The Corporate Application of Scripture

Maybe we need a Southern Bible Version (the SBV)?

Or perhaps a Pittsburgh one?

One of the regular reminders I give hermeneutic and homiletical students is that English uses the word "you" for both the singular and plural. So it can be easy to misunderstand many portions of the Bible. For an example, Paul asks the Corinthian church, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16) Is the "you" that is used three times in this verse singular or plural? When studying the Bible, it is important to note that both original languages of Hebrew in the Old Testament and Greek in the New make a distinction between the second person singular and plural. In this verse, both the Greek and the context make it clear it is plural as Paul is telling the congregation at Corinth it is God's temple.

That's why a Southern Bible version might clarify this issue a bit. Paul's question would become "Do y'all not know that y'all are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in y'all?" In Pittsburgh where I work, the natives are known for using the word yinz (a shortened form of "you uns"?) like y'all down south. So using this word would also make this distinction, though that's starting to get too close to _The Message _for my liking.

Dialectical fun aside, those leading a Bible study, teaching, or preaching might want to make sure they are getting this pronoun correct. Especially in the United States, where the individualistic spirit is strong and people already read the Bible or hear a message to see "what's in it for me" anyway, people need to be helped in seeing not only the individual but also the **_corporate _**application of Scripture.

I was reminded of this point again by a recent article in _Tabletalk _entitled "Doing Theology Together under the Leading of the Holy Spirit." Gabe Fluhrer points out the following in Jesus' discourse on the Holy Spirit in the gospel of John:

Interestingly, the personal pronoun “you” is used almost thirty times in John 14:15–31 and not once is it in the singular form. It is always plural. Why? Because Jesus is promising the guidance of the Spirit not just to individuals but to His church.
Indeed, the Spirit and His truth has been given to the church and not just to certain people.

Seeing this important truth opens up the Bible to wider and deeper applications. Examples abound. As the above example shows, considering the church and not just my individual self as the temple of God (which many professing Christians do) emphasizes such things as the importance of being at worship, learning from others, serving together in the church, etc. Recognizing many of the epistles were written to congregations or to ministers serving them can help apply the Word more fully to the body of Christ.

For instance, consider these words in Galatians 5:16. "I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Again, most Americans would read that as an individual "you" and think of how they could personally walk by the Spirit and avoid the flesh. However, clearly it is a plural "you" in the original Greek. We need each other in order to walk in the Spirit. From the context, Paul is urging that the church in Galatia be led by the Spirit to encourage one another, warn one another of sin's dangers, and practice the fruit of the Spirit toward one another.

In certain places, this corporate nature is expressed more definitively in English. In the book of Hebrews, the author uses the first person plural often to get at this sense of our corporate duties. Since the first person singular and plural (I versus we) are distinct in English, the meaning is more clear. So when he says such things as "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:2), I am to hear readily that I am not to only be concerned that I run the race this way, but I am to encourage fellow believers to do so as well.

So though we may not have a Southern or Pittsburgh version of the Bible, looking at a concordance or commentary to help us get the proper sense of the number of persons being addressed is vital in truly understanding and applying the Scriptures. In particular, we learn that God is thinking not only of our vertical relationship with Him but, much more than we typically realize, also of our horizontal relationships with one another.