Mindset

We're living through a societal problem, which directly impacts each one of us. There is a strong current to label anyone whom we don't agree with by some name. I follow some political news, and if someone talks about immigration reform and presents ideas that are opposite to what is acceptable, they are labelled a "racist". If someone questions Islam he's called and "Islamaphobe". If someone questions Israel's policies in the middle east, they are labelled an "anti-semite". If someone questions gay marriages, he's labelled a "homophobe". If someone talks about traditional roles in Marriage, he's called a bigot and a male chauvinist who supports the toxic patriarchy.

I believe we're living in the times described by 2 Timothy 4:

³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. ⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The society we live in has become less concerned with true virtue and more concerned with virtue signalling. We call out the "sins" of the other in order to make ourselves feel better.

Why is that related to our topic?

This societal environment indoctrinates us with a mindset which is out to demean the other who holds different ideas than our own, possibly because we are unable to face the fact that they could be right and we could be wrong. Which in turn means the onus is on me to make difficult changes in my life.

This mindset has infiltrated the church as well. We're unable to get along with each other because we hold different ideas. We easily label each other and call each other names, because we disagree with each other. We see it all the time.

The question remains, how does that relate to the Bible.

The usefulness we get from reading the bible is entirely based on how we approach it. If I approach it with a critical eye, and with intent to prove the Word wrong or that it doesn't apply to our current day life, that's the conclusion I'm going to come out with. But if I approach it as the inspired word of God, then I'll be edified.

There is a famous quote by C.S Lewis:

"A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and of course as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you"

The first and most important Mindset we need when we approach God is humility. Without that we can still be Biblical scholars, but the benefit to our inner-selves, the creation of the new man will be lost.

The Nature of the Bible

The second important thing to understand about the bible is what is it? Understanding its nature is key to really understanding God.

Lots of times you hear the bible is the "inspired word of God". But what does it mean, inspired? Does it mean God sat a person down and dictated to him what to write? No.

I believe that the Bible is the written record of God's Salvific interaction with his people.

Let me ask a question: How do you get to know someone you've never met personally?

The answer is to hear first hand account from people who dealt with him directly. From their narrative you can draw a conclusion about who he is.

It's the same with the Bible. It records first hand account of how God dealt with people across the centuries.

There are a few implication:

1. Although God is not bound in time, but when he interacts with humanity, by necessity his interactions become "entangled" in history, since we live within history.
2. God had to deal with the shortcomings of humanity. Humanity went on a downward spiral after the fall. In fact this still exists now in remote areas of the world, where there are tribes who believe in human sacrifice, cannibalism, etc. God had to deal with all this mess. This is not an easy task. God had to take humanity from this horrible broken down state and had to elevate them to a state where they can be reconciled with him. This task took from the beginning of recorded history and is still ongoing till now.
3. Let's take an example:

   1. ³ The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” ⁴ And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who ^[a]made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for ^[b]sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

   2. When Jesus says "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you.." Does he mean Moses came up with that from his own mind? No. Moses was dealing with God face to face. And he would bring these problems to God and they would converse about how to solve them. So God because of the hardness of their hearts had to make some concession. This illustrates how it took God a long time to elevate the people to a higher "plane" of thinking.

Conclusion

1. We have to approach the word of God in humility and the understanding that God is infinite and we can only know what he reveals of himself.
2. We have to look at the bible in the correct light. The Salvific, history bound, interaction of God with his people
3. Only then can we understand the nature of God and see his work in our lives. We can draw parallels with how he dealt with others into our own lives.