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| Paul: Writing, not underwriting |
Paul’s letter to the Galatians (which is thought by most scholars to be authentically his) rebukes them for their tendencies towards legalistic exclusivity. What might Paul have thought about these particular Medi-Share eligibility requirements: all members must believe in one particular version of Christianity; each member must be a U. S. citizen, and/or have a social security number; no member can use tobacco. These are just three of the numerous (and deeply-personal) “musts” on the Medi-Share website.
Galatians 6:2 (KJV) states: Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. This makes
perfect sense within the overall context of Galatians, especially if Paul were trying to show that fulfilling the law of Christ goes way beyond a staunch set of rules. Ironically, Galatians 6:5 soon afterwards states: For every man shall bear his own burden. If taken out of context to the extent that 6:2 has been by the Medi-Share folks, 6:5 would then seem to be in direct contradiction to 6:2.
This is why so many scholars have long agreed that contextual interpretation of the Bible is far more meaningful than the wielding of one-liners. The danger of extracting one-liners is that they can then be used to sell everything from insurance to salvation.
Would Jesus have forsaken those who engaged in sex outside of traditional marriage? Those who came from a foreign land? Those who didn’t believe in the Holy Trinity? Those who were ritually impure?
If so, the Bible would need even more cutting and pasting than the Medi-Share folks have already done.
Resources
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=13&articleid=20110227_13_A12_CUTLIN106264
http://mychristiancare.org/eligibility.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Galatians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle
Copyright March 1, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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