Biblical I

Biblical: Part I

   Preface

 More than a decade ago, I began to feel uncomfortable with people who frequently use phrases such as “God told me, the Lord spoke to me, or the Holy Spirit revealed to me.” Those familiar with the charismatic movement in the 90s and early 2000 may better understand the reason for my unease. During these days of charismatic revivals, many Christians- myself included- were caught in attempts to hear God’s voice and maintain a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Some of those brothers and sisters used to suggest ridiculous things and sanctify them by annexing the phrase “God told me!” I recall one Christian girl who accepted to marry a non-believer because “God told her to.” Another student at a Seminary used to say that God told him to share the Gospel when he goes to this specific group of people in one particular foreign country, but not with any other group [ by the way, he ended up being a missionary in an entirely different country!]Thus, I grew increasingly suspicious of these claims as I observed the disappointing and sometimes damaging results of these unbiblical charismatic claims.

However, I recently became more concerned about those who claim to be “biblical” and often recite verses from the Scriptures as proof texts for whatever claim or procedure they want to impose over others. In fact, if the former group was mostly deceived or naive, the latter is more likely to be deceivers, narrow-minded, and, in many cases, jerks. These Christians are not biblical but rather legalistic. Like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, they stick to the letter without regard to the Spirit (2 Cor 3:6). Many of those neo-Pharisees are limited to social media platforms and small churches. Still, some of those legalistic leaders are more sophisticated and influential. They claim to be faithful biblical Christians who defend the orthodox Christian faith against all others [ According to these legalistic ministers, others are either less biblical Christians, progressive Christians, or even non-Christians]. They often use their knowledge to create a culture of guilt and strife among simple Christians. Whether they believe their claims or are they only aiming for power and fame is behind the inquiry of this essay. Instead, the goal of this essay is to suggest a simple guideline for a truly biblical approach to the Bible. To foster a faithful reading of the Scriptures so Christians from different backgrounds can be more biblical [ in the correct sense] in their walk with the Lord. By providing this guideline, Christians taking this essay’s proposals seriously can avoid falling prey to those legalistic “biblical” jerks. To be continued…