Integrity - at what cost?

"Some people like my advice so much that they frame it upon the wall instead of using it."
--Gordon R. Dickson, American author

I wonder how often Jesus has said the same thing?

Put plainly, if our study of God's Word is an intellectual journey void of real-world application, it's a false journey that does not please God. Time and again the Holy Spirit tells us that it is the "doing" of God's word that is important, not the hearing. Are you ever struck by situations in your life that cause you to come face-to-face with a principle, and you're put in a position of having to decide if you'll live out what you've claimed in theory? That happened to me today.

This last Sunday, my husband co-taught a Bible class based on Jesus' "sermon on the mount," and this particular lesson was all about deep integrity. Jesus calls us to be people of such integrity that there's no oath or swearing we can add to our words that would make them be any more meaningful. In class they read from Randy Harris' book, "Living Jesus" about a question Randy poses his students every year. We all like to say that we are honest people and wouldn't lie, but Randy challenges us to see if we would stick to that when the stakes are high. Here's his scenario (and I'm paraphrasing it here):

Imagine you are a college senior in the last semester before graduation. You are an accounting major and seemingly have everything lined up perfectly; you have a fiancé ready to marry you after graduation, you have a job offer with a reputable firm, and everything seems to be falling into place. The only problem is, you find out that you are short one class in Literature of all subjects! The registrar fits you in to the last class available on classic American literature. All semester long you plod through books like The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, and To Kill a Mockingbird. You've read each one and done well on the tests. The final book assigned is Moby Dick -- all 800+ pages of it. And it's all about whaling. You are from a small farming town in Kansas, and the thought of reading about whaling - especially with the semester winding down and all of the graduation ducks lining up - is just more than you can bear ... so you read the Cliff's Notes and watch both Moby Dick movies. You feel confident that you can answer any question on the final regarding any question the professor could throw at you about Moby Dick. But to your shock, when the final is handed out there is only one question to the whole exam: Did you read "Moby Dick?" Your Literature grade - your credits necessary for college graduation - which are needed to land that good job and be able to marry your waiting fiancé -- that all rests on the back of one question. Did you read "Moby Dick?"

What would you answer?

According to Randy Harris, year after year 95% of his students say they would lie on the question. (He also wonders how many of the 5% lied about the fact that they would lie.)

Today I had an appointment with my rheumatologist - the specialist who coordinates the bulk of the care regarding my very rare autoimmune condition, Behçet's Disease (BD). Because my disease is so rare - the most common figure I hear is that there is somewhere between 10,000-15,000 people in the United States with that condition. (For comparison, the football stadium at my alma mater - Boise State University - currently holds 34,000 people.) Last spring I started receiving infusions of a chemotherapy drug called Remicade to treat my BD, but because Remicade is not labeled by the FDA for use with BD, my insurance company revoked the coverage and I had to discontinue my infusions - therefore losing the benefits I had already gained in just 3 treatments. In my appointment today my doctor talked to me about some of my options - but sadly, there aren't too many out there. (The next medication we're looking to start is Enbrel, which would be a weekly injection I would give myself in the muscles in my abdomen.) The same problem exists with every medication - there is no such thing as a medication labeled by the FDA for Behçet's. Most insurance companies will approve "lesser" medications in a situation like this, when valid use can be assumed for conditions similar to those on the label. However, the more expensive the medication gets the more incentive the insurance company has to deny the claim - and considering that each Remicade infusion costs around $20,000 (and I'd get an infusion every 6 weeks), they have a lot of incentive to deny me! To fully understand the benefit of these medications you'd have to fully understand the devastating effects of a chronic autoimmune disease like BD, which is not something I'll get into in this post. Suffice it to say it is a life-altering disease, which steals away much quality of life from those who have it and the loved ones around them. There is no cure, and few adequate treatments.

So here's where it gets sticky: my rheumatologist suggested that he simply write into my chart a diagnosis that I don't have (such as Rheumatoid Arthritis) - one that is already on the label for the medications we are considering - so that I could be approved, receive the medication, and better control my symptoms thus improving our quality of life.

  

What would you answer?

This reminds me all too much of the warning we find in the book of Job:

"Be careful, do not turn to evil, for you have preferred this to affliction."

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Contrary to Popular Opinion

At one time or another we've all been excited to see a movie because of all the hype we've heard about it - only to be dismally disappointed. (I'm still sore about the fact that I lost two hours of my life to watching "Transformers 2.") In fact, it's gotten to the point where the more hype I hear about a movie, the less interested I am in seeing it. Some shows that are known as "classics" just boggle my mind for how they've stood the test of time (all I really remember from "Gone With The Wind" was that a snobby girl made herself a dress out of curtains. And there was a fire. Frankly my dear .....) In one setting or another I think we've all experienced that feeling of total befuddlement when what we were told to expect doesn't match up to the actual scenario -- and I don't think there's a difference when it comes to matters of faith.

If there's one thing I've learned from reading the Bible for myself, it's that it doesn't say 95% of what people say it says.

Put another way, there have been times that I've wondered if I'm even reading the same Bible as other people. I've heard the quotes fly ... I've heard the philosophies explained ... I've seen the examples of what people say are biblical traits .... only to become convinced I must be reading an alien translation.

You know what I think the #1 reason is for this? People don't read the Bible. Christians don't read the Bible. Oh they might read an individual verse or section here and there - maybe they even have it written in an elegant font overlaid on a beautiful sunset photo - but they don't read the Bible. Let me be more specific: People don't read the Bible first, and then come up with conclusions. We have conclusions in our minds and then read the Bible for passages to use for justification. There are few conversations that have ever occurred in which tiny snippets couldn't be extracted from their context, rearranged, and Frankenstein-ed into some conversation foreign to the original meaning. Imagine for a moment that someone went through your sent emails and only pulled individual sentences out and pasted them into a new email. What crazy things could be written in your own words?? I'm not saying that most people intentionally distort the Bible. I'm saying that anything taken out of context could be dangerous - and more often than not, things from the Bible are taken out of context. Most often we hear people talk about individual verses - or worse, parts of individual verses - but rarely do we ever hear people talking about the big picture. We have memory verses* coming out our ears (and mouths), and the shorter they are the better. But how often do we talk about the principles, the situation, the context behind those verses??

Every spring near graduation time I see all kinds of paraphernalia - like picture frames and keychains and coffee mugs - sporting the uplifting "Scriptural promise" to the new grads: "I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) But do we EVER stop to wonder if God was actually talking to the present-day graduates from Yuba City High School when He said that?? Does it even apply to graduates, or newlyweds, or me? Does every verse in the Bible translate and apply directly to my life?

Are you shaking your head 'yes, it does' right now? OK, then try this on for size:

"Curse God and die." Job 2:9
"Continue in sin so that grace may increase." Romans 6:1
"You go, and do likewise." Luke 10:37
"Jesus said to him, 'What you are going to do, do quickly.'" John 13:27
OK OK OK ... so that was obviously an exaggerated example to prove a point. I don't hear many people going around preaching that we should curse God and die ..... but I do hear people seriously teaching all kinds of other things that are found nowhere in Scripture. How many times have we heard someone quote, "Thou shalt not judge" (which I personally think is the world's favorite Scripture), yet they never quote, "Judge with righteous judgment." Why is that?? Because they pick out the verse that suits their agenda and they fail to read the entire context. It's no wonder why some say the Bible is full of confusion and contradictions! A simple reading of the whole context is usually enough to dispel those allegations.  Some of the out-of-context things or matters of pure opinion that are believed/taught make no difference in the big picture of life. Whether or not a person believes that God used 6 literal 24-hour days or periods of time means nothing to my daily life (unless, of course, I make this matter of opinion an issue of fellowship; sadly this is done all too often). But what about the parts of Scripture that are sorely taken out of context and taught as a complete doctrine, when what the Bible teaches is drastically different?

.......

I just erased a big paragraph of examples that I had written. You know why? (a) This post is long enough already; but more importantly, (b) it's not about taking MY word for it. All I'm trying to do here is encourage people to read the Bible for themselves. All of it. Repeatedly. From different perspectives. We need to have the whole picture in mind before we have any business dissecting tiny parts of it. I am absolutely convinced that we - as a society (believers & not) need to take a loooong, hard, fresh look at what we've been convinced the Bible teaches. We need to be much slower to jump to the defense and longer to listen to those who have differing views. Whether or not you are a believer, reading the whole Bible for yourself will be one of the most "wait a minute!!!" moments you've had (and yes, I am also speaking to those who've read it many, many times. I could (and might?) write an entire post on the filters with which we approach the Bible.) The first time I ever read the Bible (before I even believed there was a god), my biggest impression of it all was: This doesn't teach at all what I've always heard that it taught. It's only been in the last couple years that I've been able to take a step back again and look at the Word of God afresh .... only to realize again - and even more so - that what I took in as "fact" was SO much more tradition and our culture than Scripture. I dare you ........ I triple dog dare you ...... to read the Bible for yourself.

And if right now all you are thinking about is all "those people" who have distorted and decontextualized Scripture, you've missed my entire point.

God is not the Author of confusion - yet we end up confused by the tidbits we have pulled out of context. We try to assemble a car while leaving half the pieces on the bench. I believe this is where the wisdom lies in the psalmist's statement, "The sum of Your word is truth." Jesus says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It is likely that if you feel weighed down by the demands & commands of Christianity that you have swallowed more tradition & manmade doctrine than you have ingested the pure & simple words of the Lord. I know I did, for several years. Peeling back the layers of tradition from the pure Word of God is the most liberating thing I've ever done! One thing I need to specify though, just in case I have left a wrong impression: I am not claiming to have the monopoly on understanding God's Word. I am only saying that the one thing I do know for sure is that in too many people's minds, we have inextricably woven the laws & opinions of man with the pure Word of God.

*I'm not saying that memorizing parts of Scripture is bad; it can be quite helpful in some situations. I'm saying we have dissected the Word as a whole so much that it is hardly recognizable when we try to reassemble all the bite-sized pieces.