Whose Side Are You On, Anyway?

Here are some stories from scripture we love:

The Israelites are freed from slavery under Egypt, crossing the parted Red Sea to freedom.

A young David takes on the giant, Goliath, winning a victory for his people against the Philistines.

Jesus kneels before Judas, washing his feet, even with full knowledge of what Judas is about to do. 

Ask the average Christian what these stories mean for us, and you are likely to get something like the following:

            God is a God of liberation, freeing those who are in bondage.

            God can overcome any obstacle, if only we will have faith. 

Jesus modeled forgiveness of our enemies, even including them in the most intimate moments.

Those are good lessons.  They are classic Sunday School, classic sermons you’ve no doubt heard before. 

And they all suffer from the same myopic of interpretation: They all assume we should put ourselves in the place of the ‘hero.’  We are Israel.  We are David.  We are Jesus. 

What kind of lessons do these passages teach if we put ourselves in the other’s shoes?  What if we are Egypt, not Israel?  What if we are Goliath, not David?  What if we are Judas, not Jesus?

What do we learn then?

If we oppress folks, God will act against us to free them.

If we stand against the will of God, no matter how strong we might be, God will knock us down with the smallest pebble. 

If we betray Jesus with either our lack of faith or desire to rush the Kingdom, we are still loved and forgiveness is still possible…

When we read scripture, it’s important to try on all the shoes of any one story.  There’s so much more to learn about God than the first and most popular understanding of any text.

I invite you to read your favorite story this week and see what God has to teach you!