A recent Barna poll shows non-Christian millennials to be quite hostile to Christianity (84%), and especially to evangelicals (97%). We might ask, why? According to the research , the top answers are:
They are judgmental (87%)
They are hypocrites (85%)
Their beliefs are archaic (78%)
Roughly a quarter of both Christians and non-Christians expressed unprompted comments like “Christianity no longer reflects Jesus.” It was surprising to the researchers that opinions were largely based on negative personal interactions. I find the following quote revealing:
The descriptions that young people offered of Christianity were more thoughtful, nuanced, and experiential than expected. … What surprised me was not only the severity of their frustration with Christians, but also how frequently young born-again Christians expressed some of the very same comments as young non-Christians .
In this article, I hope to analyze one leading cause that is driving these trends. We live within the shifting sands of post-Christian mores. Many claim that morality is relative. In other words, Good and Evil are simply a matter of cultural preference. The Christian scholar William Lane Craig strongly disagrees. There are things that are objectively and always right and wrong. But he concedes:
I think to say that moral values are objective is not to say that they are always clear. Certainly, there can be areas of gray. Some things are clearly right or clearly wrong but in between there can certainly be difficult moral questions that are hard to discern.
To start, let’s consider the biblical commandments. What are they and what is their purpose? How do we interpret them in our day? As the biblical Scholar John Walton states: “The Bible was written for us, but not to us” and “We need to understand the scripture within the flow of the cultural river in which it was written.” It is a mistake to search for a couple of proof texts and then dogmatically assert interpretations that are reasoned using modern sensibilities.
Consider Paul’s letters. Do you think that he was trying to set down eternal truths? To be sure, he expected his correspondence to be read aloud to his newly formed congregations. Do you think he had in mind that we’d be reading his work two thousand years later? I think not.
So then, what was Paul doing? He was being chased from place to place by Jewish Christians who passionately clung to their ancient traditions. They believed that gentiles needed to adhere to mosaic regulations. Otherwise they could not be accepted as part of the Jesus way. New believers were torn. On one hand, they were not sure what it meant to live as citizens of this new Kingdom of Heaven. On the other hand, they were being pressured to adopt traditions that they did not understand and were completely foreign. Paul’s role was to announce the Good News and nurture gentiles in the faith. It was hard work. His life was engulfed with persecution and ongoing conflicts as he moved from place to place.
When he said: “I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man,” he was giving advice to Timothy. He was trying to help him navigate through the cultural assumptions of the day. He made this clear with the phrase “I do not allow.” The text never indicates whether God supported or disapproved. It says nothing about how we should read his letter in our time.
What about the Old Testament? Our world is very different from theirs. For example, when we think of moral values, our understandings are clouded with terms like sin, salvation, and atonement. These concepts have very different meanings in our world than they had in the past. People in the ancient world thought in terms of order and disorder. As people of the covenant, their focus was on achieving and maintaining God’s presence, protection and blessing. Discernment of right and wrong were secondary factors.
In our day, the individual is paramount. Not so in the ancient world. The notion of human rights did not exist; one’s existence was tied to the clan, or the larger community. Consider the Book of Leviticus. There is no mechanism for a person to atone for intentional sins. The Day of Atonement applied to the entire nation. Its purpose was to cleanse the people and establish ritual purity. This was necessary so that God wouldn’t withdraw. That would be bad. Without his protections, afflictions such as drought, plague, and/or conquest would be expected.
Scholars have uncovered numerous lists of ancient law codes (like Ur-Nammu and Hammurabi). These were composed by kings who wanted to impress the gods who put them in charge. Their inscriptions, often written on rocks, demonstrated that they were effective and wise rulers. As such, this genre fit into the category of wisdom literature. Lists of hypothetical scenarios, along with scrolls of proverbs, were read and considered by judges. They then would apply wisdom to come to equitable rulings. Remedies and punishments were not akin to legal legislation in the modern sense. They emphasized the seriousness of an offense, not required outcomes.
Consider the Mosaic commands concerning adultery or rape. The penalty in the Torah is death. How often was this sentence carried out? According to Jewish tradition, almost never. We know that David was not killed after he committed adultery. Neither was Amnon who raped his sister. Jeremiah 4:8 sheds some more light.
I saw that for this very reason, that on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her (Jer. 3:8).
Figuratively, Israel committed adultery. According to the Torah, it would be within God’s right to completely destroy her. But he didn’t. There is always room for mercy to prevail.
One might ask, “If the Old Testament laws are not primarily about morality, then why is there so much emphasis on sex?” It’s a good question. The answer is not difficult. Ancient cultures cared a lot about matters of inheritance. If legitimate heirs could not be determined, issues concerning property and clan rule would be in disarray. Instead of order, there would be chaos. Therefore, regulation of sexual behavior was essential.
When we read the Torah, the laws are more about God’s plans and purposes than they are about the actual stipulations. We see God working within the environment of the times. His ultimate purpose was to move the world towards the eventual redemption of humanity. He was no more wanting to radically change the culture than he would have wanted to explain advanced mathematics and quantum mechanics. Rather, he spoke and acted in accordance with what the people were able to hear and accept. His laws were never meant to be recipes for an ideal society; they instead itemized his expectations for a specific people living at a specific time experiencing his presence in sacred space.
As believers then, how should we navigate our cultural river? Surely, we can learn from the authoritative words of scripture. It is not helpful to comprise dogmatic lists; that would put us back under the law. The mosaic law failed and so would this. It is better if we can discover practical principles that we can discern and apply. I find Jesus’ words helpful.
Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you. And why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam of wood is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the beam of wood from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye! (Matt 7:1-5 LEB)
If we can consistently live by this maxim, the charge that we are judgmental and hypocritical will lose its sting. But are our beliefs archaic? I think not. Biblical truths are universal even in our time. Paul says:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22-23)
Who can argue with these things? Living according to these simple patterns of behavior will gain respect and do well to attract those who are ready to respond.
Thanks for listening,secondlooknow.com
Dan, I needed This! Thanks for your hard and intense work!
There’s a lot of good insight here. The Ancient Near East was a different world, and God, being transcendant, works within the limitations of the contingent creatures he created.
A few comments. The fact that young people base many of their opinions on their experiences is profound. They have negative opinions on something they literally know nothing about. The Christian is the living Gospel. We, like Jesus, represent God to every new Generation. How we have failed! If morality is not relative, we need to discern what is right and what is not. I think we should look closer at how the old and new testament people were different than the cultures around them and how. This may reveal the key ideas and concepts that show us what is the idea behind the standard. Progressive revelation reveals the highest ethical standards for sextuality and interpersonal ethic. To love the other is to seek their good and welfare. If we can figure out how to do that, we will find a true biblical ethic. Understanding tge difference between formalism and regulations vice moral/ethical precepts is key.
While regulation of sextual behavior was tied to inheritance, that was not the only factor. As Dr. Michael Heiser points out, the connection between sextuality and vitality was also essential. Hence why homosextual, beastial or incest was condemned. Also, noting thst, “terms like sin, salvation, and atonement…are New Testament concepts.” Is a tad misleading (unintentional). There are definitely differences, as sin was more flexible (mostly ritual vice moral in OT), but atonement and the idea of ritual covering carried over from OT to NT. Salvation in the OT was national and personal deliverance from enemies, but prophetically pointed to a karger fpiritual deliverance fulfilked in Christ.
Where are you staying? They asked Jesus.
Come and see.
In the same way, even in our terrible time, believers make friends and guide them to the Lord.