Articles
The Dress
Do you remember this dress? The picture is from 2015, and it caused quite a fuss on the internet as people argued what color the dress was. Some saw it as white with gold trim. Others were adamant that it was blue with black trim. They couldn’t both be right.
It was interesting watching people be baffled at how others could see any other colors than what they saw. They mocked each other. Called each other blind or liars. It wasn’t long before everyone had their own theories as to what was causing people to see such drastically different colors.
The differing views on the colors of the dress are very similar to the way people interpret the Bible. When someone else has a differing view, there is often bewilderment, accusations, and even mocking. How can you not see that the Bible teaches ___________? It’s so obvious. I’ve been on both ends of that. The Bible seems so clear on the subject of baptism. How can people see it any differently? Others tell me the Bible is so clear on the subject of being saved apart from our works, they cannot comprehend how I can believe we have any actions required for our salvation. And like the dress colors, all sides are thoroughly convinced.
But isn’t it odd, that as much as everyone disagreed about the color of the dress, everyone accepted that there was a correct answer? No one said, “Since so many people cannot agree on the color of the dress, then there must not be a correct color.” I never heard or saw anything like that, because, of course, the dress had a color! We just couldn’t initially agree on what it was. The world didn’t agree to disagree either. Instead, people dug in, manipulated the picture, researched, tracked down the original dress, all in an effort to resolve a simple, but growing, dispute.
Why is it, then, that when people have differing views on the Bible that so many conclude that there is no right interpretation? So many throw up their hands and quit, thinking there is no way to know what the truth is. It is amazing how much diligent, earnest effort was put into discovering the color of some unknown person’s dress, but when it comes to truths upon which our souls depend, the world shows little interest and no hope in resolving the issue.
In the end, it was discovered and proven that the dress was blue with black trim. That wasn’t how I saw it. I saw white with gold trim and couldn’t comprehend how gold could be black, but it was and I was wrong. I certainly wasn’t the only one, but it doesn’t matter how many people agreed with me. It doesn’t matter how convinced I was. The color of the dress wasn’t subject to my, or anyone’s, interpretation. It had an actual color. Now that the real dress had been revealed with a better-quality picture, the answer was made clear and I became convinced.
The Bible has answers—answers that actually matter. Will you pursue the truth with the same vigor that the world had in searching to understand a stranger’s dress? Will you leave no passage unturned, seeking context and proper interpretation to get beyond “just the way you see it” and come to know what the truth is? Because like the color of the dress, the Bible is not subject to our interpretations (II Pet. 1:20-21). There is a truth. There is a right way to use God’s word (II Tim. 2:15) and there are distortions and deceptions as well (II Pet. 3:16).
The picture of the dress went viral and so an answer was inevitable. So many people were putting so much effort to getting to the bottom of the issue. If only the Bible would also go viral in our hearts and minds.
