CNN’s Belief Blog highlighted Steven James‘ take on scripture–one that couldn’t not be highlighted here. A powerful description of what happens in hermeneutics: we try to co-author something that doesn’t need our co-authoring; we try to highjack a message that’s too real to bear, news that’s too good or too arresting to believe. We are bound to translate towards palatability–the Bible tends towards the honesty of filth and the discomfort of favor. When we want piety, we get the God-honest truth. And when we need grace, well, it is the only place we find it.
God’s message was not meant to be run through some arbitrary, holier-than-thou politeness filter. He intended the Bible to speak to people where they’re at, caught up in the stark reality of life on a fractured planet.
Dozens of Psalms are complaints and heart-wrenching cries of despair to God, not holy-sounding, reverently worded soliloquies. Take Psalm 77:1-3: “I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help” (New Living Translation).
And rather than shy away from difficult and painful topics, the Old Testament includes vivid descriptions of murder, cannibalism, witchcraft, dismemberment, torture, rape, idolatry, erotic sex and animal sacrifice. According to St. Paul, those stories were written as examples and warnings for us (1 Corinthians 10:11). So obviously they were meant to be retold without editing out all the things we don’t consider nice or agreeable.
I believe that Scripture includes such graphic material to show how far we, as a race, have fallen and how far God was willing to come to rescue us from ourselves.
God is much more interested in honesty than pietism.
And that’s what he gives us throughout Scripture, telling the stories of people who struggled with the same issues, questions and temptations we face today.
Peter struggled with doubt, and we hear all about it.
Elijah dealt with depression; Naomi raged with bitterness against God; Hannah struggled for years under the burden of her unanswered prayers.
David had an affair and then arranged to have his lover’s husband killed. Noah was a drunk, Abraham a liar, Moses a murderer. Job came to a place where he found it necessary to make a covenant with his eyes not to lust after young girls (Job 31:1).
It’s easy to make “Bible heroes” (as Protestants might say) or “saints” (as Catholics might refer to them) out to be bigger than life, immune from the temptations that everyone faces.
I find it encouraging that Jesus never came across as pietistic. In fact, he was never accused of being too religious; instead he partied so much that he was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton (Matthew 11:19).
Jesus never said, “The Kingdom of God is like a church service that goes on and on forever and never ends.” He said the kingdom was like a homecoming celebration, a wedding, a party, a feast to which all are invited.
This idea was too radical for the religious leaders of his day. They were more concerned about etiquette, manners, traditions and religious rituals than about partying with Jesus. And that’s why they missed out.
That’s why we miss out.
According to Jesus, the truly spiritual life is one marked by freedom rather than compulsion (John 8:36), love rather than ritual (Mark 12:30-33) and peace rather than guilt (John 14:27). Jesus saves us from the dry, dusty duties of religion and frees us to cut loose and celebrate.
I don’t believe we’ll ever recognize our need for the light until we’ve seen the depth of the darkness. So God wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty with us about life and temptation and forgiveness. And grace.
Only when the Bible seems relevant to us (which it is), only when the characters seem real to us (which they were), only then will the message of redemption become personal for us (which it was always meant to be).
We don’t need to edit God. We need to let him be the author of our new lives.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZr5ZDXZU3A&w=600]
COMMENTS
3 responses to “For the Bible Tells Me So…”
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Nice work, Ethan!
It can be ugly business (the business of grinding us into nothing)…but God creates out of nothing. He likes a clean slate. No leftover scribbles of our own design.
But when He starts something…He is more than capable of finishing it.(and without our help)
Thanks.
Thank you for writing this out. It reminds me of who I am only in Christ: he covers me. Therefore what is seen is negated by what is unseen and realized only through the revealed word of God.
It takes courage to stand in this place. So, thank you again (all of the Mockingbirds) for being the forerunners! I find grace and peace on this site with you.
It has only been through hearing the gospel in all it’s rawness that I have truly begun to change and become more like Christ. Having the gospel and grace preached in a honest and real way has renewed in me a heart that had been made hard by the law. The courage that I have seen recently in preaching the gospel has been an amazing thing in my life; so I am thankful for the raw, real gospel being preached!