Galatians is. Philippians is more about the implications the Gospel has on the various aspects of our lives as believers. It’s about how we are to live in light of the Gospel. The thesis verse of the letter is Philippians 1:27, in which Paul commands his dear friends to “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.”

Check it out!

The Importance of Context, Part 2

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Yesterday, we saw how easy it is to take verses out of context, sort of like how Pinky takes Brain’s “Are you pondering” questions out of context.  Today, I’d like to show you how context makes interpretation come alive.

Consider this set of glorious truths:

  • Rejoice in the Lord always.
  • Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
  • The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
  • Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

All of these verses come from Philippians 4.  Look at the context: “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.  Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women” (Phil 4:2-3).

The Philippian church was doing well overall, but a controversy between two prominent women was threatening to rip it apart.  The conflict was so severe that other people had to get involved (sort of like in Matt 18:20!) to help resolve it.  Paul gave those helpers specific instructions to help with conflict resolution:

  1. Rejoice in the Lord (not in other people liking you) – verse 4.
  2. Keep your cool – verse 5a.
  3. Remember that God sees everything and that Jesus is coming back – verse 5b.
  4. Don’t get stressed out by the awkward tension.  Ask God to bring peace – verse 6.
  5. God will bring peace, even when, from a worldly perspective, there should be no peace – verse 7.
  6. Make sure to find something, anything, good about the other person.  Think about those good things, and not about all the things they did that hurt you – verse 8.
  7. Follow Paul’s example in these matters – verse 9.

Context matters.  Read books of the Bible as books, and not as collections of spiritual truisms.  As you do so, and think over what I say, the Lord will give you understanding in everything (2 Tim 2:7), since you know everything (1 John 2:20) and have no need for anyone to teach you (1 John 2:27).

Now, were those last few verses used in context?

The Greatest Enemy of Interpretation is Observation

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Interpretation happens when we figure out why a passage says what it says. We fail to interpret well when we fail to figure out why the passage says what it says.

The chief obstacle to excellent interpretation is observation.

Of course I don’t think observation is a bad thing. I’ve already written about how we should value careful observation. (See here for a few common examples of less-than-careful observation.) Careless observation leads directly to incorrect interpretation.

However, when you study the Bible, you can’t stay in observation. It’s easy to feel like you’ve really studied the Bible, when it’s possible that all you’ve done is observe.

For example, people often go to Romans 1:18-32 to show that humanity is sinful. Excellent observation! But why does Paul go to such great lengths to show how sinful humanity is? Perhaps it’s because he wants to tighten the noose slowly and imperceptibly around the reader. “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges” (Rom 2:1, ESV).

We find another example in Philippians 4:4-9. This passage is full of beautiful sayings commonly quoted by Christians. We love to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4). We find great comfort in letting our requests be made known to God, with supplication and thanksgiving (Phil 4:6).

These are good observations. But why are these verses here? The Philippian church was experiencing a serious rift between two prominent women (Phil 4:2-3). So Paul sent instructions for resolving the conflict to one of his companions in the church. Read Phil 4:4-9 in that light, and the passage comes alive.

Old Testament narratives make up one last set of examples. As we observe these stories, we might notice all kinds of characters to either imitate or avoid, but we might fail to move into interpretation. Now viewing these characters as examples is not wrong (see 1 Cor 10:11), but it’s all too easy to stop with such observation. Why are the stories there? To show us Jesus, of course (John 1:45, Luke 24:44-47). The trick each time is to figure out how.

Remember not to let familiarity get in the way of your observation. And don’t let observation get in the way of your interpretation.

What to Observe: Grammar

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The philosopher Wittgenstein wrote, “Like everything metaphysical the harmony between thought and reality is to be found in the grammar of the language.”  My high school English teacher would say he was on to something.

Without grammar, it would be difficult to communicate.  For example, we wouldn’t have verbs.  Just subjects.  All the time.  No action.  Maybe objects.  Short sentences, though.  Loads of confusion.  Mass hysteria.  Need for clarity.  Little talking.  Aw, shoot; I couldn’t do it.

So once you’ve observed the words of a Bible text, you can move on to observing how the author put those words together into sentences.  This means observing the grammar.

“Grammar” can be a scary word, invoking memories of pimples, bullies, and parental pressure as we look back (sometimes unfondly) on what used to be known as “The Wonder Years.”  I’m here to tell you, however, that grammar can be fun.  Grammar can be exciting.  Grammar can, in fact, be the gateway into fruitful observation of the Bible.

Let’s take Luke 2:1-21, NET as our text again.  Let’s observe just the subject and main verb of each sentence (in other words, let’s do some simple grammar).  Look at what you get:

  • A decree went out
  • This was the first
  • Everyone went
  • Joseph also went
  • He went
  • The time came
  • She gave birth…and wrapped…and laid
  • There were shepherds
  • An angel appeared…and the glory shone…and they were
  • The angel said
    • Don’t be afraid
    • Listen
    • Your Savior is born
    • He is Christ
    • This will be a sign: you will find
  • An army appeared
  • The shepherds said
    • Let us go and see
  • They hurried off and located…and found
  • They related
  • All were astonished
  • Mary treasured up
  • The shepherds returned
  • Everything was just
  • He was named

What is the point of this exercise?  Simply that, by stripping away the detail and observing the basic sentence structure (subject and verb), we end up with a pretty good outline of the story in Luke 2.  Before we can move to interpretation (figuring out what the text means), we must observe what it says.  One way to identify what the author says is to observe the grammar.  This skill is important as we learn how to study the Bible.

Observing the grammar isn’t just for narrative, like that in Luke.  It helps in other genres as well.

For example, look at Philippians 2:5-11.  Boiling it down to the basic grammar gives us:

  • You should have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had
    • Who did not regard equality with God as somethingto be grasped
      • but emptied himself…
      • [and] humbled himself…
    • As a result, God exalted him

What does Paul want us to do here?  Be like Jesus.  When we give up what we deserve (empty ourselves) and take on what we don’t deserve (humble ourselves), there’s no telling what God might do in our community.