Failed Experiments in Reading the Bible

Like I said yesterday, a large force in my ongoing faith journey is to try to discover how to read the Bible.  I love the Bible, I have come to believe that it is divinely inspired, and I believe that it will provide for me a normative pattern for faith.  However, how do we come to find that normative pattern?  What are the options out there.  Allow me to share a few before sharing the basic outline of how I think reading Scripture should be done.

• Traditional Reading of Scripture

A Traditional way to read Scripture is to read with one question in the forefront:  What is God saying to me?  The underlying assumption is that each verse of each book of the entire Bible is meant to speak directly, and oftentimes primarily, to yourself.  You will find this to be the most readily used method of reading Scripture within Protestantism.  It is also a major reason why there is such a pluralism of ideas concerning the Bible--we allow it to speak without any concern for context.  This reading approach is lazy, ignores the historical nature of what was written, and ignores the biases inherent in personal reading of Scripture.

• Tradition-Saturated Reading of Scripture

Tradition-Saturated reading, however, provides a very different foundation.  This reading approach leans heavily on the internal history of the church to define what a text should mean by looking at how it has been interpreted throughout church history.  This sounds brilliant, until we dive a little deeper.  The problem is two-fold.  First, a careful reading of church history will notice a MAJOR shift 300 years after Christ when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman world.  Everything began to change, from church structure to military involvement.  Can we trust the tradition of the church to be consistent before and after this event?  Second, most of church history is filled with great church leaders arguing amongst themselves about theology.  Who will be authoritative?  Will you trust the writings of Augustine, Origin, John Chrysostom, or Jerome?  Will you listen to all the church councils, or only those that took place in the Western Church?  Do Western or Eastern fathers (who have VERY different outlooks on theology) get a place of more prominence?  This reading approach simply opens up the material available, while still standing on a foundation built with my own personal preferences.  Surely it will not do.

• Authoritative Reading of Scripture

Authoritative Reading of Scripture is simple to understand:  I am not meant to understand the Bible on my own, therefore I must rely on an authority figure to interpret for me.  Catholicism uses the Pope while Eastern Orthodox trust the gathering of Church Fathers, and today we even have a new form of this cropping up in Universities where professors have become the authority.  The problem with this, of course, is that you are simply trusting another's personal preferences instead of seeking out truth yourself.  What makes these men authorities?  Within Catholicism (and to a lesser extent Orthodoxy) this sets up a circular argument where the Pope is authoritative because it says so in Scripture, which he is only qualified to interpret (thus being the only one capable of telling you what the Bible says!).  Not a great way to promote honesty in study.

• Allegorical Reading of Scripture

This method is one that was used by most teachers in the Middle Ages, but has become increasingly popular within Evangelical circles.  We read the Bible, and allegorize the details so that we can find the "inner truth" of a passage.  David v Goliath not sounding too relevant?  What is the giant in your life?  Jesus calms a storm...what are the storms in your life that Jesus seeks to calm?  The problem with this should be obvious--it belittles the historical actions of Scripture in favor of deeper truth.  Does biblical truth exist outside of the actual events that revealed it?  Is truth purely an idea, or is it founded in actual events and actions?

• Historical-Reconstructive Reading of Scripture

This is a very scholarly method, and it is used by a great majority of the scholars today.  The goal, they believe, is to get behind the text to the actual events.  Mark was writing to a community of people, what was that community like?  Why does he weave the stories he does into the gospel he creates?  What makes his community different than that of Matthew or Luke?  Did Paul recreate Christian theology or was he a product of that theology?  These questions, while good to an extent, miss the point for any person of faith.  I have a lot more opinions on this, but would recommend that you read The Gospels For All Christians if you are interested in my stance by someone smarter than myself.

• Pure Historical Reading of Scripture

This reading is another version of the above theory, but with a different focus.  Can we get to the history of Jesus (or Moses, David, etc) by reading the text.  Can we understand who they were by using historical research outside of Scripture to help us interpret Scripture.  The problem with this is that it believes that history is the goal.  Understanding who people were is the ultimate hope of the text, not having a life-changing knowledge of God and His works.

None of these methods do justice to the Bible.  Tomorrow I will share the principles which, when combined, give us a great chance to read the Bible accurately and transformationally.

What reading style to you use?  What principles guide your reading of the Bible?

She Claimed Atheism, and I Blamed Myself

I barely know the girl.

She is one of many campers.  One of many who come and go.

And yet when she claimed atheism last week, I found myself praying "Father, forgive me."

She claims the lack of evidence brought her to this, and I agree.

I, and others like me, do a great job of showing the Do's and Don'ts of Christianity, but nothing more.

No evidence for the God of the universe.  No evidence of Spirit induced change.  Not a shred of supernatural conviction, power, or courage that would lead this young soul to awe at something greater than scientific achievement.

Yes, she is the one turning away from God...

Yes, I still have firm conviction...

Yes, she is responsible for her own decisions...


...But I cannot shake the feeling that I played a part.

The Dividing Wall Rebuilt

You told us that the wall of hostility was torn down.

Destroyed.

In Christ there was no enemy anymore.  In Christ there was just unity; just love.

In Christ we could all walk to you on equal ground, and there was no wall.

When you told Mr. Christ to tear down that wall, it was supposed to be permanent.

So why, God, do I see walls being built all around me?

I Was Nothing But An Outsider

It was my sin that held him there, until it was accomplished...

...but it was my adoration that placed him there.

It was two days before Passover, two days before the feast and festival of Unleavened Bread, Jesus was in Bethany--right outside of Jerusalem.  His death was certainly coming.  He knew it.  Those who wanted him dead knew it.  Jesus was a dead man walking.

Mark shares with us that the chief priests were set on arresting him, but not until after that Passover; he never made it that long.  The plan fell together quickly from this time two days before, actions were set in motion.  Judas would betray...

...but why?

------------

Lent is a season traditionally used to prepare the Christian for Holy Week (Good Friday and especially Easter).  It is typically a time of self-reflection, a time to remember who you were before you were in Christ.  It is time for repentance and self-denial.

All good things.

Whether you and your church participate in Lent or not, I would like to propose something to you.  Lent, like the rest of Christianity is more about discovering Jesus than examining yourself.

When you examine yourself...you know what you are going to find.

You know the sins, the shortcomings, and the inconsistencies in your life.

When you look at Jesus, however, you discover something much more important:

Identity.  Who I was without, and who I am with, the Son of God.

Lent reveals us as who we really were:  Outsiders.  We were no better or worse than the religious leaders, but we were not part of the "in crowd."  In fact, most of you reading this were Gentiles.  We were the sick, the sinful, the ceremonially unclean.

Our sin may have been removed on the cross, but it wasn't only our sin that put Christ on the cross.  It was our adoration.  It was his acceptance of outsiders like us that led to his betrayal and arrest.  It was his willingness to include us that led to the nails and death.

------------

In Bethany, Jesus went to eat at the house of Simon the Leper.

The Leper

Outsider.

While there a woman (outsider by gender) and poured an expensive jar of perfume upon Jesus head.  THis woman, the other gospels will tell us was a prostitute, an adulterer, a sinner.

An outsider.

They complained that the perfume was not sold for the benefit of the poor.  Jesus rebukes them, favoring her  desperate plea for love.  Jesus rebukes them telling them "you can help them (the poor) any time you want."  They rebuked her for something they did not do themselves.

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus.

Judas went when he could stand it no longer.  Jesus love of the outsiders, his inclusion of those that should be excluded, was too much for him to bear.

------------

Jesus includes.  It was his inclusion of sinners and unclean and ungood that sent him to the cross.  Looking at Jesus, as we walk closer toward the cross and Easter once more, we realize that we are not the in, but the outsiders.

Jesus brought us in.

Who are we leaving out?

Time To Tell A Secret

Can I share something personal with you all?

I want to share a secret, and it isn't something that people like me tend to share very often.  Can you handle it?  Will you still love me?  Ok, you convinced me.  Here it goes:

Rescuers

I live in the Midwest.  I live in a small town in the Midwest.

I live in a town where the sky is big, the hills are small, and the problems of the world are just not that concerning to us.

I sit this morning and read Galatians again, seeking again for the Spirit to shape in me the heart of Christ.  The Spirit strikes quickly:

"Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age."

Jesus was a rescuer.  He rescued from the evilness of the world in which he lived (and in which we still live.

But I live in a town where the sky is big, the hills are small, and the problems of the world are just not that concerning to us.


I think often of my friends and brothers around the world.  For those fighting to bring hope to those lost in the hopelessness of homelessness.  I think of those sharing good news to those bogged down by the legalism of Islam.  I think of the wonderful young man Abhijeet, sharing faith in his homeland India; sharing even though his best friend's wife was killed, his friend brutally beaten.  I think of those freeing slaves, ending sex trafficking, and bringing clean water...

...and I feel disconnected.

I can send money (and do).  I can help out with a note of encouragement or prayer (and I do).  I can cheer them on and encourage involvement and raise funds...

...but ultimately I live in a town where the sky is big, the hills are small, and the problems of the world are just not that concerning to us.

------------

The big lights of the conventions were burnt out of her eyes.  The excitement gone.  The only reality left was that she knew she was changed, but was already ready to go back.  It was easier in the present evil age, even if more damaging.  It was easier to live without hope than to taste hope and fight for it.

And the text says she is ready to give up.

And I pray with her.

-----------

He is strong, strong like abused dog that lashes out because it is better to bite than to get beaten.  The walls around his heart seemed like steel.  He didn't need anyone, he doesn't need anybody.  He doesn't always start the fights, but he sure finishes them.

He comes to church, but refuses to share his life with ours.

Until he comes from school broken.  Hot tears breaking down his face like acid eroding the steel around his heart.  He yells and cusses because he wants to be loved.  He wants to be accepted.

-----------

No, I cannot be actively involved in beating the slavery in Africa, or the oppression of Islam in the Middle East.

But here in the Midwest the sky isn't so big and the hills are not so small that they are insignificant.  The problems are real.  The evil is real.  The pain and hurt and hopelessness all lead us to one major need:

Rescue.

And this I can do.  This I will do.

Why People Leave Church: A response to Steve McSwain

A couple days ago, Steve McSwain posted an article for the Huffington Post entitled, "The Decline of the Church:  Will 2012 Be More of the Same?"

The article is focused on why 34 million American's have abandoned the church.  His argument is simple:  the church is to blame.  He goes on to list five major reasons, listed below in shortened fashion:

1. Tired of being told how to live, what to believe, etc.
2. Church's trapped in dead traditions.
3. Incessant bickering within churches.
4. Church is "inventing enemies" do to self-centered, narrow-mindedness
5. Church is the most segregated place in America.

 While some of the issues contribute to church membership decline, I do not believe this is the whole answer.  In fact, I do not think McSwain does either.  Listen to his last paragraph, and

Yes, I hold out some hope for the church -- a hope that the church will move beyond its collective insanity -- where the interest is only in what separates it from others; where the obsession is, as I describe with The Enoch Factor, the madness of insisting, "We're right! You're wrong!" "We're the chosen ones; you're not!" or "We're in; you're out!" And, instead, affirm and defend all people, whoever they are, whatever spiritual path they've chosen to follow as they seek to discover themselves, connect with Transcendence, know and spread peace and happiness, and live an ethical life.

 Here, we find the true crux of McSwain's argument.  The church holds to an exclusive set of beliefs.  The church, as a whole, believes that some religions, lifestyles and opinions are not true.  The church believes, as it has for two thousand years that some issues lead us to stand against cultural and social norms.

I believe it is this belief in absolute truth that leads McSwain to be critical of the church.  First, allow me to say that I agree with McSwain to an extent.  Sometimes our convictions lead to people walking away.  Sometimes we take a stand on the wrong issues, and on the wrong side of some issues.

However, it is at the core of the Christian faith that absolute truth exists, and it is found in no other man or teaching but that of Jesus Christ.  If Jesus Christ, as found in Scripture, is both absolute truth and singular truth, we cannot blame our decline now on something that has been central to our faith for 2000 years.

Instead, I would like to suggest that the church has failed to passionately live out it's core convictions on a few major issues:

1. We have failed to passionately pursue the poor.  This is a topic that I am coming to grips with personally as I read The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Kearns.  The church has aimed its attention so fully on the middle class that we have failed to remember that the New Testament repeatedly calls us to the poor.

2. We have failed to equip our members for evangelism.  If we fail to reach out to new families, the church fails.  If we expect minister to accomplish this alone, we are fooling ourselves.


3. We have failed to maintain sexual purity.  Our voice has been much louder than our practice in areas of sexuality.  We are often rightly called hypocritical on issues such as sexual purity, pornography, divorce, and homosexuality.


McSwain's argument is squarely founded in modern relativism.  A relativism that we as the church must wholly reject, even if it means we lose some.  McSwain's view stands against rationalism, enlightened thinking, and most important Scriptural truth.


Note:  I will be writing several posts about our treatment of the poor this month.  Join me as we discuss how to better live out the faith we profess.

My Beloved--Kari Jobe

Looking Ahead: Renewing the Mind

Let's be honest:  I am not great at organizing this blog.  I get ideas of weekly themes, and I don't stick to them.  This year, I am trying again, but slightly different.

This year, for me, is all about being transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2).  Therefore, this year I will spend my time reading, writing, and asking questions that are important to this goal.  Every Friday I will give a basic update on "What I'm Learning."  Outside of that, anything could happen.

What types of blog posts should you expect?  Well, here are a list of topics that are areas of my mind I am seeking to renew with God's goodness:

• Scriptural Authority, Inspiration, and Formation:  How did we get the Bible?  Why does the Bible matter?  How should we read the bible?
• Grace and Works:  This has been one of the central battles of my heart and mind for the past 4-5 years theologically.  I also believe it has been a battle in my life for much longer.  I need to seek renewal in this theologically and practically.
• Purity and Exemplified Marriage:  I am on a life-long quest for purity in my life.  This year I attack the mental aspects of that goal.  I also want to explore the question:  How can my marriage be a displayed example for those around me?
• Justice and Poverty:  What does it look like to care for the poor?  What does it mean to love?  What role should I take to make the world a better place?  What issues are most pressing?
• Science and Religion:  What should we expect from the Bible scientifically?
• Faith and Parenting:  What does it mean to walk my child toward God?  How can I create an environment where faith can flourish and last?

On top of these topics, I am hoping to have several guest posts from members of my youth group, friends, family, and fellow bloggers.  I will also be writing down children's stories that I plan to tell my child starting at his birth in February.

It is going to be a good year.  What is your goal?  Do you have a word, a verse, or a sentence that describes your goal?

Three Suggestions For Your New Year

It's the New Year!  I am sure you have some goals already.  You have probably reflected on what you want to accomplish, made a couple "resolutions," and maybe even began something new in your life.

At the risk of being too late, i would like to make a few suggestions for your new year.  You can call them resolutions if you want, but I think they are worth actually accomplishing (not that you won't accomplish your resolutions...through February!).

1. Commit to less this year.

Yep, that's right!  I think this is the single most important suggestion I have for this year.  Why?  Can I be brutally honest?  It is because you and I already do way too much right now!  I know, it's just normal, but is normal good?  Is normal what we want?

Do you really think it will be a bad thing to be obsessed with fewer TV shows?  Do you think it will really hurt your kids chance at college if they are not in an extra-curricular activity all the time?  Do you really have to run around like a chicken with your head cut off to be considered a good parent or a good person?

Make a list:  What is most important in your life.  Don't commit to things that don't actually harvest growth in one of your top areas.  (Just so you know, my top areas are:  1. Jesus Christ 2. Family 3. Lowell Church of Christ 4. Writing 5. Close Friendships)  I am not going to commit to anything (hopefully!) that does not help me cultivate one of those areas of my life.

2. Commit to focus on someone else.

Let's face it, we spend way too much time on ourselves.  Wouldn't it be cool if we spent the year taking time to serve at a soup kitchen?  Taking your kids to talk with the elderly folks at the local home?  Wouldn't that be much better for your family than giving them another new phone, another hobby to focus on, etc.  Teens, I work with y'all, and let me be frank--it is time you spend less time on yourself!

3.  Commit to be intentional.

So much of our time is wasted because we are not paying attention to the time at all.  Would you really spend 5 hours on Facebook and Youtube if you knew this was the last week you would live?  I sure hope not.  Be intentional about how you spend your time and what you do.  I bet that if you think about how you spend your time, you will spend it better.

What other ideas would you give me?  What suggestions would you give me this year?

Fruitful Labor

I spent the entire day today at work.  I mean, 8 AM to 8PM, 12 hours of doing church work, accomplishing stuff, reading, prepping, emailing, outlining, designing, brainstorming--that type of work.

Some of you had long, stressful days yourselves.  Hours of work, hours of picking-kids-up-only-to-drop-them-off-again runaround, hours of busy.

Others have worked hours at jobs that they hate, doing the same thing over and over again like a scratched CD skipping back every 2 seconds...

May I ask an honest question?

What are we actually accomplishing in all of our busyness?  What are we accomplishing in the hours of transporting kids, making money, planning ministry?

If you are like me, the honest answer may be that we accomplish very little.  We gain very little.

Life, gone by going through the motions.

I have been reading Philippians 1 every day the past couple weeks, focusing on one verse at a time.  Today, the verse that struck me is verse 22.  Look it up.  I will wait for you.

Paul knows that life, for him, will mean FRUITFUL labor.

Life that counts labor.

Days-not-wasted-going-through-the-motions-without-thinking-through-the-results work.

I don't know that I hold the answer, but I want to see us all choose to work, parent, learn, serve, fellowship, and love in such a way that our labor isn't wasted.

I want our work to bear fruit that lasts.

My best advice:  examine your actions.  Don't walk blindly through life working, parenting, or even "doing church" the way everyone else does.  I know that we tell our kids that "just because everyone else does it..." line, but often our lives look just like everyone else.

Why?  Perhaps we have never considered if different could work.

Maybe different could more than work, maybe it could be fruitful.

Yes, perhaps being different in what we work on, how we run our family, what our priorities are...maybe that would help our work to be more fruitful.

Sunday Thanks

It was a quick moment. A teenage boy with a clear Mexican Heritage, a quiet demeanor, and a lot of trust issues approaches my mother-in-law. She had worked as the cook for camp, and he had been a camper. She looked at him, and he said one line:

"What are you fixing me for breakfast?"

A pause, then a grin breaks across his normally serious face. It is in this moment that I realized the truth.

He belongs.

After so many weeks of saying nothing, trying to sit alone (only to be encouraged to join the group), and only showing interest by showing up, something finally changed. He realized the church cared for him. He realized that people wanted him around. He realized he was a part of this church, not just a kid to be entertained.

And so he joked.

This weeks thankful list:

1. Having a minister who practices what he preaches.
2. The excitement of camp.
3. A downpour while the sun was shining (note: I was told that southerners call this "the devil beating his wife," which I find very odd indeed!
4. Sharing thoughts with bloggers from throughout the world.
5. Starting to put dreams into action.
6. Great youth with great hearts.
7. Cuddling with Ky.
8. Allowing freedom in Christ to embolden me to speak the truth.
9. Watching teens express reality with faith.
   

Vows

I, Matt, take you, Kylie, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

Three and a half years later, I would like to add:

I will hold your opinion in deepest regard,

I will be present for you,

I will find my joy first in God, and second in God's union of us,

I will lead you with a gentle love,

Putting your heart above my own,

Your hopes, dreams, and aspirations will guide my decisions,

My leadership will be sacrificial--as Christ sacrificed himself in leading me.

I will place our love above that of our children, both for them and us,

I will listen, not just hear, converse, not just respond, cherish, not just have,

You will be mine fully, and I yours, and together we will seek after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from this day until the day we meet the Lord in the sleep of death,

And together with all the Church we will be the Bride of our Lord on the great Final Resurrection day, when Easter comes for us all!

This is my pledge to you

Just a Question Today

Today I just want to pose a question:

How much does unity matter?

At what point does theological difference reach into heresy? When would Paul or another apostle have considered someone as outside of the Christian family?

How do we deal with differing theology? How should we deal with heretical theology?

What are the unchangeable teachings of our faith?

Please share your thoughts and let me know (if you don't mind) what tradition within Christianity you are from (I won't judge unless you are from my background!)

I Want To Be Lost

My pulse rose quickly. Not so anymore. Today I am no longer the panic stricken kid who can't find his mommy and daddy in the museum. I am no longer the dependent or the destitute. I am no longer the sick...and a hollowness rings within me as a state this truth.

I long to be lost.

I want to forget who I am.

When I was lost, unsure, inept I was desperate. Desperation drove my soul forward, searching for my place in the world, seeking Daddy, the Holder-Together-Of-All-Things that held me in the web of his life. I had no idea why I was here, what He would want with me, I just knew that I was here, and I desperately needed to be with Him.

Four years of theological training and I know have answers. Not all the answers, but answers. I have studied myself to a point of Know-It-Allness that I have forsaken my panic induced striving after the one Holy-Know-It-All (for he Made-It-All). I have become the doctor--the one bringing answers to those who are desperate.

In my learning of the answers, I lost my desperation. Loss of desperation kills.

...It means I no longer seek (how then can I find?)

...It means I am no longer sick (how can I be made well?)

...It means I am no longer fragmented (how can I be made whole?)

I know (thanks to my ever so great self-knowledge) that I am still reliant on the Source; that I am being made well and whole and complete and perfect according to His blueprints for my soul...

...but some days I miss the desperation of the start, the days when whine my prayers out into a tear stained pillow...

...for it was in the start that I felt the gentle God arms on my shoulder, not telling me where to go, but revealing that He Is.

With Dad

I loved the middle of summer out on the farm growing up. There would always be a week, that perfect week, that the sun would be beating high and hard over the fields, baseball season for us little league superstars was done, and there was work to do. It was time to bail hay.

I know, any of you from the city don't really get this at all. I also know that all of you from the country think I am crazy because I love bailing hay. It is hard work, hours of sweat, cuts up and down your arms, sunburn and tan. It was so much more than that to me. Bailing was time to be a man, it was time to prove that my 12 year old frame could keep up, could prove its worth to those experienced, powerful farmers around me. Hay time was Kool-Aid under a shade tree, steak for dinner, and enjoy the evening sitting out on the porch with dad time. It was time to be with my dad, time to laugh, work, and enjoy him. He was a man, a real man. I remember looking at my wagon of hay, with bails off-center and stacked six high, then looking over at his wagon, stacked eight, maybe even nine high in a perfect square and just wishing, just desiring that I could be like him. I wanted to be like my dad.

And the truth is I still do.

I don't live the Christian life because I was looking for a moral code of conduct to live by. I at one point was a Christian for the protection of God, but that is not what has kept me here, walking this faith road all these days. What keeps me is my Dad. The hot summer days of faith, working in the fields of my soul and the souls around me, doing my best only to see that my job is nothing compared to Dad's. I stay a Christian because God is dad--he teaches me what it means to be a man--working, laughing and playing.

And it is my hope that when this earth is renewed and Jesus reigns and death is no more--my hope is that God and I can sit down under a shade tree and sip Kool-Aid, and enjoy a job well done.

Music Monday!

Alright, here we go again with five songs (new and older) that you need to make sure you have on your iPod. I hope you enjoy the list, I hope the song inspire you to fuller faith, stronger worship, bolder witness.

1.Bottletops by Plumbline--This is a really awesome meditative song!


2. Fully Alive by Flyleaf--Fun, slightly intense, but not overly!


3. What do I know of holy--Addison Road--This one is folky, and the words are penetrating!


4.Some Kind of Zombie by Audio Adrenaline--This is old school Christian rock. These guys were at the cutting edge, and really brought us to the place we are now.


5. Good Fight by Hyperstatic Union--Funk rock, great stuff!


I hope you enjoy the songs--if you have recommendations for next Music Monday, let me know!

Until then, get these songs and enjoy!

Matt