Four ways of understanding the Bible
Part 4 – Flourishing

This year, I want to learn how to study the Bible focused on Jesus, and it will have 4 parts.

• Jesus
• Context
• Fruitfulness
• Flourishing

Flourishing. It has different meanings to different people. God wants us to flourish, but what do we need to do to flourish? God gave his people laws to help them, but in reply to those who thought rules were all there was, Jesus replied that the whole of the law could be summed up in two sayings: Love God and love your neighbour.

Individual flourishing

Expanding what Jesus said about loving your neighbour, there are two extra words of importance, “As yourself.” I used to have no problem with loving my neighbour as I loved myself, that was because I did not love myself. I was focused on a God of justice who looked at my sins and I hated that it seemed I could do nothing about them. So I hated myself and loathed other people the same way. Self-loathing can be self-destructive.

It was when I became aware of God’s love for me that I began to realise what loving my neighbour as myself meant, and how difficult it is. Hating people that hate you only creates more hate and the only reason why the earth hasn’t imploded is that there are a lot of people who don’t hate. The commandment of Jesus is love.

Flourishing of the Christian Community

“Look how these Christians love each other,” was an insult. A first-century society could not understand a society which is not defined by those who are outside it. Neither can ours. But the early Church thrived, not because they did not have problems, they had lots, but because they supported each other through them. Acts 15 describes a divided church: Non Jews were becoming Christians and they debated whether the males among them should be circumcised.

Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians uncovers many problems, too. They argued over leadership, there were problems with incest, people were being gluttons at the Communion feasts whilst others went empty, and others. But the church was flourishing despite all this – Jesus was present through his Spirit.

Flourishing of all people

We should read the Bible in ways that promote the flourishing of all people, especially the liberation of the oppressed.

In an interview last November, the UK Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, said that welfare spending was unchristian.

She is right because there is a Christian emphasis on work and caring for your family.

She is wrong because:

• These instructions were written to church communities, not governments.
• They address idleness, not poverty.
• They are pastoral advice, not economic blueprints.

Modern v. biblical justice

But there is another side to God’s justice.

In the Old Testament:

• Gleaning laws force landowners to leave food for the poor, Leviticus 19:9-10
• The triennial tithe funds a social safety net: Deuteronomy 14:28-29
• The Year of Jubilee resets the whole economic system to prevent generational poverty: Leviticus 25: 13 & 35

In the New Testament

• Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 makes care for “the least of these” a measure of true faith:  Matthew 25:34-36
• In Acts, resources are shared so there are no needy people among them: Acts 2:44
• The famine relief collection in Acts 11 is basically coordinated international development: Acts 11:29.

I have used Bible Gateway, they provide a “read full chapter” link if you wish to check for context.

The chart below uses part of a grid from the Grace and Truth blog. (I also used an article from there for the Bible references.)

Left side	Tribal theology	Right side
Social	Emphasis	Personal
Corporate	Focus of God’s concern	Individual
Social injustice	Humanity’s predicament	Personal sin

What we see here are radical and conservative sides to justice in Christianity, those to the left favour social justice and those to the right focus on personal sin.

Jesus was not like either of these. To Jesus, justice is both a deep, personal transformation and a call to active, communal responsibility for the well-being of all, especially the vulnerable and oppressed. He is not on the radical or conservative sides, but weaves them together as if they were all part of the same thing.

In flourishing, we have to look for the flourishing of other people as well as take our own failings seriously. look for this when reading the Bible. It is there not to make us comfortable, it often isn’t, but to give us God’s perspective on all people. God wants all to flourish, not just the powerful or wealthy. As Jesus said about those who seek power or money or to impress others: They already have their reward. See Matthew 6:1-18. I wrote on it here.

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The Bible and Jesus
Intro | Jesus | Context | Fruitfulness | Flourishing