Better Ways to Read the Bible - The Flourishing Lens

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been using Zach Lambert’s book, Better Ways to Read the Bible, to take a look at different lenses through which we read scripture—by lenses, we mean sets of assumptions that we filter the scripture through, as we attempt to make meaning out of an ancient text. For the first three weeks of this series, we looked at unconstructive lenses that Christians have used—lenses of literalism, moralism, hierarchy. Then for the last couple of weeks, we started focusing on lenses for reading scripture that are more constructive—ways that help us understand what God intends for these sacred texts to tell us. First, we looked at the Jesus lens, asking ourselves if a scripture is in alignment with the person, work, or teachings of Jesus. Acknowledging that if it wasn’t, then it’s a big hint that we’ve misinterpreted or misunderstood what the scripture intends. Last week, we looked at the context lens, which takes into consideration a scripture’s historical setting, audience, and place in the larger story of scripture. Today, we look at the Flourishing Lens, which invites us to ask: does this reading of scripture lead to life? Does this interpretation lead to greater love, justice, and well-being for all?