New Scriptural Lenses

Friday night I again traveled with my sister to North Dallas to attend Oasis Prayer (Muslim prayer time). Friday was a special night because we were blessed to have a man named Nabeel Jabbour with us. Nabeel works with The Navigators and specializes in Eastern thought. He explained to us that there are 4 paradigms in the Bible that we use to teach scripture. 1) guilt and righteousness, 2) shame and honor, 3) clean and unclean, 4) fear and power. He told us that as westerners we latch onto the guilt and righteous paradigm because it follows a logical progression. Most of us are familiar with the Roman Road because it also follows the logical progression, and that it how many of us tell unbelievers about Christ. However, Muslims do not feel guilt. I know, weird phenomenon, but they don't ever feel guilty. So if I explain the gospel to them using the Roman road, or really any of Paul's epistles, it doesn't stick with them because they can't connect with the guilt righteousness paradigm.

When Paul wrote his epistles, he wrote them to the Greeks. When Jesus was speaking about the kingdom of heaven He did not tell people about a step by step process, He spoke in parables because He spoke to the Hebrews. Jesus' parables contain a wealth of information that Easterners can relate to. Though they don't feel guilty, they do feel unclean and shameful. That is the root of their concern and when you speak to them about cleanliness, or honor it hits home and settles in their heart.

Nabeel walked us through several parables to teach us what to look for when reading the Bible with these new scriptural lenses. The most powerful parable was that of the prodigal son. I had never heard the story explained the way Nabeel explained it, but it makes perfect sense. When I read the story with the shame/honor paradigm in mind and know just even a little bit about the culture in those times, the story came to life in a way it never had before. It refreshed me and drew me closer to Jesus because I could see how this story was alive, and still impacted so many people. A story I once regarded as a child's story; a good Sunday school lesson, now has new meaning and lessons for me to learn.

It also provokes questions that need to be answered:

How does this story parallel the life of Jesus? In my mind, I'm the prodigal son. I grasp onto the sin of entitlement, I think I am "entitled" to my wants/desires. I am a sinner, who thankfully was broken and came back to my heavenly father, hoping He would accept me as His servant. Instead of rejecting me, as He should have done, He runs to greet me, not caring if He looks like a fool. He opens His arms and accepts me into His family, and all heaven rejoices that I have come. The older brother is a like the pharisees. He works hard, obeys the laws, but does not understand mercy and grace. He does not think I deserve such treatment, for I have done nothing to earn it, and he's right. I have done nothing to deserve God's love, but He continually gives it to me.

Why does the story abruptly end? We never find out what happens. I want to know how the older brother reacts. But the story is just cut off after the father's gentle rebuke to his oldest son. If we're still paralleling this to the life of Christ, then here's what happens in my imagination. The older son leaves his father's home angry and upset and the father goes back into the house to serve the guests at the party. While in town the son starts spreading lies about his father, wanting to drag his reputation through the mud. He wants people to despise his father the way he does, so he'll tell them anything to make them attack him, which they do. The people attack and crucify him, even though he committed no sin. The son is the pharisees, while the father is Jesus. I have no biblical basis for this thought, but it's how I imagine the story unfolding.

I took 4 pages of notes during this 45 minute lecture. It was refreshing to be in a learning environment, and I was reminded that I'm always in a learning environment, if I'm only patient enough to listen. God graciously reveals Himself to me in new ways all the time, I just need to look at my life and the world through His eyes, not my own.

God's ways continually amaze me. I was so nervous the first time I traveled to this prayer meeting, that I felt sick to my stomach, I didn't want to be stretched or pulled outside my comfort zone. Now, just one week later the group, through God's grace, is enriching my life and giving me a fresh perspective on Bible lessons I've heard since I was a child. God is so good!!