What the Bible Says

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash one another's feet."  Jesus

The older I get, the more I enjoy observing human behavior, especially human religious behavior, I am amused and amazed at how Christians pick and choose which parts of the Bible they decide to believe and to practice.  Over the years I have heard hundreds of times someone tell me the basis of their belief on some particular thing is because of "what the Bible says."

The Bible says a lot.  I am not the first to notice that you can pick any issue--moral, social, political, sexual and find a Bible verse for or against it.  And then the Christian public chooses the verse or verses that support that point of view.  For those people who cherry pick a few verses to be against homosexuality, for example, they either overlook or ignore other verses that are direct commands. If you look, you will find particular verses in both the Old and the New Testaments that forbid a man to lie with another man.  And even in Leviticus that such behavior is "an abomination to  the Lord." So yes, that's "what the Bible says."  But the Bible says a lot of things. A few verses from this abomination is that it's an abomination to eat anything that lives in water.  And then in the same book that it's okay to own slaves of foreigners, but not of the people of Israel.  It's even okay to "pass them down for generations." The New Testament  says for women to keep silent in the church. For women not to cut their hair.  For women not to wear jewelry. For women not to wear a man's clothing.  And much for men to do and not to do. Shouldn't we be just as concerned about "what the Bible says" about all that as we are about homosexuals?  Is it possible that our opinion has much more to do with our own discomfort with homosexuality than  with "what the Bible says"?  Am I just as uncomfortable eating fish?

And then for those who take specific direct commands to heart, instead of seeing the command as a metaphor and as a possibility, they see it as doctrine to be followed religiously and fundamentally.
Most modern versions totally leave out Mark Chapter 16 as material that was added later. But in the many versions you will find in that chapter a command to "take up serpents and drink poison" in Jesus' name.  Thousands of Appalachians, especially in rural Kentucky, have taken this as a literal command.  They base their entire doctrine and services of worship around the practice of handling poisonous snakes.  Although many have reached a state of ecstasy, many "snake handlers" have died in the process. These people preach that this is "what the Bible says."  And it does.

Jesus didn't suggest we wash each other's feet as He had washed His disciples' feet; He commanded us to do so.  This  is not only "what the Bible says", it's what Jesus Himself said.   So a few churches and even entire denominations carry out this commandment literally. They not only incorporate foot washings into their worship, but practice this ordinance every Sunday as a commandment of the Lord. After all, it was a commandment of the Lord.

Here again I think they miss the point which is a metaphor.  In that barefoot or sandal clad culure involving hot and dusty roads, having your feet washed by your host was a soothing and comforting thing.  In our culture there are better ways to put our guests at ease and to make them welcome. "Here, let me take your coat." "Would you like something to drink?"

When I was a teenager koinonia broke out in our town involving youth groups of many different churches. Then the experience spread to neighboring towns and cities.  We couldn't get enough of each other. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Charismatics and more. We met. We sang and swayed to "Pass it On" and "One in the Spirit"  We attended both formal meetings in churches and informal gatherings around evening campfires.

If we were not having enough fun already, a trio of two young women and a man came to our town fresh from the Jesus Movement in California.  Kim, Pat, and Skip were three marvelous people and were a literal trio bringing the latest of  Jesus music to Enterprise, Alabama. One afternoon a few of us found ourselves praying together in the beautiful sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church. Joe,their youth director, was a part of our movement and was our hook up to that particular place of worship. Pat left the room and returned with a handful of wet paper towels.  She asked us to take off our shoes and socks, and proceeded to wash our feet, praying for each of us one by one. I don't know what it was like for anyone else, but I found the experience to be comforting, loving and even somewhat sensual.  I didn't then and there decide to find a foot-washing church, but for that moment it was one of the most endearing acts of love and kindness ever given to me.

Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  I don't think that's just a good idea.  I think that is the only way that humans will learn to live with each other in love and peace. After all, "that's what the Bible says."