It does not take a rocket scientist for people to look at the church today and see that it is in trouble. There are four times as many churches closing as there are new ones starting. There seems to be a lack of nerve and courage for many western Christians as the church continues to not disciple its own members much less produce the kind of environments that would disciple the community around them. Where are the saints of God? Where are the prophets and poets and dreamers of God? It seems like when modern Christians read their Bible (if they read it at all), they lack imagination to engage the biblical text and the world around them. I suspect there was more Christian imagination going on in the monestaries of the time people want to call "the dark ages" than the kind of stunted imaginations today that can't see what God is doing around them and fails to dream daring dreams for God. So let me start with one example on how Christians need to "see" farther and go deeper when it comes to God's Word and how it works out in the world.
There is a incredible encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees over the Mosaic law and its meaning. The whole issue concerns divorce and can people get divorced for almost any reason? Jesus answers them in the nineteenth chapter of Matthew and tells them "what God has joined together, let no one separate." There is so much more to say here but I want to focus on the follow-up question to Jesus about why did Moses give the permission to divorce like he did? This was not just Moses words but a commandement given from God. Jesus says in verse eight that "because of the hardness of your hearts, (God) permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."
Jesus answers the question of why does God allow for divorce? Because of the hardness of our hearts. It is not God's will that people should get divorced, God hates divorce (check out the last chapter of the book of Malachi). But doesn't God's Word give permission or says it's okay to do it? Unless we understand the spiritual meaning of God's Word and read the Bible with spiritual eyes and not just eyes of flesh, we will miss both the intent and meaning of many Scriptures. Some people get hung up on all the violence in the Bible, the brutal treatment of women at times, slavery, holy wars, and polygamy. Why are these things in the Bible and why does it seems like the Bible condones or give permission for such things? Because of the hardness of our hearts! Until we start reading God's Word with out hearts and not just our heads, our hearts may stay hard and unchanged rather than being transformed by the heart of God.
