Growing up in a country town in the 60s as one of a family of five boys I was completely unaware of the unconscious privileged position I, as a male, held in my society. I must confess, it didn’t really feel this way, particularly as I seemed to fall short when the pathway to acceptance in the country in the 60s was to be good at sports, particularly football and cricket, to be tough and ‘manly’. I did however, have the advantage of excellent role models in my family, both male and female, who influenced me deeply. I benefitted particularly from good, loving, faithful, strong men and deeply faithful, strong and faith committed women.
Professionally, I have worked for 44 years as a Primary school teacher and Lutheran School Principal in a workplace that is dominated by women. I learnt early to respect their commitment, their work ethic, their faith and their love for the children. Over the years, I learnt such an enormous amount from them. It is interesting that even in schools, where women and men are perceived to be equal, leadership roles have traditionally been dominated by men. I have watched with incredulity, how society has deliberately structured things to limit the opportunity or choices of women, and been even more distressed, when I see this reflected so effectively in our Church, and even more so, when these limitations are defended biblically.
I have recently read a book called ‘Inspired’ by Rachel Held Evans. Unfortunately, Rachel lost her life to a virus infection and a reaction to treatment in 2019. Rachel talks about her spiritual journey from a fundamental southern Baptist upbringing to rejection of her faith in her 20s, her career as a New York Times journalist, and finally her return to that faith in the Anglican church in her 30s. Her book served to remind me of the beauty of scripture and gave me a fresh and ‘inspiring’ way of looking at it. I was also struck by her explanation of the unconscious bias we each have when we approach scripture and for that I will forever be indebted to her. The following is an excerpt from her book that explains what I am feeling and think far more eloquently than I can.
When Jesus was challenged by the experts on the Law to give an answer for what the Scripture is all about, he offered a very straightforward, very Jewish response. Quoting Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19, he replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).
This is the point of every liberation, every wandering through the desert, every law about oxen and yeast and blood. To love is to honor God and keep God’s commandments. Love is the law that liberates slave and slaveholder alike. Love is the ultimate deliverance story, for only love can sustain the sojourner out of Egypt, through the desert, up the mountain, and into the promised land.
The truth is, you can bend Scripture to say just about anything you want it to say. You can bend it until it breaks. For those who count the Bible as sacred, interpretation is not a matter of whether to pick and choose, but how to pick and choose. We’re all selective. We all wrestle with how to interpret and apply the Bible to our lives. We all go to the text looking for something, and we all have a tendency to find it. So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: are we reading with the prejudice of love, with Christ as our model, or are we reading with the prejudices of judgement and power, self-interest and greed? Are we seeking to enslave or liberate, burden or set free?
If you are looking for Bible verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to honor and celebrate women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, there are plenty. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, there are plenty more. If you are looking for an outdated and irrelevant ancient text, that’s exactly what you will see.
This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not, What does this say? But, What am I looking for? I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, “Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7)
If you want to do violence to this world, you will always find the weapons. If you want to heal, you will always find the balm. With Scripture, we’ve been entrusted with some of the most powerful stories ever told. How we harness that power, whether for good or evil, oppression or liberation, changes everything.
Evans, R. (2018). Inspired (pp. 56-57). Nashville, Tennessee. USA: Nelson Books.
