The Bible as Literature

To the extent that the Old Testament repeatedly hammers the worship of idols, it's understandable why so many are quick to dismiss its relevance. These days, most people understand that the many statues of the ancient gods are just statues, hunks of stone fashioned and shaped to reflect the human imagination. In Paul's own words, “We all know that there is no such thing as an idol.” (1 Corinthians...

When confronted with the failure of the Lord's disciples in Mark, it's tempting for hearers of the gospel to weigh and measure betrayal as a matter of degree. Why? Because while we may be willing to admit that we sometimes betray, even the best of us are reluctant to identify with the sin of Judas. As a consequence, we desperately want to believe that the sin of Peter's denial is somehow less scan...

When we take any action—especially in rebellion—the emotional satisfaction of doing what we want whenever we want creates the illusion of freedom. But what does it mean to be free? To the extent that Scripture knows exactly how we are going to behave when we disobey its instruction, can we honestly claim that we are in control of our lives? Moreover, to what lengths will we go to maintain this ill...

“What then,” Paul exclaimed to the church in Rome, “Are we better than they?”  Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written:  “There is no one who is righteous, not even one; There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is no one who does good, not even one. “...

In the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus commands his disciples to keep watch, the biblical writer is drawing upon a broader system of terminology in Scripture that stresses vigilance at all hours--even at midnight, when most are people are sleeping--through the study of Scripture: When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your...

All of us know something about the worst of ourselves but all of us struggle to hide from it. Arguably, a direct correlation exists between mental illness and our inability to be honest with ourselves about ourselves. Driven by fear, we deflect criticism by criticising our own sins in other people. With very little information or context, we rush to condemn each other. Perhaps that’s why we all as...

When Scripture deals with any sin, our natural reaction as human beings is to look around and single out others for committing that sin. Once this happens, it’s not long before we accuse or abuse others in the name of righteousness, or worse, as in the case of World War II, accuse and shame people of a specific religious or ethic group, committing unspeakable horrors against them in the name of th...

When any community—religious or otherwise—attempts to promote its agenda, the discussion always begins with an accounting of what makes their group special, or, alternatively, of what is wrong with all the other groups. Both approaches, whether self-praising or neighbor-bashing, represent the same lie: the deeply held human conviction that God shows partiality. In Mark, no one is good except God....

When people gossip, they oppose the Gospel of Jesus Christ in two ways: first, they show disregard for the biblical warning that no one is allowed to judge anyone before the time; second, they show disregard for the actions demanded by the Lord's teaching. To be clear, the one who gossips wastes precious time talking when they should be taking action. In Mark, not only do they waste time spinning...

In the Gospel of Mark, the greatest threat—not just to humanity, but to life itself—is human behavior controlled by human perspectives. When an individual faces any question, they can't help but ask how that question impacts their life. Will they suffer? Will they survive? Will they lose? In this way, their next action—whether committed by word or by deed—can't help but be selfish. The individual...

Human beings repeat two critical mistakes every day and every hour. First, we live each day of our life as though we are going to live forever; second, we make life and death decisions at every moment without having all the facts. I don’t mean the facts about our life or the narrow parameters of the decisions we think we understand. I mean the boundless fact of the Alpha and the Omega. Each day, w...

Whether a student is preparing for an exam or a professional is reviewing notes for their presentation, one thing is certain: when the hour comes, you can’t fake it. A professor knows which student worked hard all semester and which crammed the night before. A good executive recognizes who is spinning a PowerPoint and who has done the actual work and understands facts on the ground. You have to do...

Whenever something terrible happens, someone always asks, “how could a just God allow bad things to happen?” Unfortunately, the question is silly and unbearably self-entitled. Bad things happen because that’s how the world works. Sometimes people cause suffering and sometimes suffering just happens. Why? Because death and suffering are a part of life. Every human being who has ever lived has had t...

Whether chasing wealth or reveling in piety, people aspire to ascendency. Looking to Caesar as their frame of reference, they measure everything in terms of progression, growth, movement, or expansion. But that's not how Scripture works. The biblical God does not seek the growth of his followers. On the contrary, he desires the growth of his teaching, often at our expense. When we become weak and...

People like to handle the Bible as though it were a mysterious or complicated story that can’t be easily explained in clear terms. We do so precisely because the content of the Bible is crystal clear, and at the same time, totally inconvenient. That’s why the Sadducees in Mark’s Gospel can’t comprehend Deuteronomy and why the Pharisees, along with the Herodians, unwittingly follow after false gods...

In Deuteronomy 25:5, the commandment to marry your brother’s widow is given for one purpose: to ensure the continuation of life, so “that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.” The purpose of the commandment is life: so that your brother’s wife will not be abandoned; so that his household will continue for the...

All ideology is self-referential: it begins with a desire for self-preservation and achieves fulfillment by exercising power. Whether we wield this power ourselves or ask others to wield it for us--because it is self-referential--it is always employed at the expense of others, especially those who are weaker than us.  All ideology is self-justifying and therefore destructive, but the worst kind op...

Entitlement is the most destructive force on earth and no person, group or ideology is exempt from its barbaric cruelty. Students demand the “right” not to be offended; the wealthy contend that they've “earned” the fruit of “their” labor; and consumers “demand” access to products with righteous indignation, even as citizens grumble about public benefits. All of us believe that we are entitled to r...

When we criticize others on the basis of personal experience or opinion, this criticism exposes our blindness to the truth of our own sins. In Mark, whether they realize it or not, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders question the authority of Jesus exactly because their own authority is questionable. They challenge Jesus—not because they look to God’s teaching as the only authority—but b...

Everybody sees signs. I'm not talking about street signs. I mean the things we see in life. We look at a withering tree, a flock of birds, or we experience something—painful or joyous—and we assign meaning. That’s how human beings make sense of the world. That’s why grown men put their socks on the same way before every baseball game. They assign meaning to something mundane and suddenly a pair of...

Imagine the following. A teacher walks into class to announce the final exam: “If you do well on the test,” she explains, “it is not because of you. You are clueless. If you happen to do well, it is because I am an awesome teacher, so please do not expect a good grade. Just be thankful that I let you attend class in the first place.” She continues, “If you do poorly on the test, please be advised,...

No one likes being told what to do. We dislike it so much that we have come to idolize rebellion as a moral good. We long for a world without authority, criticism or the pressure necessary to change how we live. When a teacher rightly judges our child, we shelter the student and malign the instructor. When our manager confronts us with a problem at work, we cringe, scrambling to show that we have...

In all aspects of life, human beings would rather exercise control than risk placing trust. We treat relationships like business deals, as though marriage, family, community, and friendship are all quid pro quo , and we establish rules and policies to control these relationships. When we follow these rules and others do not, we act offended. As victims, we gain to power to accuse, influence, and c...

Whether by instinct or experience, our minds construct a subjective model of the world around us in order to ensure our survival. In terms of risk mitigation, this system is efficient and effective. For example, if a loud noise in the dark resembles your idea of an approaching bus, even if it turns out to be something else, it is safer to assume the worst, so you step back onto the sidewalk. But w...

Let me share a few quotes with you: "Nothing is more fallacious than wealth. It is a hostile comrade, a domestic enemy." "Our money belongs to God, no matter how we have gathered it." "The love of money leaves everything corrupted and in ruin." "The love of money is a dreadful thing; It disables both eyes and ears, and makes men worse to deal with than a wild beast, causing a person to consider ne...