Highlights from Biblical Interpretation class

My first semester here at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia is all but over. Yesterday I wrapped up (apart from grading the final papers) the Biblical Interpretation class I taught for the Ministerial Institute of Medellín, the Saturday morning Bible school program here. I also got to preach a short message for the end of the semester assembly of all the students in the program.

This course was definitely a change from teaching at the undergraduate level. Nearly all the students work full time and the level of outside of class work is substantially lower. This made my life easier in the grading department, but it also made me realize just how important it is to make crystal clear the key concepts I'm trying to communicate. Sometimes I felt I did that well and sometimes I found myself grasping for an explanation of a concept that was obviously clear to me but not to the students. Despite the occasional frustrations, I was encouraged to see students grow a lot, especially in learning to identify the historical and wider contexts of biblical teaching that inform the interpretation of specific biblical texts.

Last day of Biblical Interpretation class.

I used two main biblical passages throughout the course where we applied the concepts we were learning. In class, we mainly used Haggai 1, a great text for highlighting all sorts of important points in the proper interpretation of the Bible, from the significance of historical background (e.g., what difference does it make that they were back in the land but had no king?) to key words (e.g., the irony Haggai sets up in how they focused on their own luxurious houses while ignoring God's "house", always referring to the temple as the "house" of God, thus deepening the critique of their misplaced priorities) to how to apply passages from the Old Testament to life today (e.g., why Haggai can't be legitimately used to support the prosperity gospel since what it says about blessings applied in a different way under the Old Covenant -see Deuteronomy 28- than what applies to us now under the New Covenant).

For the homework assignments, we focused on Matthew 6:5-15, where Jesus teaches about prayer (including the Lord's Prayer). I noticed early on in the course that a common tendency of students when they first read the passage is to latch onto one concept that stands out to them (in this case, usually the critique of hypocrisy in prayer or the concept of God as Father) and to say that's what the passage is all about, meanwhile ignoring two-thirds of the passage. Perhaps this is a tendency that comes from our popular devotional practices of reading the Bible to look for what speaks to my life. While I think there is a legitimate place for that kind of reading done in a certain way, I focused a lot on giving students specific tools for analyzing a passage and uncovering the richer depths that go beyond initial impressions.

I am convinced that good biblical interpretation is an art as much as a science. But, being a musician myself, one of the things I've learned is that creativity in the arts depends on having a firm base built on discipline. I would never have gotten to the point of being able to improvise as a cellist if I hadn't spent so many years in private lessons, practicing my scales and learning classical technique. I think something analogous applies to interpreting the Bible. If we don't learn some good techniques for interpretation, we'll never reach the heights of the best insights that go beyond applying methods but are firmly based in what the text really teaches.

With this in mind and seeing what worked and what didn't, I saw that students kept grasping for something more and more concrete. They often felt overwhelmed by the Bible and struggled to know how to make headway, especially those who had only been Christians for a couple of years. So, to that end I made a ten-step handout for things to consider in identifying the main idea of a biblical passage. The point is not that I have the perfect process or that I will use it consciously most of the time. But, if a student can learn to apply the steps, many of them will become second nature, just as they have for me. Or, if they're struggling to know what to get out of a passage, it gives them somewhere to go.

The same applies even more so for biblical application. I gave students a handout talking about five different aspects of applying the Bible, largely based on Dan Doriani's wonderful book Putting the Truth to Work: The Theory and Practice of Biblical Application (P&R Publishing, 2001). Doriani says that the challenge for preachers shouldn't be finding the relevance of a text, but finding the best and most pertinent applications for their audiences among the many potential ways that the text can be applied. While we weren't able to explore this area in much depth, Doriani's book is a gold mine of great ideas and balanced advice.

(I have found three distinctions from his book especially helpful for my own Bible reading and preaching:
1). The difference between applications that have to do with duties [what does the Bible tell me to do?] and those that have to do with character [what kind of person does the Bible call me to become?].
2). The differences between rules [specific things to do or avoid] and ideals [traits that ought to characterize my specific actions, like love].
3). The difference between redemptive acts in narratives [what the passage shows about how God has worked to accomplish his purposes] and exemplary acts in narratives [moral examples from certain characters, which usually has to do with their response to God rather than a simple call to be like the character].)

To wrap up, some students commented I was one of the toughest professors they had had this semester. They said I made them work for all their points on the assignments, but that they learned a lot. I was encouraged today to receive a brief note from a student saying, "Thank you so much for everything. I hope that next year we have another class with you. I learned a ton . . . Thanks for letting yourself be used by God to prepare those who long to serve in the work [of ministry]. Your effort is worth it; don't give up..." Seeing students leave the class with a deeper passion for interpreting the Bible well is what it's all about, and it makes me content to be here training these students for all kinds of ministries whether as laypeople or ministers, students who often will never be able to afford a traditional seminary program like our undergrad program.

Preaching at the end of the semester assembly for the Ministerial Institute of Medellín. I looked at the theme of weakness and power in ministry in 2 Corinthians, especially focusing on 4:7-18. 

Radio programs, conversations with JWs

During the last two weeks I had the chance to share on Christian radio here on themes related to other religious groups. Originally the plan was to cover Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, but we ended up covering Islam the second week instead of Mormonism, since the hosts wanted to have someone with more background on that share given how much Islam appears in the news. The programs went well overall. We looked at historical roots, beliefs, and points of evaluation from a Christian perspective, as well as some ideas for engaging with people from these belief systems.

I was encouraged by the positive feedback I got from a number of people at my church on the programs. A few people commented they had heard the programs about JWs and found them helpful. I wasn't expecting the programs on Islam to have as much direct relevance for people, but today at church one woman requested a copy of my notes on Islam and another told me that she found the programs on Islam helpful since her Christian niece who lives in the U.S. is married to a Muslim. Since I had no idea who was listening, this feedback was encouraging.

For now, I have finished my involvement with these programs, but they are open to possibly having me back next spring, maybe to share on Mormonism. The next few weeks I have a lot to focus on in terms of course prep for the coming semester and, in my free time, preparing a sermon to preach at church on the 30th. This will be my first time preaching in Colombia and is a mission themed week, with the assigned sermon topic being "The God of Mission." I haven't settled on a text yet to preach on, but it should be fun!

One last note on the theme of interaction with other religious groups. Almost every Sunday the Jehovah's Witnesses have a literature stand setup near where I catch the bus to go to church. I had struck up a conversation with them a couple of months ago (mostly on the Trinity) and had recently seen the same people back. Over the last two Sundays I've left an extra half hour early for church and had some good substantial conversations about the Watchtower organization, the New World Translation, and comparing JW and evangelical beliefs on salvation. I don't feel like there's been a lot of receptivity on their part, but I think that there has been some meaningful dialogue and that I've had some good chances to explain what it is that evangelical Christians believe and how we interpret the Bible to get to those conclusions. I have felt a noticeable spiritual struggle on a number of Saturday nights or Sunday mornings as I think about how to try to talk with them and point them to biblical truth. Please pray that God would continue to give me words to say and the courage to speak and that he would open their hearts to see more clearly what the Bible teaches about God and salvation. It's easy when talking with JWs to get led off on any number of only minimally relevant rabbit trails, so please pray I could have meaningful, focused conversations on the central question of who Jesus is and what he did for us.

At VidaAM radio.