Can you pick and choose?
I know people who say that one can not pick and choose what to accept when it comes to Christianity.
I respond–I am a Christian. I am a follower of Christ. I don’t think that happened in the instant I walked forward at camp and was “saved”.
Does one have to accept the Bible as historical? What about other sticky issues? I don’t think that many of the details that people often fight about are the root of faith.
What about you?
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July 4th, 2009 at 11:58 am
The “pick and choose” argument used to silence me. In fact, I was afraid if I disagreed with any part of the Bible that my “salvation” may, in fact, be in jeopardy. Over time I began to see the many problems with this simplistic phrase. Most importantly, it’s patently false. When someone offers it up as a stalwart defense, what they are really saying is, “the way I have chosen to interpret the Bible and its teachings is correct and you disagree at your peril.” It is bullying, really. The truth is that everyone picks and chooses all the time. When you preach week after week from the letters of Paul (authentic and psuedo), you have chosen. When you claim a verse in Leviticus against homosexuality in 2009 (while prancing around in your poly-cotton blend clothing), you have chosen. When you emphasize personal morality and ignore social justice, you have chosen. The sooner we are ready to admit that we have personal bias, that our faith is a combination of many factors, that our understanding of the scriptures is obscured and comes with millenia of interpretive baggage…the sooner we can engage in constructive and authentic dialog about our very real and dynamic faith.