The book says it best:
Our confidence in a stable and orderly universe leads us to prioritize rules over relationships, but it does more than that. The Western commitment to rules and laws make it difficult for us to imagine a valid rule to which there may be valid exceptions. When we begin to think of the world in terms of relationships instead of rules, however, we must acknowledge that things are never so neat and orderly and that rules are not as dependable as we once imagined. When relationships are the norming factor in the cosmos, we should expect exceptions. (p. 166)
The Covenant was not in the rules, but in the relationship. Do we get hung up on Paul’s decision to circumcise Timothy, yet making such a big deal of keeping Gentiles away from circumcision? Then we do not understand that the priority was not the rule, but the relationship. The Jews in Lystra knew Timothy, and circumcision was the only way to prevent locking out the gospel message.
The authors try to build a parable about faith as a journey on a path, as Jesus said it, and we might veer left (liberal) or right (strict) to avoid the ditches on either side. Do you understand that if you stumble to one side, the Spirit will move you to turn the other way? The leadership of the Holy Spirit is not the same for any two people. Yes, what’s right for one may not be right for another. That’s because our God is not a stack of rules (as with legalism) but a Person who knows each of us better than we know ourselves.
Jesus told one prospect to sell all He had, but Peter had a different standard applied to him. The prophet Hosea warned Ephraim that God would separate from the tribe (representing the whole northern kingdom), yet a couple of chapters later lamented that He couldn’t give them up. God Himself speaks through Joshua that no one in the land would retain their inheritance with Israel, yet Rahab got one, and Achan was cut off. Both were handled as collectives, as well.
Paul said women cannot teach, but the argument can be made that Priscilla and Junia did. Our concept of rules and laws are not at all the same as non-western cultures.
What the book does not dare to suggest is that reality itself is nowhere near as reliable as science imagines. It’s too easy to filter out samples that don’t fit the pattern. Radix Fidem has long taught that reality itself is somewhat variable from one person to the next. The problem is that we do not understand.
The chapter continues on a related theme in the next post.