I went to the dentist today.  I can now say, “look mom, no cavities!”  For which I am very grateful.  But I was struck by how odd it is to sit in a chair and pay someone to stick their hands in your mouth.  What a strange society we live in these days.

Sometimes you hear the Bible (or Christianity in general) criticized because it doesn’t meet with our sensibilities.  Although there are many examples, a common one I hear is that “they weren’t as ‘progressive’ as we are towards women, therefore we should reject the Bible.”

But if you told a person from Jesus’ time that you pay someone to stick their hands in your mouth, they would think you were insane.  (And let’s face it, they aren’t that far off!)

You see, context is king.  We have people poke around our mouths because it prevents us from losing our teeth.  While the people of 2000 years ago may not have been as “progressive” as we are today, Christianity was on the cutting edge in the context of the day.  Find me a religion where women play a more important role.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait.

You can’t.  Because it doesn’t exist.

God was ahead of the curve.  So what makes you think he’s not ahead of the curve today?

Context matters.