By definition a mosaic is a form of art where you make a picture using colored stones, pieces of glass, colored tiles, or basically any object arranged to make a picture. It’s one of the oldest form of art and longest lasting, and probably the most durable. We have learned a lot from finding mosaics that are thousands of years old, and they still look stunning. A good friend of mine described something like a picture mosaic, and that would be a written mosaic. A written phrase, paragraph, chapter or even book what gives a story or definition, not by a list of absolutes, but instead paints a word picture. Another example would be a parable, very similar, or describing something by characteristic rather than absolutes. In scripture we find a lot of those.
One pressing issue we all ask at one point or another, would be; why didn’t God just outrightly give us lists and rules instead of a lot of the vague passages in scripture. Instead God used a lot of mosaic pictures. One thing to understand is the Biblical authors wrote scripture to a specific group of people or person, it was not written to us, the Bible was written for us. There is a big difference. Paul wrote to the Romans in the book of Romans, but God had him also write it for our understanding. Same with any other book and writer, most books of the Bible we know the specific target it was written to, but God also had it assembled for us to know Him. That means many (there are exceptions) specific instructions do not directly apply to us, because it was not written to us, but those instructions also paint a mosaic of understanding that we can apply. It is truly a testament of God to pull that off, both giving a specific instruction to a specific person and a picture of principle that is timeless.
Why did God do that? First lets look at some of the similarities. First mosaics are timeless. Just like the one we find in archology, word mosaics are not limited to language, culture or time. In order for God to say what He wanted us to know, He needed to use something that could last the test of time and change. Specific instructions at the time it was written may only apply to that specific situation, but a mosaic can be understood over the test of time. Second, they are scalable. Reading the book of Romans for example in one sitting will give a good picture of what Paul is writing about, but then as you study it in small bits the picture gets clearer. For example, you are probably reading this on a screen and a screen is a mosaic of tiny dots, the smaller the dots the more detail, so is studying Scripture. The overall picture should only get clearer and more detailed by study, not changed or distorted. If it’s getting distorted there there is something wrong, its a checks and balances. If you are going down a road that does not fit the rest of the book, then maybe it’s the wrong road.
This causes a lot of issues with legalism. We read the do and don’t but we also forget it was not written to us specifically. When we approach what was written in the context of the culture we can find the principles of why those instructions where written, and its the principles that God is talking to us about. That is a mosaic. The gospel is simple, study should only enhance it, not muddy the water. Understanding mosaic in Scripture will help you from chasing down rabbit holes and getting lost in theology. It’s always better to make sure you don’t loose the big picture while studying the smaller pieces.
Leave a Reply