To Interpret or to Not Interpret: That is the Question

"The Bible does not have answers to all of our questions. The Bible writers were unaware of many of today's issues (for example, cloning, the age of the earth, birth control, the depletion of the ozone layer, euthanasia). What role the Bible should play in thinking about these matters is not always clear. . . . Truth about the world has been made available to us through fields of inquiry not directly related to the Bible or the church (for example, astronomy and physics)." (Terence E. Fretheim, About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions [Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1999], 81).
In addition, sometimes the Bible has something to say about contemporary issues, but it may not be what we want to hear. For example, the Bible is pretty clear when it speaks about money, divorce, and same-sex intercourse. Yet, these (and others, like the role of women in the church) are the issues that have caused the most division between Christians. One of the biggest problems in reading the Bible is that it is an ancient document that Jews and Christians alike rely on to answer current questions. Essentially, the Bible is a first-century document often used to address twenty-first century problems.
To add to the problem, different people interpret the Bible in different ways. Some people may read the Bible for the entire message it offers, i.e., Jesus loves everyone, so it is important to accept people for who they are and love everyone. Others read individual passages in all parts of the Bible that relate to a particular topic and try to discern from them the Bible's position on the topic. Still others emphasize the laws and will derive their answers from them. In many respects, trying to find answers to current issues in the Bible becomes a question of interpretation and emphasis. What if the Bible is not clear on a particular issue? What are your recommendations for interpreting a book that does not always address our problems, yet a book that Christians rely on to inform faith and life? How does the way we read the Bible matter in addressing the important questions of life?