Throughout the history of the Church, there has been a constant renegotiation of the teachings of Scripture and understanding of God’s Reality. From Peter’s reunderstanding of what was considered clean and unclean in the Book of Acts to Martin Luther’s revelation of salvation by faith alone to contemporary notions of women ecclesial roles, Truth has continued to emerge (and often times re-emerge) among Jesus’ community of followers.

This historical act of emergence seems to have hit a massive surge in recent years as thousands of people around the world seek to reunderstanding the teachings, Way, and person of Jesus in the 21st century, and even repaint what it means to be the Church within our postmodern, Western culture. In the midst of this resurgence, though, how can the Body of Christ converse through the debate and ideas—and even accusations of heresy—to find fresh clearness? How can the church that is emerging navigate the tensions of this emerging faith, the world that it is emerging into, and through new territory philosophically, culturally, economically, and spiritually?

I believe the emerging church can find a meaningful conversation “strategy” in the ancient Jewish practice of Midrash. Postmodern Christians should embrace this practice as a way for reunderstanding and recapturing the essence of the Scriptures, the teachings of Jesus, community, disicpleship, and mission.

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In it’s most basic sense, Midrash is a method and way of interpreting a biblical text used by the ancient Rabbis in the time of Jesus and Paul. It is a word that finds it’s origin in the Hebrew word for ‘study’ or ‘interpretation’ and refers to both an individual and communal interaction with the Words of YHWH.

Midrash incorporates a grammatical-historical exegesis, vaguely similar to the western models of Biblical interpretation that the Reformers borrowed from 16th century Humanism, but it sees this as simply a first step. Instead, in its handling of various Biblical literary genre (such as narrative, wisdom literature, Hebrew poetry and apocalyptic) it seeks to explore relationships between different scriptural texts in order to interpret them in light of each other. The approach is more topical than linear and provides ample space for wrestling with the tension of their relationships and the varying interpretations of the texts.

If you look at the way the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it is clear that the apostles did not use western Protestant methods of exegesis or interpretation. Jesus was a rabbi. Paul was a rabbi. They interpreted the Bible in the way other rabbis did, according to a method called Midrash.

But something went wrong in the early Church: it got away from its Jewish roots. And as more Gentiles became Christians, something that Paul (in Romans 11) warned should not happen, happened. People lost sight of the root and began reinterpreting the Bible not using the Jewish method of midrash, but using methods rooted in a Hellenistic worldview. Reformers took it a step further by fully joining the practices of the Church with the broader Enlightenment culture, resulting in an overly individualistic, rational, and mechanistic approach to the Scriptures, God, and His Reality.

Twenty-First century followers of Jesus need to re-understand our faith in light of a 1st Century Jewish context. What better place to start than with the rich Jewish spiritual practice of Midrash?

As an individual, we need to approach the words of God in His ancient Scriptures with fresh attention and seek new insight through the direction of God’s Holy Spirit, fully wrestling with the full text and fullness of YHWH. Many fear that our contemporary interpretations and expressions of God’s Truth are too reductionistic and intertwined with Enlightenment, Modern (philosophical, not technological) expressions of interpretation and Truth exploration. Let’s wrestle, but let’s do this wrestling and (reinterpretation in the context of community.

Communally, Midrash is a way of seeing truth emerge out of the tension of conflicting viewpoints. But it is not simply a clash for debate sake. Rather, this often violent exchange and interplay serves the purpose of arriving at greater and deeper understandings of what God is communicating through the words of His Scripture. While individuals are called to personally engage with and interpret God’s Truth, His Scriptures are intended to be communally digested; it is through the voices and viewpoints of all within the broad Community of Jesus that a deeper, fuller understanding of God’s Truth can be realized.

Our postmodern culture needs Midrash. The Ecclesia needs it even more.

Over the last year, I’ve discovered that near pandemonium ensues when people offer alternative interpretations to the prevailing and pop-Christian understandings of God’s Truth. This is unfortunate. All truth is God’s Truth, not our own. And God provided His People and His Spirit to communally and individually understand His Truth. Midrash encourages and facilitates these questions not for skepticism’s or doubt’s sake, but for the sake of Truth and the world.