So, because I work in Redeemer’s Church Planting Center I’ve been away the past couple days at a global conference with all our church planters from around the world. It was a great conference, but there was one talk from Tim Keller that really made me do a lot of thinking. It’s caused me to consider how the way you read the bible affects your understanding and applications of missional living. This may be old hat to a lot of you, but I’ve been focusing on the teaching that there are two basic ways to read the bible: diachronically and synchronically. What the heck am I talking about? Well, if this is new for you, it’s really not all that difficult to explain. Basically, what it means is that to read the bible synchronically is to read the bible as a series of separate stories and to read the bible diachronically is to read the bible as one story. Perhaps you’ve heard someone talk about this before. Well, in this blog post I’m going to share my learnings from Tim’s talk about the importance of reading the bible both ways for our missional approach.

So let me first put forward two pieces of scripture, both from Luke 24, that I’ve been focusing on recently. The first is Jesus talking to the two men on the Road to Emmaus and the second is another of the “Great Commission” verses. Here they are:

Luke 24:25-27
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Luke 24:44-49
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

The main thing I’ve been considering from these verses is that Jesus wants us to understand that all of the bible is about Him. This is pretty clear from Jesus teaching the two men on the road to Emmaus and then again, by opening the minds of His disciples before sending them out. He must believe that this is pretty important for them to understand before sending them out on their “mission”.

One thing I’ve learned about the importance of reading the bible both as a series of stories and as one story is that it helps us get a more complete picture of the gospel. When we read the bible only as a series of stories, it can be very easy to make the bible fairly individualistic. We can read a story about David, or Moses, or Joseph, or even Paul, and then simply ask ourselves how it applies to our own lives. The bible becomes a series of storylines and heroes, and lessons and morals. Now, please, don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying it’s wrong to read the bible this way. All I’m saying, or at least I feel like these scripture verses tell us, is that if you only read the bible this way, then we’re not getting all of its meaning.

Reading the bible as one story, with Jesus as the only hero, allows us to see God’s larger plan for the entire world. The series of stories approach, in other words, gives us the more individualistic way of reading the bible with the “God, Sin, Christ, Faith” approach whereas the one story way of reading gives us the more corporate view of “Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration”. In the series of stories approach the climax is our individual salvation, while in the one story approach, the climax is a new heavens and new earth. In this way of reading the bible, you see that this material world is no longer a means to an end of salvation, but in fact, that salvation is a means to an end of a renewed world.

Now while this might be intellectually stimulating to think about, what application does it have on our lives and how we live missionally? I’ve learned two main applications:

1. To live missionally, we must be balanced in both word and deed. If we just think that the purpose of missions (however you want to define it) is to just preach the gospel and save souls, then I’d argue that you are just focusing on the first way of reading the bible, but forgetting the second. You’re forgetting that we as Christians are also supposed to be agents of healing, reconciliation, and restoration in this world. We are part of God’s plan for helping to bring about his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. But, at the same time, if you just focus in on the deeds element and only concern yourself with social justice issues, without evangelizing in word, then that too would be incorrect. It’s hard to imagine how anyone would ever develop a personal commitment to Christ without the spreading of the gospel in word. For instance, without the understanding and application of the first way of reading the bible, who could ever experience these words by Charles Wesley: “My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.” So, reading both ways helps us to have balance in word and deed.
   
   
2. It takes the pressure off, because we’re reminded that salvation is only by grace. In the above verses in Luke, we’re reminded by Jesus, again, that its not about us, but all about Him. Reading the bible as one story helps us to see this, and seeing this is both freeing and empowering. We remember that our salvation doesn’t rest on how well we follow all of the lessons and teachings of the bible, but rather what Christ has done for us. Remembering this roots us deeper in Christ and helps us to be better witnesses. Also, seeing Jesus as the only hero in the bible allows us to continue to be reminded of the gospel throughout the bible. For instance, Tim Keller, mentioned that when you read the bible as one story you see that the David and Goliath story has even deeper meaning. If you just read this as one story, you might conclude that the lesson is that when we are with God and in His strength, we can face the giants in our lives. But when you make Jesus the hero, instead of David, you see that Jesus was the ultimate David. That the giant that Jesus faced that none of us could have stood up to wasn’t just a great warrior, but sin and death itself. This adds profound power to the story by showing us that our ultimate battle has been won for us in Christ, and that therefore, in comparison to that ultimate battle, our earthly battles and giants should pale in comparison. Therefore, you can’t fully understand the story of David, unless you see Jesus as the ultimate David. Seeing Jesus as the only hero of the bible helps us to do this.

These are the things that I’ve taken away from Tim’s talk and I wanted to share in the event that it might be helpful for others.

Blessings,
Justin