I saw a meme recently that said, “Name something everyone thinks is in the Bible but isn’t.” From silly or aggressive to academic and insightful, the answers differed widely.
One person (at least) said, “Harry Potter.” I’m not sure they understood the assignment. I’ll give you that many of us have read far more pages about the adolescent wizard than verses of Sacred Scripture; but I doubt anyone thinks, “Crazy how Adam and Eve were in the garden outside of Hogwarts when Moses was hanging out in the wilderness with Dumbledore and Harry Potter was flying around Galilee.”
A number of folks started liberal or conservative rants about their pet issues. In that particular context, I found most of those posts to be obnoxious and patronizing. Interestingly a good number of folks said something like, “White People.” Fair point, right? Hadn’t really thought about that but they’re not wrong.
But what I was most happy to see were several versions of “God helps those who help themselves.” Those folks were absolutely right: that proverb is actually not in the Bible. Benjamin Franklin put it in his almanac, and he probably got it from the ancient Greeks. Still, it didn’t make it into our Holy Book.
Instead, all through the Old and New Testaments, the Bible chastises not those who fail to help themselves, but those who fail to help others in need. Repeatedly, the Bible mentions the importance of offering compassion to the poor, the hurting, the oppressed. Here are just a few examples.
- “Now if there are some poor persons among you, say one of your fellow Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, don’t be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor fellow Israelites. To the contrary! Open your hand wide to them. You must generously lend them whatever they need.” Deuteronomy 15:7-8
- “Don’t steal from the poor, because they are poor.
Don’t oppress the needy in the gate.
The Lord will take up their case
and press the life out of those who oppress them.” Proverbs 22:22-23 (yikes!) - “Don’t oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; don’t plan evil against each other!” Zechariah 7:10
- “Give to those who ask, and don’t refuse those who wish to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:42
- “They asked only that we would remember the poor, which was certainly something I was willing to do.” Galatians 2:10
See? God is not looking down at humanity and demanding we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps (whatever that means); no! God embraces those who (seemingly) cannot help themselves. Moreover, scripture is likely to call us out when we boast in our righteousness, acting as if our lack of struggle is an indication of God’s favor.
The Bible gets blamed for a lot of bad teaching that just isn’t in its pages. So, if you see a quote vaguely attributed to the Bible–that is, without chapter and verse attached–be suspicious. Look it up and verify its true origin. Quick tip: if it includes adolescents in a magic wizard school located in a parallel universe? That’s some good reading you’ve got your hands on, but it’s not sacred scripture, no matter what the podcast says.*
*I do really like the podcast though. Harry Potter fans should check it out!
