McKnight suggests that these “blue parakeets” in Scripture lead us to read the Bible in one of three ways.
First, some “read to retrieve.” We “return to the times of the Bible in order to retrieve biblical ideas and practices for today.” Some strive to retrieve all ideas and practices (including, for example, foot washing). Others strive to retrieve only “what can be salvaged” (excluding foot washing). Either way, such decisions are made entirely on our own, without consideration for the way the church has historically interpreted such texts. The next two ways of reading strive to take these historical interpretations into account.
Second, some “read through Tradition.” “Tradition” refers to the way the church “everywhere has always read the Bible.” In other words, we rely upon Tradition to decide for us which biblical ideas and practices to practice in modern times. “Reading through Tradition,” however, refers to a kind of traditionalism in which long-held interpretations go unquestioned and become as authoritative as Scripture itself.
Third, McKnight argues that we should “read with Tradition.” The way the church has traditionally discerned which biblical ideas and practices to carry into modern times should be given weight, but not all the weight.
Ultimately, McKnight suggests the following as a way of navigating these issues: “God spoke in Moses’ day in Moses’ ways…and God spoke in David’s days in David’s ways…and God spoke in Jesus’ day in Jesus’ ways…and God spoke in John’s days in John’s ways, and we are called to carry on that pattern in our world today.” He argues that we do not need twenty-first century Christians living out the biblical gospel in first century ways. We need twenty-first century Christians living out the biblical gospel in twenty-first century ways. We do not merely retrieve all practices/ideas from the Bible-times and transport them into our times. Rather, we engage in an ongoing “adoption of the past and adaption to new conditions” in a way that is consistent with the way Scripture itself does this (Moses’ days in Moses’ ways, Jesus’ days in Jesus’ ways, etc.)
