Nearly two years ago I wrote from this same verse in 2 Kings, but today as I crossed this verse again, I found a different application altogether.

2 Kings 18:4:

“…and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it”

If you remember, the bronze serpent was that which Moses crafted when God sent deadly serpents among the Israelites in the desert as a punishment. God, commanded Moses to make the bronze serpent that when anyone looked at it, they would be healed from the afflicting serpent’s venom.

Centuries later, the bronze serpent is still around and the people were sacrificing to it; worshipping it as though it were of some value in and of itself.

I can’t help but draw the connection between this serpent and our church system.

There was a time when men of our faith built a church system for a culture that needed it. As a beacon for them to look to, flock to, and inhabit. As a structure which would would help people be and do as God intended them. But centuries later, the culture has changed. That system effectiveness is mostly drained and, in some places and some ways, it actually drags people down, rather than being the help it once was.

What’s more, the time and energy and money that is poured into the system in order to preserve it could be looked at as something almost like a national idolatry.

Like Hezekiah, the church system needs to be broken in pieces so that people stop worshipping the thing, and their attention given where it really ought to be. On Christ, on his mission for the world and his love for his people. This is not the system, and the system does not accomplish this well—or hardly at all.

I’m sure you’ve read the verses in the book of James that talk about the tongue. It is a “restless evil”, says James. He compares the tongue to many things. A tiny ‘spark’ that sets a forest on fire. A small ‘rudder’ that steers a whole ship. A ‘bridal’ in a horses mouth that can be used to guide it around.

James argues that the tongue, although it is small, is the source a great deal of trouble for man.

Every teaching I’ve ever heard on this verse gives a good deal of personal application. Congregations are to control their tongue and this is an excellent argument for that.

But I’m not sure that the congregation is really who James had in mind when he wrote this bit about the tongue.

Possibly for the first time, I noticed that another frequently quoted verse is actually a tiny piece of context that puts a whole new spin on James’ message about the tongue. The very first verses in fact. James 3:1-2:

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

Why does James go directly from a word on teaching and teachers and the fact that every teacher make’s mistakes in his teaching into a discussion of bridling the tongue? I think it’s because the ‘body’ he talks about throughout the rest of the chapter is not one individual body who is guided by his own tongue, but the whole body of believers who is guided by the tongue of their teacher.

Not many should aspire to be teachers because all teachers make mistakes, and with many, many teachers comes many misconceptions and the church ends up ‘set on fire’.

Of course, I don’t think this is the only viable interpretation of this verse, but I think it makes perfect contextual sense. And perhaps it’s a concept churches who turn teaching authority over to small group ministries should consider.

Jeremiah 6:14:

They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
    saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
    when there is no peace.

The prophets in Jeremiah’s time had stopped preaching the word of God. Instead, they said the things that would bolster their esteem. They tickled the people’s ears with things they wanted to hear. “They healed the would lightly”.

Now, I know that Jeremiah’s time was a specific time in history and that we have to tread lightly over life applications from these pages. But I couldn’t help but see the parallel as I read across this verse.

The teachers, the prophets in our western church, many of them, have stopped preaching the Word of God. Or begun preaching it only in part—leaving the difficult or offensive topics and concepts untouched. Not just the prosperity-gospel church either. I mean many of the churches we attend on a weekly basis.

In the interest of creating a welcoming environment (and securing a mortgage payment), way too many preachers only teach the parts of the bible that can be understood without too much objection. And, without too much risk of scaring people away.

I can’t help but wonder whether or not God would say these same things to our church today that he said through the prophet Jeremiah in his day.

Some friends and I were watching a series of Youtube videos tonight in which the creator had recut popular movies to give them a very different meaning. Among the most impressive was a recut of the classic thriller, The Shining. If you can’t see the video, watch it on Youtube.

It really is very impressive how only a few nuances and a total contortion of context can give you a completely different impression of the movie and what it’s about. If I’d seen this preview and took my kids to see it, I’d be looking for my money back.

At the risk of over spiritualizing, I have to say, it reminded me how crucial it is that we pay close attention to the context of our scriptures as we’re reading them. And it’s even more crucial that our teachers do the same.

Unfortunately, for a huge portion of the church (*ahem* Lakewood and the like), a fouled up context is delivering people as nasty an impression of Jesus as this preview gives us of The Shining. Congregations need to demand good contextual teaching from their leaders and we should demand it from ourselves.

RC Sproul & Albert Mohler respond to a question about the seeker sensitive church with brilliant clarity and cutting truth. This video is worth watching.

I originally watched this video on the Reformed Theology blog here.

I finished reading 2 Timothy yesterday. In Paul’s closing thoughts, he exhorts Timothy 4:1-2):

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

I’ve always found this to be an interesting exhortation. Why not just say, “Always be ready to preach the word”? Why did he choose to be specific and refer to seasons? As I’ve thought about it, I think there’s probably a lot of reasons. But I think of two in particular.

1. Seasons of the soul. People ebb and flow and there’s no way around it. A lot can change from one emotional state to another, even the way we choose to interpret things. I think it’s possible that Paul was telling Timothy that regardless of what season he found himself in emotionally, or physically or socially or whatever, he should remember that his duty is to preach the word and he needs to be ready for it. And,

2. Seasons of ministry. I think that this one is probably a bit more likely since it seems to agree more with the context—particularly the statement immediately following it. There are times that are for ministry (missions trips, church, youth group, whatever) and there are times that are not for ministry (like going to the movies or out for dinner). But I think that Paul was telling Timothy that he needs to be prepared for ministry even in the times that are ‘not’ for ministry.

The Church could take a queue from Paul’s exhortation here. We’re in a time where almost no one is ready ‘out of season’. Especially not ministers, most of whom are too wrapped up in their gigantic labyrinth of a church system.

I think that’s pretty bad. Especially when most people in our culture don’t want anything to do with our ministers ‘seasons’.

1 Peter 3:14-16

“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

“Always being prepared to make a defense”.

If you think about the nature of a “defense”, it requires objective reasoning. You would never hear a lawyer in a court argue that his client is innocent because of a good hunch he’s got. A defense would require objective evidence. The Greek word is “apologia”, which roughly defined means “a reasoned argument”.

We don’t have hope for no reason. If we have no reason for our hope, maybe we don’t really have the hope at all.

So, when Peter exhorts us to be prepared with a “defense” it can’t mean the ooey-gooey feeling inside. It must mean that we should seek to understand what we can of the scriptures to the best of our ability. Which, if you follow it to it’s logical conclusion, would mean: Get your theology straight.