The Use of Didactic Materials from the Bible in Spiritual Formation: Part One

The Use of Didactic Materials from the Bible in Spiritual Formation

Part One

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This popular adage is normally applied to instruct a friend or a child to be more sensitive toward another person whose first impressions may rub some spots raw. It should equally be applied to the book of books, the Bible. The various pages of this collection of individual books divided into two sections, The Old Testament and the New Testament appearing chronologically on either side of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, contain varying genres, or styles of writing.

Poetry is easily recognized on most printed pages by the unusual format, although there are various subtypes that appear in poetic form: songs, hymns, proverbs, and prophetic utterances. The bulk of the material appears in prose form, word after word from beginning to the end of a line followed consecutively by more words forming sentences, paragraphs and entire chapters. Yet within these many words punctuation marks often distinguish between types: narratives frequently include “direct quotations” and “verbal command are identified with a punctuation mark!” Yet many lines have no identifying marks except for the comma and period. A third concern that frequently requires a touch of sensitivity so as not to draw the wrong conclusion appears in the voice of address used. The biblical text may simply be telling a story in the third person as it describes the actions of David, Samuel, Jeremiah, or Jesus. Yet other times it will use the second person form of address when “you” is/are included in the reading. Is the “you” singular-an individual reader- or plural-a community of readers? It is difficult to tell in most English translations.

A final distinction among prose writing comes in the oft-misunderstood teaching sections, where instructional, or didactic, words are written to an audience prior to the first century of our calendar. What shall I do with these words of instruction that most often seem foreign or address issues I am not encumbered with? That becomes the issue when you and I attempt to read the Bible to gain spiritual nourishment from the river of life. Didactic materials are focused primarily in the New Testament letters, although it is not unusual to encounter such materials in the Old Testament in places like Jeremiah 29, where Jeremiah writes to the exiles living in Babylon sometime between 597 and 587 B.C. Because mining for gold requires finding a rich vein, you and I will do most of our excavation where we know gold may be found.

Old Testament Prophets

This Blog was originally written in September 2014 but was never posted.

Recently our university hosted Palmer Chinchen, author of The Barefoot Tribe, on campus. During a very pleasant conversation over a Vietnamese dinner, he began to mention his focus on Justice. The word itself echoes powerfully in the ear of the reader who has spent time in the prophetic books of the canon. Justice is a critical theme for the prophets; it has to do with setting the world aright under God’s plan.

Therefore, return to your God,
Observe kindness and justice,
And wait for your God continually. (Hosea 12:6, NAS95)

The justice Palmer mentioned was surprising to me since he used no modifier in front of it as so many proponents use: Social Justice, Economic Justice, Legal Justice, etc. Later in a hallway conversation with James Bryan Smith, the two recognized that they are using different words to propose the same concept: Christ-imitating behavior.

Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:23-24. NAS95)

 The role of the prophet in the Old Testament was to help others confront false narratives. The basic narrative needing correction was that Israel’s powerful, important people (kings) were not gods, as many nations around them held their kings to be. Instead, they were to be God’s representatives on earth to insure that powerful, wealthy and influential individuals did not allow selfishness and personal ambition to overrun the status and personhood of their weak, poor, and common countryman. In other words, the King was to insure Justice. The prophet’s role was to remind the ruler of his duty to enforce justice.

Another role of the prophets was to remind the rulers (that’s normally who they talk to!) that there was one and only one God in Israel. Idolatry was not going to go unpunished since it eroded the people’s participation in their covenantal obligations. Idolatry by the leaders was mirrored among the common people. The prophet served as the moral compass and conscience for the nation when they forgot their spiritual center.

What, then, can we learn today from the prophets of old, if anything, about spiritual formation?

First and foremost, God indicates through the prophets that the activity of his people is to protect the rights of the poor and helpless. Those who are engaged in spiritual formation to be shaped into the likeness of God and his son Jesus must consider their treatment of the less fortunate as a primary responsibility.

‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ (Zechariah 7:9-10, NAS95)

Second, the role of the followers of Jesus is to remind their sojourners of the danger of beginning to lose sight of the holiness of God. The culture in which we live offers a multitude of attractions a follower of Jesus can pursue if he/she becomes stagnate in his/her life or relies on the activity of God at an earlier time of life to substitute for a living encounter with God’s presence in the now time.

Followers of Jesus must serve a prophetic role within their community of co-followers and gently encourage one another to return to a trusting, enlivening relationship with Jesus. More importantly followers of Jesus must be willing to build transparency within their community that allows them to listen and respond to brothers and sisters who bring a word of correction through the Spirit of God’s leaning. We do not walk alone!

 And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 7:13, NAS95)