My First Lesson In Hermeneutics

My first lesson in hermeneutics came when I was about 8-years-old in Citizen’s Drug Store in Chester, WV. I had stopped in the drugstore on my way home from school to buy some bubble gum and opposite the bubble gum, in the same aisle, was a “Tonka truck.” When I was a boy, I never owned a Tonka truck because they were expensive. This particular truck cost $10.00. (Keep in mind that ten-dollars in 1970 would be equivalent to $62.00 today). That’s quite a price to pay for a toy truck.
Of course, I didn’t have $10.00, so I went home and pleaded with my dad to buy me this truck. I explained how all the other boys had Tonka trucks, and I only had off-brands. I didn’t know if I made any headway with my dad, but the next day, my dad unexpectedly stopped at Citizen’s Drug Store, handed me $10.00, and told me to go inside and buy that Tonka Truck! I couldn’t believe it! I was thrilled! Finally, I was going to be the owner of a Tonka truck! I excitedly went in the store to the shelf where I had seen the truck and discovered it was gone. I searched every aisle and it was nowhere to be found. Someone bought my Tonka truck! Although I was devasted, I realized I was still holding $10.00 in my hand and felt that I at least deserved a consolation prize.
On the shelf next to the bubble gum, I found a couple of boxes of baseball cards. In 1970, you could get 10 baseball cards for 10 cents. I quickly did the math and realized I could buy 100 packs of cards, and so I did.
When I returned to the car, my dad asked to see my new truck and I told him that someone else had bought it. So, he asked what was in my bag. I told him that since the truck was gone, I decided to buy 100 packs of baseball cards. What followed was my introduction to hermeneutics. I learned the hard way that having my dad’s permission to spend $10.00 on a Tonka truck did not give me permission to spend $10.00 on baseball cards. In my feeble attempt to defend my actions, I said, “But you didn’t tell me I couldn’t buy baseball cards.” He explained that he didn’t need to tell me all the things in the store I couldn’t buy, and deep down, I understood, but I wasn’t about to admit it.
Nearly 50 years later, grown adults are still making the very same arguments with respect to their religious practices. For example, God instructs them to do one thing, but they do something different, justifying themselves by saying, “But God didn’t tell me I couldn’t do this?” Must God tell us all the things he doesn’t want us to do? Surely, they can see the folly in such reasoning, and if not, my best guess is that when they were eight years old, their dad never gave them $10.00 to buy a Tonka truck. Give it some thought.
(BTW, I still have never owned a Tonka truck).