Quotes about Integration

The Bible shows us that obedience to God is not about cutting and pasting the Bible over our lives, but seeking the path of wisdom—holding the sacred book in one hand and ourselves, our communities of faith, and our world in the other in order to discern how the God of old is present here and now.

My commitment to follow through on my choice came with a cost. I tried very hard, for years, with complete transparency, to blend together old and new—the particular Christian tradition that birthed me and for which I had deep respect, and the bigger Bible I had come to know, was excited about, and could not deny without deceiving myself and others.

If we think of the gospel as simply rolling right off the Old Testament tongue, we will be wrong. And we will fail to appreciate how creative the New Testament writers were in working out the day-to-day real-time implications of all of this.

Wisdom, in other words, was not an add-on, but was always central for obeying any law in the Bible. Laws, once we begin thinking about what they mean and how they are to be obeyed, actually push us to seek wisdom, which goes beyond mechanical obedience. It's not surprising, therefore, that ancient Jews came to think of wisdom and Law as inseparable—they need each other to work, like needing a pin number to access your cash.

Intermarry with us; give us your daughters, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We will dwell among you and become one people.

But only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us and be one people: if all our men are circumcised as they are.

So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.

All these men had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.

Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah.

but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.

Then join them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.