CONTACT US

Biblical Forms vs. Meanings
by A.J. Wilson

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  John 4:23-24

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;” Col. 2:8-9

“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations-- "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," which all concern things which perish with the using--according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” Col. 2:20-23

In beginning to read a book this week, “Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church” by Elmer Towns and Ed Stetzer, this idea was stirred by the authors.  “Are we (Rowletts Baptist) teaching people more about the meanings of the Bible, or about cultural forms?”  The authors use a modern parable to assist the understanding of the reader. 

The parable used by the authors feature two missionaries, one older and one younger, who visit a remote tribe in Africa seeking to share their gospel message with the natives.  In this portion of the parable, the younger missionary notices that many of the natives wear cross necklaces, however their clothing was much less than the missionaries were used to seeing.  The gung-ho younger expressed to the seasoned older, that they would have short work to do just needing to teach the natives about decency in dress, since so many were already Christians (due to the cross necklaces.)  In short, the older missionary told the younger he was focused too much on the “forms” or cultural expressions of a western civilization church. 

How many times do we get caught up in the same traps, focusing on cultural expressions rather than the underlying meaning of the Bible?  Rather than teaching, “No running or yelling in the church” or “Wear business casual clothes to church” we should teach that there should be respect of God’s presence in His house.  Of course every “meaning” found in the Bible can only be expressed in a cultural form; we do an injustice if we do not teach the meaning of the biblical passage and only teach the ways of expressing it in our modern day society.  If the meaning is taught, God can then use the Holy Spirit to shape a person’s understanding to express it in an acceptable way.

©Copyright 2008 Rowletts Baptist Church.  All rights reserved.
Hosted and Designed by S & M Computer Services