Introduction: The Interpretive Power of the Frame
In the study of art, psychology, and cognitive science, "framing" refers to the way a specific context influences the perception of an object or idea. Physically, a frame separates a picture from the rest of the world, directing the eye and telling the viewer, "Look here; this matters." But the frame is more than just the gilded wood bordering a canvas; it is the lighting, the room, the building, and the cultural moment in which the art sits. A Renaissance Madonna placed in a 15th-century cathedral invites worship; the same painting placed in a 21st-century secular museum invites critique or historical appreciation. The content of the image— the brushstrokes, the colors, the subject— has not changed, but the viewer’s relationship to it has been fundamentally altered by the frame.
This dynamic is even more potent when applied to literature, and specifically to the Bible. We never come to the text naked. We come clothed in our assumptions, our cultural baggage, and our subconscious desires. We place a metaphorical frame around Scripture that determines what we see and what we miss. If we frame the Bible as a rulebook for a club, we will find rules. If we frame it as a love letter from the Creator, we will find grace. The tragedy of much of religious history is that we have often chosen a frame that distorts the image of God, turning the Prince of Peace into a mascot for our wars, and the Bread of Life into a stone of judgment. To understand the Bible, and to understand our own spiritual lives, we must interrogate the frames we use to look at the Bible through. Two of the most powerful frames we can choose between are the Privilege-Performance Frame, which serves the selfish power, and the Spiritual-Ethical Frame, which serves God's Kingdom.
The Privilege-Performance Frame
The Mechanics of Exclusion: The Privilege-Performance Frame is a hermeneutic (method of interpretation) that views Scripture primarily as a charter of rights for a specific group. Under this framework, the narrative arc of the Bible is read as the story of how God selects one group of people over and against all others to receive special privileges. These privileges usually manifest as exclusive rights to land, economic resources, political power, and divine sanction.
Because this group is "select," membership must be guarded. Therefore, the primary religious activity becomes the performance of identity markers to prove one belongs to the in-group. This performance manifests in three distinct ways:
Performance of Lineage: Legitimacy is claimed through physical or institutional descent. In the ancient world, this was the claim to be "sons of Abraham" by blood, often specified to specific tribal affiliation or kingly heritage. In the modern world, it appears as claims to "Apostolic Succession" or the "right" denominational pedigree. It answers the question, "Who is your father?" rather than "Who is your God?"
Performance of Rituals: Religious acts— circumcision, sabbath-keeping, baptism, specific liturgies, or even speaking in tongues— are utilized not merely as spiritual disciplines, but as boundary markers marking who is "in" and who is "out" of our circle of privilege. They are the shibboleths used to distinguish the "clean" from the "unclean."
Performance of Nationalism: This frame almost inevitably seeks political expression. It can utilize the "Ethnic Route" (justifying land claims based on ancient texts) or the "Nationalist Route" (claiming a specific modern nation-state is God’s new chosen people). The Ethnic route is most clearly seen in forms of Zionism which privilege certain categories of "pure" Jews over and against other kinds of Jews, as well as non-Jewish inhabitants of Palestine and Israel, in claims that the "pure" Jews have an eternal and unconditional claim to certain lands simply on the basis of their performance of lineage and rituals. The Nationalist Route can be seen in varieties of Christian Nationalism around the world, in which a preferred and "pure" group of Christians makes the claim that they should have primary or sole access to the levers of power and influence in their Nation, as well as privileges in the legal system, based on their Christian Identity.
The Imperial Trap: While this frame appeals to our human desire for security and status, it is spiritually necrotic. The Privilege-Performance frame intrinsically ties religion to the mechanisms of worldly power, creating what we might call "Imperial Religion." When the purpose of faith is to justify privilege, God is reduced to a mascot for our political ambitions. This frame is the root of the "Us vs. Them" dualism that tears societies apart. It encourages injustice against out-groups, who are dehumanized as enemies of God, and it breeds corruption within in-groups, where leaders are shielded from accountability by their "anointed" status.
When we read Scripture through the Privilege-Performance frame, we do not become like Jesus. We become like the power structures he came to dismantle. We do not become like the Jewish Patriarchs, but rather like the Pharaoh who God liberated them from. We trade the cross for the sword, and in doing so, we lose our souls. This frame proves the old adage: power corrupts, and absolute theological power corrupts absolutely.
The Spiritual-Ethical Frame
The Mechanics of Transformation: The alternative approach, which aligns with the prophetic tradition and the ministry of Jesus, is the Spiritual-Ethical Frame. In this view, the purpose of Scripture is not to validate our status but to facilitate our formation into Godlikeness. The text is a tool designed to mold human beings into a specific kind of character: One that reflects the compassion, justice, and humility of the Divine. This frame operates on two axes:
Spiritual (The Map): This refers to the overarching worldview—the "Life Map"—that Scripture provides. It answers the existential questions: Who are we? Why are we here? It locates the individual not in a hierarchy of power, but in a narrative of vocation. It posits that we are created by Love to be agents of Love.
Ethical (The Compass): If the Spiritual axis is the map, the Ethical axis is the compass. It provides the moral direction required to navigate the map. It is the practical application of "Christarchy"— the rule of Christ’s love— in daily decisions. It helps us discern when to move forward in courage, when to turn aside in mercy, and when to stop and repent.
Election as Mission, Rituals for Transformation: The genius of the Spiritual-Ethical frame is that it redefines the concept of "election." In the Privilege frame, election is possession: Something we hoard and hide. In the Spiritual-Ethical frame, election is mission: Something we do and share. We are not called to be the endpoint of God’s blessing. We are called to be the conduit. We are "called to call others," and "elect to elect others."
This frame transforms our lineage and rituals from badges of status into means of transformation. We engage in prayer, liturgy, sacraments, and study not to prove we are better than our neighbors, but to gain the strength to serve them. This approach distances religion from the corruption of secular politics, allowing the community of faith to act as a social conscience. It makes religion a force for social cohesion, focusing on the flourishing of all people: Especially the lost, the last, and the least. It is a move from a religion of "winning" to a religion of "healing."
Two Ways of Interpreting Torah
"Outside-In" vs. "Inside-Out" These two frames inevitably lead to two opposing ways of reading the Law (Torah). While the two frames discussed so far deal with how we view Scripture as a whole, when applied to ethics and belonging in particular, they yield these two ways which may be termed "Outside-In" and "Inside-Out":
Privilege-Performance and "Outside-In" Spirituality: The Privilege-Performance reader adopts an "Outside-In" approach, focusing on the Letter of the Law to define boundaries and enforce exclusion. In this framework, the Law acts as a fence; the goal is strict external compliance to manage behavior and determine who is "inside" the community. This interpretation fosters an environment of legalistic hypocrisy and self-condemnation, as the focus remains entirely on performative adherence rather than internal change.
Spiritual-Ethical and "Inside-Out" Spirituality: Conversely, the Spiritual-Ethical reader adopts an "Inside-Out" approach, seeking the Spirit of the Law by asking, "What is the intent of this command?" Here, the Law acts as a wellspring for character formation rather than a checklist for earning status. By internalizing values like justice, mercy, and faithfulness, this path leads to life, love, and Christlikeness, where external behavior changes naturally as a result of a changed heart.
The "Outside-In" approach is the breeding ground of religious hypocrisy. It allows a person to be meticulous about rituals (tithe, attendance, language) while harboring a heart full of greed and malice. It creates "whitewashed tombs." The "Inside-Out" approach, however, is terrifyingly vulnerable because it demands integrity. It requires that our inner life matches our outer life. It moves us away from the anxiety of "keeping the rules" to the freedom of "embodying the values." It suggests that God is not a cosmic accountant checking our ledger, but a Divine Physician seeking to heal our hearts. The Spiritual-Ethical frame leads us into the "law of liberty," where we obey God not because we are afraid of punishment, but because we have fallen in love with Goodness.
Case Study: Galatians 4 and the Two Mothers
Galatians 4.21-5.1 [21] Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? [22] For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. [23] One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. [24] Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. [25] Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. [26] But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother. [27] For it is written, “Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children, burst into song and shout, you who endure no birthpangs; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than the children of the one who is married.” [28] Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Isaac. [29] But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. [30] But what does the scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.” [31] So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman. [1] For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Paul’s Allegorical Exegesis: As the crescendo of his argument about the use and misuse of the Hebrew Law in Galatians 1-3, the Apostle Paul provides the ultimate example of this reframing in Galatians 4, through the allegory of Hagar and Sarah. Historically, the opponents of Paul (the Judaizers) argued that to be a true child of Abraham, one must adopt the physical marks of the covenant (circumcision). They relied on the Privilege-Performance frame of lineal descent.
Paul deconstructs this by allegorizing the two mothers. He associates Hagar, the slave woman, not with the Gentiles, but with "the present Jerusalem": The religious establishment of his day that relied on the Mosaic Law. He argues that relying on "flesh" (performance/lineage) leads to slavery. Conversely, he associates Sarah, the free woman, with "the Jerusalem above." Her children are not born of biological necessity but of Divine Promise and the Spirit.
The Scandal of Grace: This was a scandalous rhetorical move. Paul took the "insiders" (the Judean religious elite) and labeled them "Ishmael": Children of the slave, cast out. He took the "outsiders" (Jews and Gentiles who relied on grace alone) and labeled them "Isaac": Children of the promise.
Why does this matter? Because Paul is showing us that Spirit supersedes Structure. He demonstrates that the Spiritual-Ethical Frame is superior because it creates a community defined by faith acting in love, rather than biology or ritual scarification. It opens the doors of the covenant to the whole world. Paul is arguing that you cannot inherit the Kingdom; you must be born into it by the Spirit. It destroys the Privilege frame by insisting that our standing before God is a gift to be received, not a status to be achieved.
Tracing the Frames Through Scripture
A Biblical Tension: The tension between these frames is not just a Pauline invention; it runs through the entire canon.
Old Testament: This tension is woven into the very fabric of the Hebrew Scriptures. On one hand, the Privilege-Performance Frame dominates the priestly documents and narratives that fixate on Israel's exclusive right to land and strict boundary markers—such as dietary laws, circumcision, the boundaries of the camp, and the purity of the vessel. However, the Spiritual-Ethical Frame erupts in the Prophets, who relentlessly attack these forms when they become devoid of ethics, challenging the idea that election guarantees privilege without responsibility. Amos, for instance, critiques empty rituals, channeling God's voice to declare, "I hate, I despise your feasts!" (Amos 5:21-24) when they are unaccompanied by justice. Micah summarizes this frame perfectly, defining what the Lord requires not as performative sacrifice, but as doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8).
Gospels: The conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees is a conflict of frames. The Pharisees criticized Jesus for breaking the Sabbath (Performance). Jesus responded that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Ethical/Human Flourishing). He consistently touched the "unclean," ate with "sinners," and elevated the "outcasts," showing that holiness is contagious and redemptive, not fragile and exclusive.
Pauline Writings: Paul battles the Privilege-Performance Frame in his conflicts with the "Judaizers" who insisted on circumcision for Gentile converts. He argues for a Spiritual-Ethical understanding where "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6).
Hebrews: This epistle acts as a systematic dismantling of the Privilege-Performance machinery. It reinterprets the entire sacrificial system (a key element of the Privilege-Performance Frame) through the Spiritual-Ethical lens. It presents Jesus as the high priest who offers himself once for all, establishing a new covenant written on hearts rather than stone, moving from external purification to the cleansing of the conscience. It argues that the entire system of hereditary priesthood and repeated sacrifices was merely a "shadow." The reality is Christ, who establishes a new covenant written on the "mind and heart" (Hebrews 8:10), moving the locus of religion from external temples to internal conscience.
The New Perspective: Sanders, Wright, and the End of Privilege
Modern scholarship, often termed the "New Perspective on Paul," powerfully reinforces the shift from a Privilege-Performance frame to a Spiritual-Ethical one. For centuries, Western Christianity read Paul through a medieval lens, assuming he was fighting against people trying to "earn their salvation" through good deeds. However, scholars like E.P. Sanders and N.T. Wright have revolutionized this understanding, showing that Paul’s battle was not against moral effort, but against ethnic privilege.
E.P. Sanders and the "badges" of Exclusion: It was E.P. Sanders who famously debunked the idea that 1st-century Judaism was a religion of legalistic "works-righteousness." In his work, he demonstrated that first century Jews did not obey the law to get saved. Rather, they obeyed it to stay in the covenant: A pattern he called "Covenantal Nomism."
From the vantage point of the Privilege-Performance Frame, this "staying in" relied heavily on specific boundary markers— what Sanders identified as the "works of the Law." These were not general good deeds like helping the poor. They were the specific "badges" of Jewish identity: circumcision, Sabbath observance, and dietary restrictions. These markers functioned as a wall. They told the world, "We are the special people, and you are not." Paul fought against these works not because they were "moral exertions," but because they were mechanisms of segregation. He saw that relying on these badges turned the Law into a tool for ethnic pride rather than ethical transformation.
N.T. Wright and the Redefinition of Family: Building on this, N.T. Wright helps us see how this connects to the Spiritual-Ethical Frame. Wright argues that "Justification" in Paul’s letters isn't just about how an individual gets to heaven; it is a judicial declaration of who belongs to the family of God.
In the Privilege Frame, you belong to the family if you possess the "badge" of Torah (ethnicity/ritual). But Wright shows that Paul redefined the family entirely. The badge of membership is no longer a physical mark (circumcision) but a spiritual reality (faith/faithfulness). This means the Gospel is inherently anti-nationalist. Wright emphasizes that declaring "Jesus is Lord" was a direct challenge to the claim "Caesar is Lord." If one's identity is found in the multi-ethnic, border-transcending Kingdom of Jesus, then one cannot derive their primary identity from national flags or imperial power.
The Radical Implication This means the Gospel is more radical than we thought. It isn't just about going to heaven when you die; it's about tearing down the walls of hostility between people groups right now. It is about creating a "Christarchy"— a community ruled by Christ’s love— that transcends national borders, racial lines, and class divisions. Through the lens of Sanders and Wright, we see that the Spiritual-Ethical frame reveals a God who is uninterested in our "badges of honor": Whether they be Jewish circumcision, Anglican liturgy, or American citizenship. God is interested in the content of our love. The "works" that matter are not the performative rituals that separate us, but the "faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6) that unites us.
Conclusion: Two Frames, Two Ways, Two Outcomes
In the end, the frames we choose will shape the world we build. The Privilege-Performance Frame offers a seductive path: it promises certainty, superiority, and a clear distinction between friends and enemies. It is the path of religious nationalism and spiritual egoism. But it ends in a wasteland of hypocrisy and division. Furthermore, when a religion ties itself to the success of a particular political project, it will also suffer loss when that political project inevitably loses power, and it will be destroyed when that political project implodes. It is a bad bet on history to tie religion to any particular project, because all politics and all nations are temporary and fleeting. Only God endures forever.
The Spiritual-Ethical Frame offers a harder, yet more beautiful path. It invites us to view Scripture as a map for the soul’s journey into Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. It calls us to lay down our privileges and pick up our crosses. It challenges us to interpret the Law through the lens of Love, and to view our election not as a crown to wear, but as a towel to use in washing the feet of the world. As we engage with Scripture, let us choose the frame that leads to life—the frame that turns our eyes away from our own performance and toward the transformative love of God.
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