In the two previous posts in this series we explored what authority means and how the Bible can be authoritative. In this third and final installment, I want to talk about something that unavoidably happens every time we engage the Bible. This inevitability is something I like to call “the sacred art of cherry-picking.”
By cherry-picking I am referring to the process by which we privilege and embrace certain texts over others. The typical Protestant Bible has 31,102 verses spread across 1,189 chapters in 66 books. Further, even though many Christians resist this idea, it’s a fact that some of those 31,102 do not all agree or say the same thing. Nor should they! The Bible isn’t univocal, meaning it doesn’t speak with one voice, but many. Scripture is a collection of texts that were written over roughly 1,000-1,200 years, composed by many authors (including several books that were the product of multiple writers), and produced in different historical contexts. Those different voices are often in tension and conversation with one another, which means the Bible is also complicated and it defies the desire many people have to have an outside authority tell them what to think and what to do. The Bible doesn’t do that. It comes with a responsibility that is incumbent on interpreters to make decisions—to cherry-pick—what passages and ideas will be normative and which won’t.
For example, some of the voices in Scripture imagined a future in which God would violently deal with their enemies, while others, in texts right alongside them, envisioned a future in which God would eventually renew, restore, and repair everything and everyone, regardless of their label.
How do we decide which passages to privilege and embrace, and which to reject and leave out of our theological understanding? Those are decisions we have to make. When people tell me they embrace all of Scripture, every jot and tittle, I understand that they are usually being sincere—they believe they can and do hold on to everything in Scripture. The problem is, you just can’t. The faith produced by such an idea would be so severely contradictory that it would collapse in on itself.
For example, are children responsible for the sins of their parents? According to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, children are absolutely on the hook for their parents’ actions, for several generations. But later in Deuteronomy 24, Ezekiel 18, and Jeremiah 31 the authors of those texts say the opposite. In fact, Ezekiel and Jeremiah both say, and this is a paraphrase, “Y’all gotta stop saying ‘The parents eat sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge…everyone is responsible for their own sins.”
Both ideas are present in the Bible, but both can’t be normative for how we see the world. We have to decide, which means we have to cherry-pick. In truth cherry-picking is the ethical thing to do, because some things condoned and supported by Scripture, we now know, are just flat wrong. It’s wrong to own other human beings. It’s wrong to commit genocide, even if you’ve convinced yourself that it’s God’s will. It’s wrong to dash the children of your enemies on rocks. If my decades of wrestling with Scripture have taught me anything it’s this:
Just because it’s in the Bible doesn’t make it good theology.
Some parts of the Bible are actually working out bad theology. Some texts reflect a time and culture that we have thankfully left behind. Some passages, if we embrace and implement them, would put us at odds with the very character of God. That’s why the Bible is not just something we passively receive; it’s a responsibility we must steward seriously and well.
With all that in mind, the question becomes “How?” If we are all going to do it, liberals, conservatives, and everyone in between alike (and we are), then we must give attention to the way we practice our cherry-picking. How do we cherry-pick in a way that is faithful, ethical, healthy, and that creates a better world? I have a few thoughts from my own experience.
First, healthy cherry-picking means owning it up front. We don’t need to pretend that we are somehow able to hold every command, idea, text, or story in the Bible all at once. Let’s just name it and be honest: Everyone who engages Scripture cherry-picks.
Second, healthy cherry-picking acknowledges that the parts we don’t see as authoritative or normative are actually in the Bible. Years ago I was in a small group, and the conversation turned to the passage in 1 Timothy where the author (who claimed to be Paul, but almost certainly wasn’t. I like to call him ‘Faux Paul’) says that women should be silent in church. Someone asked what I thought about that, and I responded, “I know it’s in there, I just disagree.” Needless to say, that response elicited some surprised gasps in the room! However, my disagreement with Faux Paul in 1 Timothy is precisely because I agree with the real Paul in his authentic letters, in which he places women on equal footing with men in the Jesus community. In doing so I don’t ignore or pretend the 1 Timothy passage doesn’t exist. The fact of it’s existence is a reminder that the Bible is a library, books in a conversation, and we shouldn’t be surprised by disagreement between texts and authors.
Third, since we are going to cherry-pick, we should do so in context. The kind of cherry-picking many of us are familiar with often sees random verses of Scripture lifted out of context, and used to prove whatever point the cherry-picker wants to make. I am not advocating for that kind of practice at all, because it doesn’t take Scripture seriously enough. That approach can become a template for all sorts of terrible and terrifying beliefs and actions. When cherry-picking, context is always key. It’s not about finding a verse that supports what we want to say, after all. It’s about responsibly making decisions about how we interpret and apply Scripture. When we cherry-pick that includes doing our homework on the context, which helps ensure we aren’t just using the Bible to create a theological Frankenstein’s Monster that harms people. Instead, we can contextually make the case for why we choose one passage as normative, say Paul’s claim that men and women are equal in Galatians 3, instead of another, like 1 Timothy.
Finally, since we are going to cherry-pick, we should so so compassionately. The truth is the Bible often becomes a Rorschach test—you know, those ink blots that, when we say what we see in them, reveal something about us. The Bible is filled with texts that are universalist, compassionate, and restorative. There are also many texts that are exclusivist, harsh, and vindictive. Some Christians are drawn to the latter like a moth to the flame, and that is quite revealing. My aim, when cherry-picking, is to move toward compassion, because, according to Jesus, that is always a move toward God.
“Be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6:36)
The good news is we can’t out-compassion God. So, when we encounter texts that call us away from compassion, whether toward others or ourselves, we have a responsibility to choose compassion. That is always a move toward God.
These posts are not exhaustive, but I hope they spark your thinking around these important issues of authority, interpretation, and how we responsibly interact with the Bible. Let me know in the comments what’d you’d add or on what you’d push back. If you find these posts helpful, please consider sharing them and subscribing so you don’t miss them in the future.
Thanks for reading!
Excellent balanced article that speaks grace filled truth. Thank you.
thanks so much for this, Josh!