Church Voices

Few things cause my blood to boil. Even though I admit to posses a stereotypical “red-headed temper,” for the most part, I’m able to keep it under control. But some things just push my buttons: The excess amount of cellophane used to package compact discs. Carl Lindner’s refusing to spend the money that I’ve invested in his companies [everyday stops at UDF and my banking with Provident] on some pitching for the Reds. Tim LaHaye novels.

But of all things annoying, there is one that rules them all. It wasn’t until the past few years that I really noticed how much I was bothered by these, but my disdain now runs at an all-time high. One of the greatest abuses the church has ever committed . . .

Few things cause my blood to boil. Even though I admit to posses a stereotypical “red-headed temper,” for the most part, I’m able to keep it under control. But some things just push my buttons: The excess amount of cellophane used to package compact discs. Carl Lindner’s refusing to spend the money that I’ve invested in his companies [everyday stops at UDF and my banking with Provident] on some pitching for the Reds. Tim LaHaye novels.

But of all things annoying, there is one that rules them all. It wasn’t until the past few years that I really noticed how much I was bothered by these, but my disdain now runs at an all-time high. One of the greatest abuses the church has ever committed:

New Testament Bibles.

Now this is not to say that I don’t like the New Testament- I’m actually a huge fan. I’ve read it through a few times and there’s some pretty decent stuff in there. But it kills me that evangelical Christians dismiss the Old Testament as unimportant, so much so as to exclude it as part of Scripture.

You really don’t see any Old Testament Bibles out there, do you? Sure, the Jews have been reading an Old Testament Bible for a few thousand years years. But I mean do you see Christian Old Testament Bibles? You know, little Suzie gets baptized and the church gives her a brand new Precious Moments Old Testament Bible [with graphic pictures depicting the Precious Moments characters acting out Genesis 19]. Um, no. I guess there’s not just a market for it.

Perhaps these incomplete Scriptures are a result of poor theology that has spread throughout the church in the past years. For instance, some Christians refer to themselves as “New Testament Christians.” When people first started using this phrase, they were adopting a label in opposition to mindless denominationalism that took people away from Scriptural directives. Now it seems like such people are obsessed with the idea that all we need to live a good Christian life is the latter 27 books. Marcion would’ve been proud to discover that 2,000 years later people had finally come around to his way of thinking.

[I have to throw this in here. This story has little to do with the point I’m making, but like I care: sometimes people I know ask me to be references for job interviews. A guy I knew was interviewing at a church in the middle-of-nowhere Iowa who called for a reference. The church was called “The New Testament Christian Church.” I told the guy applying to that church that there was no way I would let him go there. Any church ridiculous enough to call themselves by that should probably be shut down. Practicing a bad hermeneutic is one thing, but to advertise it freely and proudly is just plain dumb.]

I know what you’re thinking, “Steve, you’re missing the point. It’s not that people think the Old Testament isn’t Scripture. It’s just that if you’re going to have someone figure out how to become a Christian, the New Testament is what matters.” Yeah, well that’s a bunch of crap. The very first Christians received Scriptural revelation from God in the form of the Tanak. There was no Matthew, Mark, Luke and John- just the Hebrew Scriptures. It was good for Paul and Silas, but not good enough for me?

And how about this one: “They probably wouldn’t understand the Old Testament, so it’s best to let them start with the New Testament.” Sure, like Revelation is People Magazine. Yeah, trying to explain to someone why a good and loving God commanded his chosen people to commit the genocide of neighboring country is difficult. But no more difficult than clearing up how the Holy Spirit is supposed to work today, or the Trinity, or the Second Coming.

There is a reason God gave us both Testaments. Most people just don’t care because they’re too lazy. As leaders of the church, we can’t expect our people to get it right if we’re clueless ourselves. If we who are committed to the ministry of the Word are serious about teaching God’s plan for humanity, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend a few months [maybe even a year] teaching from the Old Testament. Perhaps we’d be surprised at how well it would work.

So back to my original complaint: if I ripped the gospel of John out of a Bible on a Sunday morning and said it was no longer useful, I’d be excommunicated [or whatever we Protestants do]. But New Testament Bibles are found in church pews and no one says a word. If you are seriously committed to Scripture, maybe it’s time you took a stand on this subject. Don’t burn it or anything, but I’d encourage you to never buy or give one away ever again. It’s the least you could do.

Now burning LaHaye novels . . . ah, there’s an idea . . .