The purpose of Trust the Bible is "to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." That means I want to encourage you to live biblically. Naturally, I'm interested in the new television show called Living Biblically (CBS, Mondays at 9:30) and the book the show is based on.
The premise of the show is that the main character, Chip, suddenly decides to live by the Bible. He wants to follow every command literally. At one point, Chip throws a rock at a co-worker he knows is committing adultery. He believes that if he is living biblically, he must "stone" adulterers. The assumption of the show is that living biblically is absurd. No one can follow everything commanded in the Bible, right? This is 21st Century America! While giving an overall positive view of Chip's intentions and plan, the underlying message is that no one can actually live biblically. If someone were to try it would merely provide great entertainment for everyone else. Even the priest in the show laughs hysterically when he hears what Chip is doing.
As for the quality of the show itself, it is okay. I think the book is genuinely funny. I'm not as impressed with the sitcom adaptation. However, I do think both the book and the show raise some serious issues in a humorous way. What does it really mean to "live biblically?" Is it impossible to live biblically today? Don't we all just pick and choose which commands to follow in the Bible?
First, I do believe we should live biblically. This is what it means to be a Christian! This was the core of Jesus' teaching. A Christian's mission is to make disciples, "teaching them to obey everything" Jesus had commanded. Jesus upheld the authority of the entire Bible. "Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matthew 5:18) Being a follower of Jesus means seeking to live biblically, and I do mean everything that the Bible commands us to do.
Now, does that mean we should throw rocks at adulterers, carefully avoid wearing anything that isn't made 100% out of one type of material (Chip wears 100% cotton on the show because of Leviticus 19:19) and avoid eating pork? Absolutely not. Why not? Because the Bible doesn't tell us to do these things. In fact, this is the opposite of living biblically. The book and the show have a very distorted way of reading that leads to the wrong assumptions of what it means to live biblically.
Whenever you read anything, you must put phrases and sentences in their context to interpret them correctly. Should we stone adulterers? No. The key passage is Deuteronomy 22:22, which actually doesn't mention stoning, but does say an adulterers should be put to death. Throwing a rock at someone does not count as following the command literally because it doesn't even follow the act described in the verse (putting to death). But in another sense, it is not following the command at all. That is because the context shows that this verse was given to Israelites living in the nation of Israel who were living under the covenant with Moses and acting as a governing community. An individual was never commanded to stone an adulterer. A Gentile was never commanded to stone an adulterer. A Jew living in a foreign country was never commanded to stone an adulterer. Today, even if you are a Jew, even if you are in Israel, even if you are acting as part of a governing community, the government of Israel just isn't set up to reestablish Mosaic law as the law for the nation.
Instead, a Christian is commanded to "submit himself to the governing authorities." (Romans 13:1) If I throw a rock at an adulterer to injure them I am directly violating a biblical command while trying to follow a command that never addressed me in the first place. That is living unbiblically.
Does this mean that some verses in the Bible are no longer valid? No. It's just that they never applied to everyone. When God told Abraham to leave his country and his household and go to Israel (Genesis 12:1), we all recognize that God is not telling everyone to do that. He was telling Abraham to do that. I am not required to move to Israel right away in order to "live biblically." The command to Christians is to go to all nations to make disciples (Matthew 28:19), not just Israel. I believe all of the Old Testament is still valid today. It's just that we have to pay attention to who God is talking to when he gives a command.
The Old Testament tells us when a command is to an individual like Abraham, when it is to a nation like Israel, and when it is to all nations. For instance, when God established the death penalty for murder in Genesis 9:6, he said that it was part of a covenant "with you [Noah and his sons] and with your descendants after you." Unlike adultery, the death penalty for murder is a command for all nations.
When God gives specific commands about what to do and not to do on the Sabbath, he says that it is for Israel: "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come." (Exodus 31:13). I believe that means that Jews should follow the Sabbath commands today.
The command related to this topic that has been discussed most frequently in recent years deals with homosexuality. Since we ignore other Old Testament commands, shouldn't we ignore the Bible on that one? No again. It is not a matter of ignoring commands, but recognizing that not all of them address everyone. No Christian should ever ignore a single command. The Bible specifically identifies homosexuality as something that is banned for all people, not just Jews and not just during the Old Testament, but always. Read the whole context in a passage like Leviticus 18:22-25.
In order to truly live biblically, we must actually pay attention to what the Bible says. That begins with looking at the big picture. The greatest command is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5) We begin to do this when we receive the gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life by placing our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then we can continue to grow as we meditate on God's word and seek to carefully obey everything written in it. (Joshua 1:8) The greatest error in the television show is the suggestion that we can live biblically by striving to follow the least of the commands (which the Bible doesn't even command) while ignoring the most important thing about beginning to pursue God through a relationship with Jesus.
Now, does that mean we should throw rocks at adulterers, carefully avoid wearing anything that isn't made 100% out of one type of material (Chip wears 100% cotton on the show because of Leviticus 19:19) and avoid eating pork? Absolutely not. Why not? Because the Bible doesn't tell us to do these things. In fact, this is the opposite of living biblically. The book and the show have a very distorted way of reading that leads to the wrong assumptions of what it means to live biblically.
Whenever you read anything, you must put phrases and sentences in their context to interpret them correctly. Should we stone adulterers? No. The key passage is Deuteronomy 22:22, which actually doesn't mention stoning, but does say an adulterers should be put to death. Throwing a rock at someone does not count as following the command literally because it doesn't even follow the act described in the verse (putting to death). But in another sense, it is not following the command at all. That is because the context shows that this verse was given to Israelites living in the nation of Israel who were living under the covenant with Moses and acting as a governing community. An individual was never commanded to stone an adulterer. A Gentile was never commanded to stone an adulterer. A Jew living in a foreign country was never commanded to stone an adulterer. Today, even if you are a Jew, even if you are in Israel, even if you are acting as part of a governing community, the government of Israel just isn't set up to reestablish Mosaic law as the law for the nation.
Instead, a Christian is commanded to "submit himself to the governing authorities." (Romans 13:1) If I throw a rock at an adulterer to injure them I am directly violating a biblical command while trying to follow a command that never addressed me in the first place. That is living unbiblically.
Does this mean that some verses in the Bible are no longer valid? No. It's just that they never applied to everyone. When God told Abraham to leave his country and his household and go to Israel (Genesis 12:1), we all recognize that God is not telling everyone to do that. He was telling Abraham to do that. I am not required to move to Israel right away in order to "live biblically." The command to Christians is to go to all nations to make disciples (Matthew 28:19), not just Israel. I believe all of the Old Testament is still valid today. It's just that we have to pay attention to who God is talking to when he gives a command.
The Old Testament tells us when a command is to an individual like Abraham, when it is to a nation like Israel, and when it is to all nations. For instance, when God established the death penalty for murder in Genesis 9:6, he said that it was part of a covenant "with you [Noah and his sons] and with your descendants after you." Unlike adultery, the death penalty for murder is a command for all nations.
When God gives specific commands about what to do and not to do on the Sabbath, he says that it is for Israel: "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come." (Exodus 31:13). I believe that means that Jews should follow the Sabbath commands today.
The command related to this topic that has been discussed most frequently in recent years deals with homosexuality. Since we ignore other Old Testament commands, shouldn't we ignore the Bible on that one? No again. It is not a matter of ignoring commands, but recognizing that not all of them address everyone. No Christian should ever ignore a single command. The Bible specifically identifies homosexuality as something that is banned for all people, not just Jews and not just during the Old Testament, but always. Read the whole context in a passage like Leviticus 18:22-25.
In order to truly live biblically, we must actually pay attention to what the Bible says. That begins with looking at the big picture. The greatest command is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5) We begin to do this when we receive the gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life by placing our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then we can continue to grow as we meditate on God's word and seek to carefully obey everything written in it. (Joshua 1:8) The greatest error in the television show is the suggestion that we can live biblically by striving to follow the least of the commands (which the Bible doesn't even command) while ignoring the most important thing about beginning to pursue God through a relationship with Jesus.
Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html
