¹ Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.  ² Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.” ³ But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” ⁴ So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. ⁵ His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” ⁶ He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” ⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. ⁹ In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. ¹⁰ But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” ¹¹ So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. ¹³ Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. ¹⁴ Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” ¹⁵ As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” ¹⁶When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.

–1 Kings 21.1-16 (NIV)

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, ² To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: ³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

–1 Corinthians 1.1-3 (NIV)

It never ceases to amaze me when folks trot out all kinds of reasons why they don’t read the Bible. Usually most of the excuses demonstrate that the person has never really spent much time with the Bible and is showing his/her ignorance of it by parroting criticisms he/she has heard from others. I suspect if many critics of the Bible really understood how foolish they look when they level uninformed criticisms against Scripture, they would be truly embarrassed. I know I would be. I know I have been!

Take today’s OT story for example. Here we have a great non-example of how not to act. Ahab and Jezebel’s behaviors are bad enough in their own right. They are even worse because read in its broader context, we are reminded that Ahab is king over God’s people and this is not how to bring God’s love to bear on the world. As the writer of Kings tells us, “Ahab…did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him”
(1 Kings 16:29-31). Yup.

If we take this story seriously (and God’s call to Israel and those who follow his Messiah, Jesus, to be his holy people whom God can use to help redeem his broken world), we are reminded in a powerful way that there is a better way to do things than what the world has in mind. In this story alone we see selfishness, greed, abuse of power, and pride–all of which lead to murder. God seems to be saying to us through the author, “Don’t do that. If you want to be my people, you must imitate and follow me and this isn’t the way to do it.”

So the point is this. We should read the Bible to see how God and his people interact–and the story is not often pretty. This is why it is doubly disgraceful for God’s people to act badly. If we are called to bring God’s healing love to the world we had better learn how to do that. We had better learn to behave in ways that will turn heads in a good way and cause people to ask what is our secret. That is why it is a good learning strategy to look at both examples (how to do something) and non-examples (how not to do something) and then let the Spirit use these stories to help shape us into the people he created and wants us to be.

This is what Paul has in mind when he writes the Corinthians. He reminds them who (and Whose) they are. We have been called to be God’s people and we’d better understand that there are both awesome privileges and responsibilities when we say yes to following Jesus. Normally, we like to focus more on the privileges than the responsibilities. But you cannot read Scripture in any systematic way and not be struck by the fact that God expects his people to act in ways that are truly human and good.

Why? Besides the fact that behaving in ways that are truly human is tremendously wholesome and freeing, we who call ourselves Christians must act accordingly because the world is hostile toward God and his people. Consequently, they are just looking for excuses not to submit to God’s rule. “Look at how badly those Christians behave!” is a charge I hear regularly. “They are just a bunch of damn hypocrites and I want no part of them!” And while I am always tempted to tell folks who are hypercritical of Christians and churches that people who live in glass houses should be careful not to throw stones, I usually stifle that temptation because it serves no good purpose. It really does no good to argue with closed-minded people and you find them more often than not outside of churches rather than inside them. But that is a different story for a different day.

That notwithstanding, Christians have a solemn and sacred responsibility to behave in ways that bring God through Christ honor and glory. That means we cannot behave badly; and when we do (as we inevitably will because we too are humans under construction), we must be quick to admit our mistakes and ask forgiveness. This is where knowing the story intimately of God and his people can help us to embrace ways of behaving that are pleasing to God.

I am not talking about acting in phony, syrupy, unreal ways that everybody instinctively knows is unreal and just plain weird. Rather, I am talking about learning how to behave with humility and a servant’s heart, stuff that does not come naturally to us. Yes, we are bound to make mistakes but the more deeply we get into the story of God and his people, the more stuff we have to help the Spirit form us into the very image of Jesus. That should be the goal of any Christian, hard as it may be to get there.

The next time you pick up your Bible, remember the overall Big Picture. It is the story of how God has decided to rescue his broken and fallen world and his human creatures from their sin and the death it causes. It started with God’s call to Abraham and his descendants, the people of Israel, to be God’s blessing to others. It culminated in the perfect Israelite–Jesus the Messiah. Along the way we can read many stories that the Spirit can use to help us grow into full maturity as Christians. We do that by learning examples and non-examples of good behavior. We are to avoid acting like Ahab and Jezebel (and countless others in Scripture). We are to put on Christ and imitate him in all of his doings.

How are you reading Scripture these days (or are you)?