This question is a 2 part-er. Part A, is the question above, and Part B, are 2 specific examples of passages that the may stump a reader. To give a foundation, I will answer Part A first, and then move on to Part B.
PART A: Literal or Figurative?
The Bible consist of many different literary genres (think your Creative Writing English class). There are elements of poetry, parables, songs, thought (like Proverbs), history, literal and figurative teachings.
It is important not to take all things literally in the Bible...but instead, use DISCERNMENT to derive the meaning behind the text. To do this, one must understand the historical and cultural context behind the book. For example, there are tonnes of lessons to be learned when reading about Moses and the burning bush. Moses' reverence for God is shown as he takes off his sandals before entering the place where the Holy One dwells (Exodus 3:5). We can use this as an example of the fear and respect that we must have for God in His house.
Now, relating it back to our current times, do we take off our shoes as a sign of reverence for God? No...that would have a pile up of pairs of shoes outside Doxa and SPLAT. Instead, this passage shows us how to fear God and how worthy He is of our respect. In our current day, we show our respect for God in other ways (ex: bowing as we pray, focusing as we worship, etc)
PART B: Q: When reading these passages, if you take it literally, one advocates in loving everyone, even the ones who persecute you, but the other advocates that if you are sinning, you should resort to self-mutilation. Do you act out both of these passages? If you don't, is that not following God?
[passages in reference to Matt 5:43 - 45 and Mark 9:43 - 47]
In the first passage (Matthew), Jesus is doing His Sermon on the Mount in which He teaches on multiple topics (read Matthew 5 for full details). In this section, He is teaching on loving your enemies, which of course, we know that it is hard to do. I believe the whole point of Jesus saying this, is that He wants to teach us to be inclusive rather than exclusive. It is a challenge to love those who are hard to love (those who have wronged us, those who have betrayed us), but Jesus is the epitome of one who can do this as He is crucified by the hands of His enemies, yet still loves them and asks God to forgive them (Luke 23:34). This specific passage is meant to be taken literally, as the teaching (or the moral of the story) is that we are to love everyone.
In the second passage (Mark), Jesus is teaching on how to prevent sins in our lives. The greater context of this is just above this passage as He is making a stance on the importance of young children and how not to lead them astray. The idea of this passage (or again, the moral of the story), is that if something is causing us to sin, we should get rid of it. A rephrase of this passage could be this:
If your iPod is causing distraction in service for you and others, get rid of it. If you're attitude towards a certain person is a bad testimony for God, change it. If a girlfriend/boyfriend is causing you to commit sexual immorality, than stop/change that relationship.
These passages are given to us as guides. Christ is teaching us principles for our lives and how to honour God. So yes, if we do not take them to heart and apply them our lives, we are not following God. But the key word is APPLY to our lives. A person reading the Bible must look at all angles before making a decision on the meaning.
Ask yourself these questions as you are reading passages:
1. What is the literary genre of the passage?
2. What are the cultural implication so of the text?
3. What is the principle that the Bible is trying to teach? (What is the moral of the story?)
4. How can I APPLY it to my life?
To further your understanding, you can go to this article for more help on how to interpret the Bible.
[answered by Pastor Kelly J. Tam]
