One of the challenges that we have in reading Scripture as western white folks is that we tend to read anything that says "you" as "me"--an individual.
But in the culture that the Scripture was written, the corporate you was the default understanding. It was a culture full of people who understood their identity to be much more deeply tied to the corporate community (and the specific geography, for that matter)--family, town, synagogue were much more prominent in the self-understanding of the times.
As a result, we miss the rich corporate nature of the Biblical story that is tacit and implicit in the narrative. And, as a result, our "applications" of our Scripture readings are understood as a private, personal affair rather than something that implicates all of us who are in this together. I am accountable to not only these Scriptures but to my neighbor who is reading this in community along with me.
So try this next time you're reading your Bibles: put a "ya'll" in place of the "you" and see how that changes things...or maybe "you's guys" for those of you more north of the Mason-Dixon line.
3 comments:
That's actually an advantage of the old King James - there is that very distinction between thee/thou and you/ye.
AK - thank you. Succinct and awesome, summarizing one of the truths the Church needs to grasp.
I think you have hit on something very KEY in today's evangelical culture. We do indeed tend to look at things (Scripture) froma ME first perspective. I think the advent of Christian counseling plays a part in this as well. Before we understand that there is a God and He has a wonderful plan for our lives, we first need to understand that there is a God and He has a wonderful plan for mankind. We need to see ourselves as part of a bigger picture and bigger plan. I think this is where Christian counseling has hurt Christianity. We tend to funnel new Christians straight to self-awareness (and not much beyond that) before giving them full comprehension and education as to what they are now part of.
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