Claustrophobic. That’s how a fellow student of mine at Marquette University described to me his feelings about the state of biblical scholarship. Too narrow and too attentive to minute details; disconnected from the concerns and longings of the public.
Perhaps German theologian Karl Barth had this in mind when he insisted that Christians should preach with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. He wanted the church to demonstrate how God’s Word relates to the events and ideas of the day.
Last week in Sunday School, I had a chance to put this into practice. When I was preparing my lesson on Hosea, chapter 9, I read how God planned to judge Israel for its pride and idolatry:
“Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird–no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.” – Hosea 9:11
As a consequence of its sin, the nation would suffer the decline of its population.
This judgment reminded me of observations made by author and political commentator Mark Steyn. Here’s an excerpt of a piece he wrote on the death spiral of the Western world:
When it comes to forecasting the future, the birthrate is the nearest thing to hard numbers. If only a million babies are born in 2006, it’s hard to have two million adults enter the workforce in 2026 . . . And the hard data on babies around the Western world is that they’re running out a lot faster than the oil is. “Replacement” fertility rate–i.e., the number you need for merely a stable population, not getting any bigger, not getting any smaller–is 2.1 babies per woman. Some countries are well above that: the global fertility leader, Somalia, is 6.91, Niger 6.83, Afghanistan 6.78, Yemen 6.75. Notice what those nations have in common?
Scroll way down to the bottom of the Hot One Hundred top breeders and you’ll eventually find the United States, hovering just at replacement rate with 2.07 births per woman. Ireland is 1.87, New Zealand 1.79, Australia 1.76. But Canada’s fertility rate is down to 1.5, well below replacement rate; Germany and Austria are at 1.3, the brink of the death spiral; Russia and Italy are at 1.2; Spain 1.1, about half replacement rate. That’s to say, Spain’s population is halving every generation. By 2050, Italy’s population will have fallen by 22%.
Steyn shows the fulfillment of Hosea 9:11 in our time. I didn’t need his comments to believe in the authority and truthfulness of the Bible; I trusted Scripture before I’d ever heard of him. But the numbers Steyn cites correspond to the fate foretold by Hosea and make it difficult to brush off the prophet’s warning.
So I taught my Sunday School class with the Scripture in one hand and Steyn in the other.
You’ll find this method in the Bible itself. The apostles quoted familiar cultural and religious ideas when it suited their purposes.
“‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” – Acts 17:28
On his visit to Athens, the apostle Paul noticed the city crammed with idols, temples, and monuments. Rather than berate pagan excesses, he elected to use these artifacts to introduce (or reintroduce) the Greeks to the one true God. Paul quoted two philosophers (Epimenides and Aratus) to emphasize how hand-made statues diminish the dignity of both the Creator and human beings who are made in His image.
Don’t hesitate to use the ideas of society’s chief thinkers and leaders. The Spirit will give you cultural insights that can help people learn the truth of God in Christ.
“Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” – 1 Corinthians 15:33
In his effort to clean up the messy morality of the Corinthians church, Paul quoted the poet Menander. If they admired Menander’s work, these Christians would likely heed Paul’s correction. The words of the apostle aligned with those of an honored poet.
“One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith.” – Titus 1:12-13
If you have to correct people, tell them something no one can deny. While the Cretans might argue with Paul, they’d go along with Epimenides; after all, he was part of their culture.
Paul must have liked this philosopher because this is the second time he quoted him! Do you have a favorite non-Christian author or teacher? Whose words do you read or listen to that you can appropriate for the gospel?
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.” – 2 Timothy 3:8
Paul refers to a Jewish tradition not found in the Old Testament. He wasn’t trying to add to the Bible; he just wanted to illustrate that opposition to God’s truth has a long pedigree. It goes way back!
“But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” – Jude 9
Jude took this line from The Assumption of Moses, a Jewish composition from the first century AD.
“Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” – Jude 14-15
Next, Jude quotes 1 Enoch 1:9, which was written in the first century BC.
Like Paul, the apostle Jude felt free to quote from religious literature without canonizing such books. Non-Christians have some good ideas about God; find what’s helpful and avail yourself of these insights.
Does Scripture need back up? No, God’s Word stands on its own. However, people diminish their resistance biblical truth when statistics, songs, and stories reinforce the gospel.
So preach with two hands. Hold God’s Word in one and with the other, grab whatever gets people’s attention. Utilize what’s available to make clear the claims of Jesus Christ. Don’t suffer from scriptural claustrophobia!
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