Pastor, Don't Teach Me Nonsense: Against Theological Violence (Part 4)
I learned years ago that Job lived before or at the same time as Abraham, so Genesis couldn't be the Bible's first book. Theological historians suggest Stephen Langton divided the Bible into chapters and verses. This, among other things, implies that when dealing with a text (Bible) that predates us, we must approach it with humility and an understanding of God's unchanging character but changing methods.
With this background in mind, we recognize the limitation of analogy and know that figures of speech such as simile and metaphor are tools to compare something we don’t know with something we know. For instance, when scripture says Jesus is a lion, it is a metaphor for his fierceness and not that he is that animal. Biblical literacy refers to this concept as an anthropomorphic term.
Theology of violence always links tragedy and mishap to sin. Some disciples of Jesus once touted a version of this when they asked Jesus who sinned that the man became blind (John 9:1-5) My PoP preached a sermon from this text long ago titled “Blame Game.” He said, if sin is the reason for blindness, every one of us will be born blind. Alternatively, there were those who went to Jesus to take pride in the misfortune of the 18 people on whom the wall of Siloam collapsed and those Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with the sacrifice. It is like going to Jesus and saying, "Jesus, did you see those people that Dangote's trailer crushed in Nigeria?" Jesus said to them, Do you think those who have problems are greater sinners than those who don't? unless you stop this kind of thinking (repent), the same thing will happen to you (Luke 13) In other words, our excellence or exception in times of crisis should not be a source of Christian arrogance; rather, it should inspire us to explore how we can prevent such situations through acts of love.
Today I want to celebrate my pastor of over 25 years. There was a time in my life when I believed life was not worth living. But God's word through his mouth kept me. He said, “If you kiell yourself over what has happened now, you deny yourself the opportunity to meet the future you, who you will become if you survive it.” In other words, don’t kell your tomorrow over your today.
He stepped down from the pulpit last Sunday, and I wept like a baby, but God comforted me through scripture in Isaiah 30:20-21. The voices of our teacher will always be present.
When "Nigerian happened" to me and my sister-mum, who later died due to the accident, this man did not blame me for my predicament. I have argued or disagreed with him on a few things, and I never felt threatened or feared any repercussions. I will miss him, but i know he deserves every rest he can get. He, like David has not only served his generation; he has served future generations as well (Acts 13:36).
Our theology should liberate and not hold people in bondage. If someone tells you that you can only prosper in their church, run.
