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The first time that I noticed the book Salvation on Sand Mountain was when I was leaving the Andover Library at Harvard Divinity School. I saw the book jacket on the recommended reading list on the bulletin board. That prompted me to respond, "That can't be my Sand Mountain!" But it was! Dennis Covington wrote a penetrating study of the handful of Holiness churches in Southern Appalachia who practice snake handling. First attracted by curiosity, Covington later became immersed in the cult and spent a year in research that went far beyond detached journalistic investigation. He spent many hours in worship services and getting to know personally those who handled venomous vipers. And, yes, he, too, once handled a snake.

His mentor in the exercise, giving almost fatherly influence, was a preacher by the name of Brother Carl Porter. Covington had a genuine affinity for Brother Carl, but found himself, more and more, in disagreement about certain of the preacher's theological stances, especially those pertaining to women. Brother Carl had been urging Dennis to preach. In a mid-December worship service, the mutually-accepted moment arrived. Just prior, however, Brother Carl gave a tirade aimed at Melissa, Covington's cohort, a not unfamiliar professional photographer. Covington said that Brother Carl's cheeks reddened. His jaw was set. He pointed his finger in Melissa's face. He was glaring at her, and the sermon that suddenly poured out of his mouth was a diatribe about the necessity for women to stay in their place. "It's not godly for a woman to do a man's job!" he said. "To wear a man's pants! Or cut her hair like a man does his! It doesn't please God to go on like that, acting like Adam was made out of Eve's rib instead of the other way around!" He wouldn't let up on her, not even to pace. Melissa kept on working, bobbing to get the best shots.

"A woman's got to stay in her place!" Carl shouted. "God made her for a helpmate to man! It wasn't intended for her to have a life of her own! If God had wanted to give her a life of her own, he'd have made her first instead of Adam, and then where would we be?"

Then it came time for Covington to speak. "I love to testify," he said into the microphone, "but I've never preached before. I just want you to know that I submit myself to your authority, Brother Carl. You're the pastor of this church, and if I step out of the Word, I want you to tell me."

Carl smiled back and nodded.

The choice of the text was simple -- the chapter the handlers believed so deeply that they were risking their lives to confirm it. "Let's look at Mark 16," Covington said.

"Amen," Carl replied. He was pulling for Covington.

"It was after they had crucified Jesus," Covington said, "and some of the women who had stayed with him through it all came down to the tomb to anoint his body with spices. Am I in the Word?" He looked over to Brother Carl.

"You're in the Word," Carl said.

"Amen!" the congregation answered.

"But the stone had been rolled away from the tomb," Covington said, "and a man in white, an angel, was sitting there, and the angel said to the women: 'He's not here. He's risen.' Am I in the Word?"

"Amen," Carl said. "You're in the Word."

"I'm in the Word," he repeated, and moved along the platform like Brother Carl. "And who did Jesus appear to first after his resurrection?"

"The eleven," Carl said.

Covington turned back to him. "No. He didn't appear first to the eleven." And he walked slowly across the platform again, heading straight for Carl's son Virgil, who was standing by his drum set, sticks crossed in front of him. "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene!" Covington said, and he drove each word in the direction of Virgil's chest with his finger. "A woman out of whom he had cast seven devils!" There was no amen.

Covington whirled back around and faced the congregation again. "The angel had told her to tell the disciples that Jesus was risen, but she was afraid, and she didn't do it. So Jesus himself appeared to her, and when she told the disciples that he had risen, none of the men believed her!"

He was waiting for an amen, which still hadn't come. "That's when Jesus appeared to the eleven and upbraided them for their unbelief!"

"Amen," Carolyn Porter, Carl's wife, finally said.

Covington said, "I knew I was in the Word now. It was close to the feeling I'd had when I'd handled."

"Mary Magdalene was the first person to spread the news of the risen Christ!" Covington shouted. "She was the first evangelist, and the men didn't even believe her! So when we start talking about a woman's place, we'd better add that a woman's place is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ! In him there is no male or female, no Greek or Jew!" And he spun on Carl. "Am I in the Word?"

"No," Carl said. "You're not in the Word."

"Are you telling me I'm out of the Word?"

"Yes. You're out of the Word." He smiled. It was a smile of enormous satisfaction and relief. At last, we had reached the end of the story, his eyes seemed to say.1

Now, Covington was in the Word, but not in the Word! Everything Dennis said was in the Word, the sixteenth chapter of Mark, but according to Brother Carl, it was not in the Word. Either the preacher did not know his Bible, or he refused to listen to any word that did not conform to his preconceived notions about the place of women, even though they might be found in the Bible -- the Word of God. According to Brother Carl, the fact that Covington's comments were in the Bible was of no consequence. "Don't confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up!" Even though it is in the Word, it is not in the Word.

What about today? Is everything in the Word? There are dozens upon dozens of expressions of Christianity. Are they all in the Word? There are 100,000 preachers preaching at this very hour. Are they all in the Word? Is everyone right? Is everyone equally right? Or is there too much half-truths and almost Bible? In trying to interpret our current terrorist crisis, we heard the imam of the Islamic Community state that they believe that Jesus was born of a virgin but was not crucified, resurrected, nor had any claim to deity. How could you believe one without the other? Half-truth! Also, there is much stuff, with claims for good, that disguises itself as almost Bible. "God helps those who help themselves!" That is Benjamin Franklin, not holy writ. "Charity begins at home!" Sounds good, but it's not in scripture. That's almost Bible. Too, when we remember that the definition of heresy is truth taken to its illogical extreme, we wonder, even in our pluralistic age, is everyone right? Is everyone equally right? Or is there a false teacher or two around, some who are, sure enough, not in the Word?

Evidently there were some false teachers influencing the congregation to which Paul was writing, probably Ephesus. Now that the New Testament church was reaching its second and third generations, maybe even in growing numbers, some were straying from the Word that they heard initially. Numbers may be a sign of growth but not necessarily a sign of health. The church was becoming unhealthy. A crisis had emerged to which Paul addressed himself. His word is simple. In crises, get back to the basics. In getting back to the basics, Paul's word is twofold: remember and remind! Remember the word -- the Lord Jesus Christ. Remind the people of God's faithfulness.

"Remember Jesus Christ!" (v. 8). Remember Jesus Christ, the center and focal point of our faith. He is the revealed Word of God, the criteria by which all of the Bible is understood.

Even as a young lad, I enjoyed talking Bible with my paternal grandfather, a preacher for more than forty years. Over a coffee table spread with dominoes, I asked, "Grandpa, what about when the Old Testament says to kill every man, woman, and child and Jesus gave his life willingly for my sins? What about when Paul said that Jesus was coming back soon and Jesus said that he did not know when he was coming back? What about it, Grandpa?"

Deprived of formal education, but wise in the word, Grandpa said, "I don't understand everything, Gary, but when I come to what seems a contradiction. I always remember Jesus' words first."

Put Jesus' words first! I have spent more years in school than I care to remember in five different religious institutions. I taught Biblical Interpretation for Samford University. I have studied the Bible seriously for 45 years, but I have yet to hear anyone voice an improvement upon that simple hermeneutical principle, "Put Jesus' words first!" All of scripture must be seen through the life, words, and spirit of Jesus to be understood properly. Even Satan knew the words of scripture, but certainly lacked the spirit thereof. Jesus is the criterion by which all of scripture, even all of life, is to be interpreted.

Paul exhorts young Timothy to remember Jesus Christ! He then uses an early creedal formula to help Timothy remember who Jesus was. That simple creedal formula was, "Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David" (v. 8).

Let me take them in chronological order. Remember "Jesus Christ ... descended from David." Here Paul is emphasizing the humanity of Jesus, the one who was so much man that he wasn't even God at all. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish male born in Asia Minor in the time we reckon as the first century. Jesus was reared by God-fearing Jewish parents who observed as did he the Jewish customs and religious practices of his day. Jesus spoke within a first century world view. That is why his life and teachings must continually be set in their historical setting. To put it briefly, to understand Jesus we have to have some working knowledge of the sights, sounds, and social and religious context of the world in which he lived.

Remembering this helps us to keep foremost that the Bible was not written to us, but it was written for us. The New Testament was written to first-century Christians in Asia Minor. We have to understand first what the Word meant to those to whom it was written before we can ascertain what it means to us for whom it was written 2,000 years later. To put it more simply: we must understand what it meant then, before we can understand what it means now! Skipping the initial task and lazily rushing to the second has led to untold misinterpretation, downright heresy, and more human misery than we want to imagine.

Another way to set Jesus' life and words in their proper milieu for realistic interpretation for today is to remember that the biblical text, especially the words of Jesus, has three audiences. The first audience is those to whom the word was initially spoken, the audience of "everyday" folks with whom Jesus spent his life. What did his word mean to them? The second audience would be the congregation to whom the writer, evangelist, preacher (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) fashioned, contextualized, and sent the words of Jesus. What did it mean to the early church, fifty to seventy years after Jesus ascended to the Father? And we, you guessed it, are the third audience! What does it mean to us in our time and world view? Thinking of the various audiences not only helps us to respect our Christian tradition but also keeps us from manipulating the sacred book to buttress our own preconceived ideas or to seek to sanction what we have already decided to do. To understand what the Word means, we must first understand what it meant.

The other part of the early creedal formula was, "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead...." Here Paul is emphasizing the divinity of Jesus, the one who was so much God that he wasn't even man at all. Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God. The first and foremost tenet of the Christian faith is that there is only one God and that he has revealed himself most perfectly in Jesus Christ. You want to know what God looks like? Look at Jesus! He is the ultimate revelation of God.

In our current crises we have sought to study the belief of Islam contrasted to Christianity. There are distinct differences. Islam teaches that Allah has revealed his will to Mohammed and that will is recorded in the Koran. The word became book! Christianity believes that God revealed his nature through Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible, the written word of God. The word became flesh and revealed the true nature of God as self-sacrificial, forgiving love as displayed most graphically by Jesus upon the cross of Calvary. This is our crucified God who suffers with us and loves us with an undying love. God looks like Jesus, crucified, but "raised from the dead."

Jesus is no longer the Galilean carpenter crucified by the Roman state for treason. He is the risen Christ, the Lord and master of the universe. He is Creator and Sustainer of all there is. He is the Cosmic Christ whose sacrificial death is the means by which anyone and everyone is saved. Abraham was saved by his faithfulness to the hope of the promise. We are saved by our faith in Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise. He is Jesus, the risen Christ, at whose name every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10). Christ is not limited or chained and neither is his Word (v. 9). We are to remember Jesus Christ! "This is my gospel!" says Paul.

Then Paul exhorts young Timothy to remind and keep on reminding his people of the faithfulness of God to his Word. In using an early hymn of worship, Paul pronounces words by which to live. "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." Here is a trustworthy saying: "If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself" (vv. 10-13 NIV). He precedes the hymn with his declaration that because God's word is unfettered and eventually triumphant, he is enabled to endure suffering "for the sake of the elect that they, too, may obtain salvation" (v. 10). From the worship life of the church he lists lyrics that convey his intended encouragement. To those second and third generation Christians who have seen loved ones precede them in death, he promises that if they die with him, they also will live with him. To those who are undergoing suffering, as is Paul, they shall reign with him if they endure. Some may disown him and God will allow them to reap their self-chosen consequences. But also he adds, even when we are faithless, he is ever faithful because God cannot disown or deny himself. God is love and he cannot, will not ever act contrary to that nature of love. That is one thing God cannot do! He can never be less than God! He can never exhibit less than his divine nature of love. God always is consistent and faithful and fulfills his commitments whether we do so or not.

God can never act contrary to his loving nature. In fact, he loves us so much, that he refuses to turn us into puppets but allows us to function as the free moral agents he created us to be. He loves us so much that he has given to us the freedom to suffer the natural results of our own choices. He loves us so much that he will allow us to leave this world without him if that is what we choose to do. God cannot, will not act in any way contrary to his nature or go back on his Word. He always keeps his promises. Paul insists that Timothy keep on reminding them of the faithfulness of God to his Word.

Paul reminds Timothy that it is his task to keep on reminding them about their own tendency to use senseless words. "Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen" (v. 14 NIV). He is not talking about gossip, although I am sure that he would not encourage it. In light of the threat of false teaching, I think Paul is talking here about senseless disputes or hair-splitting debates, theological or otherwise. They are of no value and only ruin those who listen. Oh, how too well we know! My own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, 25 years ago set the Christ-honoring Bold Mission Trust Goal of sharing Christ with every person in the world by the year 2000. The SBC then became involved in a power struggle for political and monetary control. For twenty years, denominational life was filled with bitter dispute, in-house squabbles, smoke screens, name-calling, and the airing of dirty laundry in public! And Bold Mission Trust became a distant memory. This quarreling about words has no value and only ruins those who listen.

Such is the power of words. They have the power to create, encourage, build up, and express the noblest of human emotions. But when words are manipulated with evil intent to debate, squabble, and fuss, they are the very instrument of Satan, himself.

To counteract this misuse of the expression of words, Paul encourages Timothy to function like a master craftsman who "cuts a straight path to the truth." "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (v. 15 NIV). As my father used to say, "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line." Using the precision skill of the master craftsman, Timothy was not only to interpret the Word but to be formed or fashioned by that very same Word himself. To "correctly handle" the Word means that we experience that word ourselves before we recreate that experience for others. We have the Bible. We need to let the Bible have more of us.

My three-year-old grandson has difficulty understanding what his Poppa does for a living. Since he also attends our church, he will ask, "Do you work here?" "Yes, I do." "You talk to the peoples?" he will ask. "Yes, son, I do!" I reply. "Why do you do that for?" he will question. I must admit that sometimes I wonder about that very same question myself! "Why do you do that for?" I think that I do what I do to cut a straight path to the truth and deliver it in such a way that my words become the Word of God. I probably fail more times than I succeed, but the very possibility that God could use such an unworthy vessel to convey his Word sometimes is simply overwhelming.

To be able to cut a straight path to God's Word, whether it be a preacher, teacher, or everyday worshiper, one must have a disciplined plan. A daily time of disciplined Bible study, using several translations and other study aids is essential. One could benefit from beginning with the Gospel of Mark, since it was the first written as we know it, before proceeding with the other Gospels. After all, we are followers of Jesus. It is nice to know what he said.

Our time could begin with allowing the Holy Spirit, the true interpreter of scripture, to guide us through prayer as we listen to the voice of God. We should read the Bible naively, as if we had never read it before, to allow fresh inspiration to grab us. We should read the Bible informationally to gather any knowledge and facts that can guide our understanding. We should read the Bible formationally as we allow the Holy Spirit to form and fashion us more and more into the image of Christ. We come to God's Word as a discoverer and a beggar, but especially as a child of the Father, listening to his loving voice as he nurtures us in relationship to him.

Several years ago I became fascinated by the work of the great teacher, preacher, and writer, Fred B. Craddock. I was privileged to study with him, Tom Long, and Barbara Brown Taylor for a week after which Tom Garrison and I asked if Dr. Craddock would take us as private students. He graciously accepted. For a semester, every other Monday, Tom and I spent two hours with the great man in his study at the Candler School of Theology and then took him to lunch. For three and one half hours we had the undivided attention of Fred Craddock! Sometimes I pinched myself to think I was actually there. I know that I infringed on his unlimited patience and kind nature because I asked him every question of which I could think. I was even privileged once to spend some time with his gracious wife, Nettie. I know she must have grown weary with my endless questions about her husband, his study habits, and so on. He told me that once when he had been asked to speak somewhere, "I thought about sending you. You know more about me than I know about myself!"

Now, when I re-read the genius of America's finest preacher, I have an even greater insight into his work. For now I know personally the author. It is wonderful to read the Bible. It is far more wonderful still to have a living relationship with its Author. The more we study the Bible, the more we learn to love the Bible and the more we learn to love the Father who is always faithful to his word, who will never let us down.

In 1989, Armenia was almost leveled by an 8.2 earthquake. The quake killed over 30,000 people in less than four seconds. A father left his wife securely at home and rushed to the school to search for his son. When he arrived at the school site, his heart was so saddened and a lump came up in his throat because the school building was flattened.

All the way there, he kept thinking of the words he had told his son dozens and dozens of times, "I will always be there for you, no matter what." As he looked at that rubble and saw hopelessness written all over it, those words came back. "I will always be there no matter what." He began to search his mind and remembered the room that probably housed his son. He went there and stone by stone, began uncovering the rubble.

Other parents arrived and they said, "There's no use to go on. It's too late. They are all dead. It's hopeless."

But yet he continued and turned to them and asked, "Will you not help me?" but no one helped.

A few minutes later the fire chief came and said, "It's impossible. The building is still crumbling, fires are being set, explosions are happening, get away! You're only making matters worse."

The father turned and asked, "Will you not help me?" But no one helped.

A few moments later the police came. They tried to drag him away physically but he continued. Stone by stone -- he pulled this rock and that rock, remembering the words to his son, "I will be there for you, no matter what."

He dug for eight hours ... twelve hours ... 24 hours ... 36 hours ... then, in the thirty-eighth hour, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son's voice. He screamed his son's name, "Armand!"

He heard back, "Daddy, I knew you would come! I knew you would come! I told them that if you were alive you would come."

The father asked, "Son, what's going on?"

The son replied, "Daddy, we're scared, hungry, thirsty, and thankful you're here. Fourteen of 33 are still living."

The father said, "Come to me, son." And the boy replied, "No, Daddy, you let all of them go first because I know no matter what, you will be there for me."2

God will always keep his Word!

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1. Dennis Covington, Salvation on Sand Mountain (Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1995), p. 235.

2. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Soul (Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc. 1993), p. 273.