Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

The Church and Bible Interpretation

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment



            I admit from the outset that not everyone is going to agree with me, or like what I say on the subject of interpreting Holy Scripture.  I might even get downright under your skin.  But this is an important discussion because no matter what church tradition we come from, there is going to be disagreement as to how to deal with certain Bible verses.  In fact, most parishioners within the same local church do not even agree on how to treat particular passages of Scripture.  Just so you know, I was trained in a seminary that largely looked through the lens or the starting point of biblical authority, as if we had the right view on it all.  Biblical authority, however, is not really the issue, in my opinion.  Before you pick up electronic stones, hear me out.  The issue, as I see it, is this:

 
No matter who we are, we pick and choose what Bible passages are authoritative and which are not.
 
Although we Christians say the Bible is our authority, we all have what I would deem as “boss verses.”  That is, verses which control other verses.  For example, I take Matthew 28:18-20 as boss verses that control other verses.  Because of this, I am not willing to concede that the mission of the church is primarily about something other than making disciples.
 
            Okay, you might be with me so far.  So, let’s pick a hot potato: gays in the church.  When it comes to homosexuality, it appears to me that there are those who would take seven verses out of the over thirty-one thousand verses in Scripture and make them boss verses.  Even if we camp on verses where the world “abomination” shows up, it only ends up talking of homosexuality once.  Things like worry, procrastination, and gossip are addressed much more in Scripture and are also much more prevalent no matter where one goes.  But we do not make boss verses out of these, so we pretty much let them slide.  I don’t see any Christian church or denomination anytime soon talking about biblical authority in the same breath as sins of the tongue; or, looking to bring discipline to gossipers; or, getting upset about chronic whisperings behind others’ backs.  Instead, we just live with it.  We wish it were different, but it does not make our blood boil.  If gossip began to take away our power or authority, then I am sure it would make it to the floor of denominational meetings and local church annual scream-festivals.
 
            Here’s the deal as I see it: all Christians hold to biblical authority.  To me, this is not the issue.  The real issue is which Bible passages call the shots for us.  Until we are able to confess this practice, it seems to me we will get nowhere.  So, in the meantime, I would rather be looked at as a friend of sinners, or a friend of gays, because that controls my thought and practice more than injunctions from the book of Leviticus.  I take loving my neighbor as a boss verse, so this determines how I speak more than whether I speak in tongues or not.  I will choose to go out of my way to emphasize that all people are made in the image of God because I take the Bible’s reference to God’s creation of humans as a boss verse.  This does not mean I ignore other verses; it just means I have identified which verses of Holy Scripture I believe control other verses.
 
            I am really not trying to stir the pot (well, maybe a little!).  I am simply making a plea for us to be honest about how we handle the Bible.  And if we have never read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation (and more than once) then it seems to me we are on thin ice to make pronouncements about what are to be the boss verses or what is the clear teaching of Scripture.
 
            If you need to go pet your dog after reading this, I understand.  Please just do me the respect to think about these things without immediately jumping to conclusions or condemnation.  After all, I believe that grace is the boss of everything in the Bible.

Romans 3:21-31

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            It would be an understatement to say that how we view the whole of Holy Scripture is important.  For Christians, the Bible is God’s Word to humanity.  Some believers approach the Bible as a law book and see the essence of Christianity as obedience to specific commands.  Yet, today’s epistle lesson affirms that we are justified by faith apart from works of the law.
 
            Therefore, I tend to see the Bible more as a beautiful story of grace in which God goes out of his way across the millennia to redeem his lost creatures from sin, death, and hell.  Our relationship to God will not stand up under the burden of a perpetually angry army sergeant-type God who is trying to drill truth and salvation into his stupid raw recruits.  Rather, we come to God as a loving heavenly Father who, along with the Son and the Spirit, went to the greatest lengths to make redemption possible.  God did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
 
            The only proper response to this grace is faith – not effort, not trying harder, not by self-flagellation or extreme guilty feelings.  None of us has anything to stand upon, except the grace of God in Christ.  The wrath of God against sin and evil has been satisfied through the death of Jesus.  We do not need to try and please God through working more and harder because we already possess his pleasure.
            Loving God, who sent Jesus as my substitute on the cross, give me the gift of faith so that I might always trust you for my salvation and for everything in my life every day.  Amen.

Matthew 4:1-11

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Let’s think about the season of Lent for a moment.  It is not a time for unhealthy introspection that seeks to rally all our willpower in order to have success over temptation and sin, thus proving how either strong or weak we are.  Lent is, however, an opportunity to give a forty day focus to the truth that overcoming temptation and achieving victory does not come from within, but only through Jesus.  In other words, no one can earn a right standing or even right feelings or right behavior – I must have the grace of Christ’s cross.
 
            Satan’s sly temptations were, at their core, attempts to try and get Jesus to circumvent the cross.  Satan wanted to see Jesus bring in God’s kingdom by another means, thereby destroying the kingdom all together.  An appeal to miracles for personal gain; popularity; accolades and recognition; proper branding of the Jesus phenomena; and, of course, avoiding the suffering of the cross completely were all ways of subtly trying to get Jesus to veer off the path toward the cross.
 
            We all desperately need to rely solely, completely, and totally on the grace of God in Christ through the cross.  Any attempts to seek holiness in our own ability to perform will only result in shame for not measuring up.  The greatest temptation of all is the belief that the cross is not enough; I must myself supplement the work of Christ with my own effort, ability, and willpower.  The true work of Lent is having all that useless striving broken down and done away with, so that the cleansing and healing of the cross will do the real work.  We are, then, set up for the pinnacle of Easter and new life.
            Gracious God, thank you for sending you Son, the Lord Jesus, to endure the cross.  I choose today to get off the performance treadmill and receive your grace as my only sure hope and salvation.  Amen.

1 Peter 3:8-18a

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Sometimes people say things that are uncaring, insensitive, and even downright stupid – things that do not reflect the gospel of grace.  Indeed, there is enough sinfulness to go around no matter where you go.
 
            The Apostle Peter gave some practical commands to occupy us in the midst of troubling speech and actions that people say and do.  Rather than responding in kind by verbally decapitating another person, either to their face or behind their back, we are to “have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”  Peter sums it up by saying, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called.”
 
            If we ever wonder or struggle with what God is calling us to, it is clear as a bell in this Scripture.  Grace is our business, and we are not to respond ungraciously to others’ lack of mercy.  If we put our focus on blessing others with these practices, no matter who they are, we will set ourselves apart as people who follow the way of Jesus.  And make no mistake about it:  the way of Jesus is the way of suffering grace.  It does not mean keeping silent; it means actively blessing through a tender heart and a humble mind.
 
            Humility is the cornerstone of all other biblical virtues.  Every Christian must be ready to accept the things that are not within his/her control, and then respond humbly with love.  If this sounds wishy-washy to you, then I would say you have never even tried it because it takes a courageous strength of faith to put into practice a spirit of meekness.  To this we are called.
            Gracious God, who sent Jesus to humbly suffer for my sins, engraft your humility in me so that I might respond with love in thought, word, and deed to every person and circumstance in my life.  Amen.