Is the Bible Still Relevant Today?
"There’s another way to survive – mutual trust and help."
This post is adapted from some sections of Chapter 1 in my book, Jesus and Captain Kirk.
The subtitle of today’s blog is a quote from Captain Kirk, but I’ve lost which episode it’s from. I’ve always loved that line. I think it very nicely summarizes what Social Democracy is all about. However, and with no disrespect intended to the creators of Star Trek, if I’d been writing the lines for that show I’d have made a slight change to say it more forcefully:
"There’s a better way to survive – mutual trust and help. In the long run, it’s the only way we will."
Mutual trust. The values of compassion by which we help each other, rather than use our strength to prey on weaker people and nations, isn’t just ‘another way’, it’s the best way, and frankly if we want to survive this nuclear age, it’s the ONLY WAY.
In the words of Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Enterprise:
“The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.”
In the fictional world of Star Trek, money is obsolete. Hunger and poverty have been eliminated. Children don’t go without food or education just because they don’t have the cash.
I think the creators of Star Trek were on to something, but Jesus was already talking about this two thousand years ago. He said, “Whatever you wish that others would do for you, do also for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Mat.7:12). This has been referred to as “The Golden Rule”, and for good reason.
It would certainly solve a lot of the world’s problems in short order if we took this simple command to heart. Taken together with other biblical precepts, such as ‘don’t be greedy’, and ‘be generous to the poor’, we could eliminate much of the poverty and suffering in the world.
Some of the more practical implications are pretty straightforward. For starters, we would consider the welfare and betterment of others in our decision making, rather than enrich ourselves at their expense.
Wealthy corporations and shareholders might be more willing to make a little less (and still be rich), and share more of the profits with their workers, so that they could earn a decent living wage.
We would likely not see corporate executives getting paid, on average, 265 times the average worker.[1] Think about that: the average worker has to labor 265 years just to earn what the typical CEO gets in one year.
In stark contrast to the values of our society, Jesus taught that we should not chase money and possessions; that it was more blessed to give than to receive. He taught against materialism and greed.
Jesus said rich people were going to hell, not because they were rich, but because they ignored the plight of the poor. The prophets warned the rich that God’s judgment was coming upon them because they enriched themselves at the expense of others, and robbed workers of fair wages.
Yet, as Ron Sider says, advertising companies spend billions of dollars every year “to convince us that Jesus was wrong about the abundance of possessions,” and that greed and materialism really is the true path to happiness.[2]
Modern Western culture has enshrined business success at almost any cost and places profits ahead of people. In glaring contrast we find that there is no tolerance in Scripture for bettering ourselves at the expense of others. As the Bible points out, “love does no wrong” (Romans 13:8-10). This is much needed in today’s world torn with greed, racism, strife, and inequality.
Many people today dismiss the Bible as irrelevant, but the problem is with us. It’s our society that is getting it backwards. Could it be that the words of Christ are simply too far ahead of us, and we just aren’t willing to make the necessary structural changes in our society? Future generations may well judge 21st century American attitudes as archaic and irrelevant, not the biblical message.
If the Bible is the word of God, then we could rightly expect it to be superior to our society in many respects. Which means it will run counter to our culture in those areas where our culture has gone wrong. Any God who is worthy of the title is going to pose a cosmic authority problem for any society.
So let’s take a closer look at this cosmic authority problem.
Do We Spend Money to Build More Prisons, or on Education for Lower Income Kids?
In 2020 a 63-year-old man, Fair Wayne Bryant, was released from prison after serving 23 years for the unarmed, non-violent theft of a pair of hedge clippers.[3] Kalief Browder spent 3 years in jail, without trial, after being accused of stealing a backpack by a single witness. He was only 17.
These are not isolated incidents. The justice system in America is sending tens of thousands of people to jail for minor, non-violent offenses.
This excessive punishment has resulted in America having the highest incarceration rate on the planet.
Many states have a ‘3 Strikes’ law that requires mandatory life sentencing, with no chance of parole, for people convicted three times regardless of how minor the crimes may be. This results in people going to jail for the rest of their lives even for minor offenses.
“In an open letter to the Washington State voters, more than 20 current and former prosecutors urged the public to vote against the ‘3 Strikes’ proposal. To explain why they opposed the law's passage, they described the following scenario:
"An 18-year old high school senior pushes a classmate down to steal his Michael Jordan $150 sneakers -- Strike One; he gets out of jail and shoplifts a jacket from the Bon Marche, pushing aside the clerk as he runs out of the store -- Strike Two; he gets out of jail, straightens out, and nine years later gets in a fight in a bar and intentionally hits someone, breaking his nose -- criminal behavior, to be sure, but hardly the crime of the century, yet it is Strike Three. He is sent to prison for the rest of his life."”[4]
“An eye for an eye”[5] is often maligned because it is misunderstood to be an endorsement to seek revenge. But this biblical law was intended to limit punishment to be in proportion to the crime.
It means that if you are guilty, you get to make fair restitution and move on with your life. If you steal a loaf of bread, a backpack or a gardening tool, you return the item or repay its value and it’s over. You don’t get your hand amputated[6] or spend years locked in a cage.
It means that the punishment is not to be in excess of the crime, which must also mean that it does not brand you for the rest of your life. This biblical law allows for a second chance. According to the ACLU:
“Eliminating the possibility of parole ignores the fact that even the most incorrigible offenders can be transformed while in prison. Countless examples are on record of convicts who have reformed themselves through study, good works, religious conversion or other efforts during years spent behind bars. Such people deserve a second chance that "3 Strikes" laws make impossible.”[7]
The biblical principle is that if you are guilty of a crime, you make restitution, and then you get to move on. This ethic of extending forgiveness includes forgetfulness. When something is forgiven, it is forgotten as if it never happened. There is no further punishment. You are not branded for life. It is not something that dogs you forever.
In America, criminals are marked for life. Even after they are released it follows them forever. It is never forgotten. Finding a decent job or a place to live becomes extremely difficult because all applications have that question about prior convictions. They are not being given a second chance. They may no longer be sitting in prison, but they are still being punished for the rest of their lives, even for minor offenses.
The accusation against Kalief Browder turned out to be false. He was completely innocent, but still spent 3 years in jail before authorities figured that out.
But even if Kalief had stolen the backpack – so what? Why jail? Since when is a backpack worth years in jail and destroying a young man’s life over?[8] An eye for an eye… a backpack for a backpack.
In the case of Fair Wayne Bryant, the hedge clippers he stole were worth maybe $25. At minimum wage, that’s about 4 hours of work. A half day of community service at most if he didn’t have the cash to make restitution. Certainly not 23 years.
We can take this even further. This biblical principle is meant to place limits on punishment, but it’s not a command that we have to punish. Listen to what Jesus had to say about it: “You’ve heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’. But I say unto you, do not resist the one who is evil. If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone sues you for your tunic, let him have your cloak as well…Give to the one who begs of you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow.” (Matthew 5:38-42).
This ethic is reflected throughout the New Testament. In 1 Peter 3:9 we find: “do not trade insult for insult, evil for evil, but on the contrary bless.” In Romans 12:17-21 we read: “Repay no one evil for evil…do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
This may be too progressive even for many in the liberal extremities of the Democratic Party. Turn the other cheek. If someone wants to take your shirt, let him have your coat too.
See that kid trying to take your backpack? Give him some school supplies to go with it, and send him on his way.
Rather than criminalize minor, non-violent offenses, let’s address the underlying structural problems in our society. Instead of building more prisons, spend the money on schools and subsidize lower income kids to get a good education so that they can have a realistic alternative to working for minimum wage for the rest of their lives. Pay for them to become lawyers, architects, engineers and auto mechanics. Or do we just keep building more prisons?
This is where the message of Christ takes us, if we’d pay attention. Why is it we are willing to spend the money to incarcerate people for non-violent offenses, but not on schools to educate them?
[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/424159/pay-gap-between-ceos-and-average-workers-in-world-by-country/
[2] Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, p. 27
[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louisiana-man-fair-wayne-bryant-who-spent-23-years-in-prison-for-stealing-hedge-clippers-granted-parole/
[4] www.aclu.org/other/10-reasons-oppose-3-strikes-youre-out
[5] Lev.24:20; Ex.21:24; Deut.19:21.
[6] Many ancient cultures typically amputated hands, even for something as minor as stealing an apple. We may not cut off limbs – instead we just send them to prison for years.
[7] www.aclu.org/other/10-reasons-oppose-3-strikes-youre-out
[8] Kalief never recovered from the trauma and committed suicide two years after his release.
[9] This is one of the most cited Old Testament passages in the New Testament: Mat. 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8.