{"id":2650,"date":"2012-08-20T13:05:29","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T13:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=2650"},"modified":"2018-07-19T20:30:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T20:30:11","slug":"is-rick-warrens-daniel-plan-just-selfish-bible-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/08\/is-rick-warrens-daniel-plan-just-selfish-bible-reading.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan An Exercise in “Selfish” Bible Reading?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lately, as I make my way through Rachel Held-Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood- <\/em>(stay tuned for my upcoming review in the online ecumenical publication, Sermons That Work<\/a>)<\/em>– I’ve been obliged to reflect on the nature of “biblical authority.” \u00a0This is a term that we evangelicals love:\u00a0<\/em>we have been known to throw it around to support all sorts of agendas.<\/p>\n

But, if it is true that all<\/em> of Scripture is, in the words of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, \u00a0“God-breathed,” and “useful for teaching,\u00a0rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,\u00a0so that the servant of God\u00a0may be thoroughly equipped for every good work?,” what does it mean to take the Bible seriously? \u00a0What does it mean to read the Bible faithfully and ethically? \u00a0What does it mean to interpret the Bible in such a way that it impacts how we live in the 21st century- so that it truly is God’s “living,” “breathing” Word for us?<\/p>\n

This morning fellow saint and sinner Paul Dover sent on this helpful critique by Rob Goodman<\/a>\u00a0for the likes of celebrity pastors like Rick Warren- and (I might add) Mark Driscoll- who mine the Bible as if it were a nutrition guide or sex manual. \u00a0Such approaches are in no way new to the evangelical world. \u00a0Before Warren and Driscoll (my addition, not Goodman’s), there were Bruce Wilkinson’s Prayer of Jabez\u00a0<\/em>and Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now,<\/em> Goodman notes. \u00a0He goes on to invite a more “ethical” approach when reading Scripture, one that asks us to view stories in Scripture for what they are- narratives that demand empathy for the characters and sensitivity to their contexts. \u00a0Ultimately, reading the Bible faithfully and with respect for biblical authority means being willing to “love the stranger” in these stories, Goodman writes; it means being willing to relinquish the selfish tendency to impose our own agendas on Scripture, be they a trimmer figure or a hotter sex life, so that we might encounter the Bible on its own<\/em> terms.<\/p>\n

Is the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego really about what to eat in order to lose a few pounds and squeeze into that size 4 dress hanging in the closet? \u00a0Is the Song of Songs really about how to spice up one’s sex life with some new moves in the bedroom (a la Driscoll)?\u00a0I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately, as I make my way through Rachel Held-Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood- (stay tuned for my upcoming review in the online ecumenical publication, Sermons That Work)– I’ve been obliged to reflect on the nature of “biblical authority.” \u00a0This is a term that we evangelicals love:\u00a0we have been known to throw it around to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,711,65,962],"tags":[719,514,407,1002,358,409,360,406,1003],"class_list":["post-2650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marriage","category-supernaturalism","category-the-bible","category-writing","tag-biblical-authority","tag-celebrity-pastors","tag-daniel-plan","tag-evangelicals-and-bible","tag-mark-driscoll","tag-obesity","tag-rachel-held-evans","tag-rick-warren","tag-time-magazine"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Rick Warren's Daniel Plan An Exercise in "Selfish" Bible Reading? - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/08\/is-rick-warrens-daniel-plan-just-selfish-bible-reading.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Rick Warren's Daniel Plan An Exercise in "Selfish" Bible Reading? - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lately, as I make my way through Rachel Held-Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood- (stay tuned for my upcoming review in the online ecumenical publication, Sermons That Work)– I’ve been obliged to reflect on the nature of “biblical authority.” \u00a0This is a term that we evangelicals love:\u00a0we have been known to throw it around to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/08\/is-rick-warrens-daniel-plan-just-selfish-bible-reading.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristina.robbdover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-20T13:05:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-19T20:30:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristina Robb-Dover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Rick Warren's Daniel Plan An Exercise in \"Selfish\" Bible Reading? 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