The Living Word

We humans often ask a simple question of the events or subjects that confront us, "what does this mean?" Recently however, I have been challenged to ask of the world not, "what does this mean" but "what does this do/how does this function?" The idea to shift the question that I was asking originated from my theology prof on the question of tongues, but since then I have been exploring the implications of that question in art, and most recently, scripture reading.

So often we approach Scripture as though it were the object, and we, the subject acting upon it. This has led humanity down both the roads of fundamentalism and higher criticism. The driving force behind both of these movements was an inability to let Scripture act upon us; we had to tame the Scriptures, to understand them, to mine them for scientific knowledge. We treated Scripture as a dead text, something that pointed us towards God, but not a way in which we might actually encounter God.

The gospel of John refers to Jesus as being the Word, the Word become flesh in fact. The incarnation is that messy occasion where we are confronted by God and are forced to majorly deconstruct some of our ideas about the way the world is. An encounter with God shakes us in a way that leaves us forever changed. What would happen, if we read the Scriptures looking to actually encounter the living Word, not just learn about him? Try letting the text do something to you, allow it to transform you instead of obsessing over the insane question, "What does it all mean?" After a couple thousand years, we still don't really know, but we do know that Scripture does something to us, and that, I think, is something to cling to.

Why Jeremiah 29:11 should not be your favorite verse.

Probably about 75% of all Christians that I have met have claimed that Jeremiah 29:11 is their favorite verse, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." It is quite understandable that this would be a favorite verse for so many people; it's a nice feel good verse that promises us that everything is going to be ok! I wonder, however, if any of the people who claim this verse as their favorite understand it, or have even thought about the theological implications of this feel-good interpretation.

Unfortunately for every pseudospiritual Christian teenager out there, this verse is not for them. The downside about the Bible is that you have to read it in context, pulling out verses here and there to prove a point or to self-gratify is an abuse of Scripture and should be abhorrent to all Christians.

First off, if anybody ever bothered to read the rest of Jeremiah 29, which is quite good by the way, one would quickly realize that this verse is set in a very specific sociopolitical landscape. The group it addresses is the Israelites who are in exile in Babylon. The Lord is calling his people to continue to have faith in him, even in this time of exile, even in this time of punishment and exile, the Lord is continuing to honor his covenant with his people. This is a promise to the people of Israel to give them hope in their time of exile. It is interesting to note that much harm has already come to the people of Israel, their entire nation has been conquered and destroyed. Clearly there is a different sense of the word harm being used here; it is not referring to physical harm, rather ultimate destruction as a result of the covenant being dissolved. God is promising to be faithful to his covenant, even and especially at a time when Israel feels abandoned and alone.

Next, if anyone were to read the rest of the Bible, say the New Testament for example, one would quite easily be able to put this verse into context. A quick scan through the New Testament reveals a not-so-shocking theme about Christian living; suffering is a normal state of affairs for a confessing believer. Even if we somehow take the promise as pertaining to us and not to exilic-Jews, we need to take a broader understanding of the verse to fit with the atrocities that are almost guaranteed for us in this life. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first" (John 15:18) In other words, we should not be surprised, and in fact, we should probably expect that we will be on the receiving end of a lot of hatred and suffering at the hands of the powers and principalities of this world, just as Christ was. When the prophet writes, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future"; if we take that as being directed towards 21st century Christians, then it should be read as being addressed to the Church, just as it was directed to a group in its original context (i.e., the nation of Israel). The Lord will prosper his Church and ensure its future as the victorious and unblemished bride. No harm will come to the Church, in the sense that it will never be crushed or abandoned. To take it to mean that we will never experience persecution, which often comes in the form of physical/emotional/psychological harm, is to neglect Scripture and history.

Finally, nobody who lives in North America can honestly say that they have truly suffered for their faith. Suffering in the Global North may seem significant for those experiencing it, but really, we have it pretty good. We should be the ones doing bringing a comforting message rather than needing to be comforted, but I digress, and really who am I to judge your suffering compared to those in Somalia.

In conclusion, this verse speaks only about the sovereignty of God, and that is something we can rejoice in, but it is not a feel-good verse about how God is going to solve all of your personal issues. It is questionable whether this verse even contains a promise for Christians, and if it does, it is almost certainly for the corporate Church, and not at all for the individual. Individualism is Western philosophy that has very little place in Christian theology and should not be used as a lens for reading scripture. After reading this, Jeremiah 29:11 probably should not be your favorite verse anymore, because, like the rest of the Bible, it only promises hope of salvation in Christ, it is not a guarantor of worldly prosperity.