But What About ...?

 

Whenever I write or speak about why I’m not the same Christian as I used to be, I get pushback from well-meaning people who primarily ask a lot of “but what about ____?” questions.

In this post I want to try and answer a couple of the big ones.

But what about the Bible? This is a large overarching question which includes various and more specific questions like “But what about sin?” and “But what about hell?” and “But what about being in the world but not of it?”

Let me begin by saying that I have deep respect for the Bible. For me, it is the inspired message of God. It is the foundational book for Christians. I read the Bible daily and I ask God to speak to me through the Bible, I love the Bible!

But for too many people, the Bible has become an idol.

Take a moment to consider that. The Bible can become an idol. Anything that takes the place of God in our lives is an idol. I don’t know of anyone who would say that the Bible is God, but I know many people who will grab a random passage out of context and use it to support a statement, an attitude or a behavior that does not resemble or reflect God in any way.

God is not the Bible.

But the Bible does tell us, unambiguously, what God is.

God is love.

That’s in the first letter of John Chapter 4 verse 8 if you’re curious.

If I use the Bible to promote anything that is unloving, I am misusing the Bible.

The Bible has become an idol.

This line of argument naturally leads me to my answers with regard to things like sin and hell. For most people, sin and hell are used either manipulatively to get people to do what we want them do (which in most cases amounts to little more than “be like me.”), or as ways to make us feel better about ourselves (“at least I’m not as bad as her.”)

We use sin and hell to compartmentalize other human beings, to judge them, and to make determinations about their eternal fate (as if we have ever been given the power to do that). In extreme cases, sin and hell is used to promote and justify hatred, racism, misogyny, homophobia and all manner of evil. All while quoting the Bible.

So, should we just forget about sin and hell?

I don’t think so. But I do think we need to reframe it using the lens of love. What would it look like to think about sin as “missing the mark” (the literal translation of the Greek word hamartia typically translated in English as “sin.”) Missing the mark has to do with falling short of God’s ideal for us as God’s creation. This is why Paul says that “all have sinned, and fall short of God’s glory.” (Romans 3.23) We are ALL sinners. Every one of us. And look, there is no hierarchy of sin. There isn’t a “not so bad” “sorta bad” “bad” and “super bad” sin list! It’s just all sin. We have all missed the mark, and we all miss the mark every day.

It’s just that some of us recognize it.

And it’s at this point that we all have to make a very important decision:

Will I believe that because I have been forgiven of my sins, I am somehow better than other people and it is now my responsibility to point out there sins to them and threaten them with eternal punishment in hell

Or

Will I embrace humility (which I am commanded throughout the Bible to do), recognize that I am not perfect, that I am on a journey of faith on which I stumble and fall often, but am granted forgiveness and challenged to do better, and on which I am commanded (throughout the Bible once again) to help other “sinners” join me on my journey by offering them the same love, grace and forgiveness I am offered on a daily basis.

I’m going with door number two.

But what about hell?

I will admit to you honestly that I do not give much of my time to issues of heaven and hell. Those places are a mystery to me. And, I would argue, are a mystery to the characters in the Bible. There are some vague references to the afterlife at the end of the book of Daniel, but for the most part, the Old Testament knows nothing of the afterlife. Jesus speaks some about Hades, and the place of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, but most scholars will tell you that these references are ambiguous and mysterious, as are the other references to heaven and hell throughout the New Testament.

What is clear throughout the Scripture, however, is the mandate to care for ourselves, our neighbors, and creation in this life. The Bible is much more interested in the Gritty Here and Now than it is in the Sweet By and By.

I think we should be more interested in advancing the kingdom here on earth through acts of compassion, justice and mercy than in worrying about who will inherit the kingdom in heaven. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 25 that in the end, we will have to give an account of how we served those less fortunate while we had the chance.

So, for me, I prefer to do all I can to help people avoid the “hell” of this life. Serving in ministries that help the addicted, the homeless, the incarcerated, the lonely, the grieving, and the poor does much more for a broken world than labeling them sinners and condemning them to hell.

Lastly, let me address the “But what about being in the world but not of it.”

First, and most importantly, it’s not in the Bible. Nowhere. Not there.

Secondly, I think that using the phrase is a subtle way of avoiding the call to get involved with those who are different than we are. It’s easy to live our lives in the Christian subculture and avoid “those people.”

I wonder though, is that what Jesus did?

He went to all the wrong places, and hung out with all the wrong people. He didn’t separate himself from the world at all.

Of course, we have to be careful. We want to influence the world around us, not vice versa. But that just means we have to have confidence that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (I John 4.4)

In the end, I return to the mantra of my last two posts:

Love wins.

But what about the Bible?

It’s awesome. It’s God’s inspired word for us. Read it. Study it. But don’t forget the central theme:

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. – John 3.16-17

“I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” – John 13.34-35

Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. – I John 4.7-8

Pretty clear to me.