If, however, we are consistently shocked by the majority position of believers across the world when it is different, when we can only see our application and never their application, when we are quick to say ‘that’s wrong’ before we ask ‘why do you do that?’, it is likely our cultural biases may be impacting our understanding of scripture.

At our community group this week, based on the sermon we heard on Sunday, one of the issues we discussed is about allowing our biases to inform our understanding of the scriptures. It is a difficult issue because we all have biases – personal, cultural, political and others – and it is very hard to see them in ourselves because most of us don’t think we’re being biased when our biases are on show. It is always easier to see the biases of people who are not from our culture because our own culture is just the water we swim in.

But we got to thinking how we might know if we are allowing our biases to inform our reading of scripture. Even when we can’t easily or necessarily see our particular biases at the point we are reading scripture through those lenses, there are some tell-tale signs that our biases might be overtaking more broadly. In no particular order, here are some potential signs of that.

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