Christians everywhere have a tendency to read themselves into the Bible. An obvious example of this can be seen in portraits of Jesus. In European and American art, Jesus is portrayed as a Caucasian with lots of long, beautiful hair; in African art, he is often tall, lean, and dark-skinned. In Asian art, he is Chinese, or Japanese, or Vietnamese. We ... To view this individual handout, please download the Training Pack, Expositional Teaching.    Adult Sunday School TeacherA resource to help you provide orientation and basic training to men and women involved in adult education and discipleship.  Developing a Volunteer Creative TeamProvide proper guidance for those with creative gifts to make a truly meaningful ministry. Handling Difficult People (free sample) Consider how you can apply three styles of discipline in different situations.  The Inadequacy of "Yes" TheologyIf saying no makes me narrow, so be it. |        
      | |||||||||||||||
- Our Ministry
- Christianity Today
- Leadership Journal
Directories
- Church Management
- Discipleship
Women
- Subscribe
share this page
Average User Rating:
Abigail Taylor
Thanks to brother Brandon for such a great article! It is especially helpful and challenging for Leaders, including myself. Your labor of love is never in vain in the Lord. Thank you again for being a blessing.
Pat Pope
Good article. I thought the last example given from I Timothy was especially good because most Westerners probably would assume that modesty in dress would refer to clothing that is not sexually alluring, but to know that in other parts of the world modest could refer to cost is enlightening. In fact, modest doesn't have anything to do with sexiness; it's more about being conservative, which is defined differently from culture to culture. Sometimes these cultural differences vary WITHIN countries depending on one's upbringing, ethnicity, etc. I don't think it's always bad that we come to the Bible with presuppositions as long as we're honest about those assumptions and are willing to bow to the Bible vs. making the Bible bend to our will. I think it can also help us to be more gracious to others rather than insisting that "our" way is the ONLY way to interpret a passage. I think if we are guided into living faithfully for Christ, that is what's most important.
Pat Pope
Good article. I thought the last example given from I Timothy was especially good because most Westerners probably would assume that modesty in dress would refer to clothing that is not sexually alluring, but to know that in other parts of the world modest could refer to cost is enlightening. In fact, modest doesn't have anything to do with sexiness; it's more about being conservative, which is defined differently from culture to culture. Sometimes these cultural differences vary WITHIN countries depending on one's upbringing, ethnicity, etc. I don't think it's always bad that we come to the Bible with presuppositions as long as we're honest about those assumptions and are willing to bow to the Bible vs. making the Bible bend to our will. I think it can also help us to be more gracious to others rather than insisting that "our" way is the ONLY way to interpret a passage. I think if we are guided into living faithfully for Christ, that is what's most important.
Submit Your Rating and Review *