Walk Home Together

As I made my way through the Bible as a younger person, I had questions. We all do.

So much history. So many contradictions. So much violence. So many unpronounceable names and complicated genealogy.

And that’s just the book of Genesis.

The Bible is many things. Holy. Confusing. Convicting. Lifegiving. Infuriating.

What it’s not is infallible. I’m sorry but that’s the truth if we are using the brain He gave us.

The parables and the lessons contained in it teach us how to live and love. And the stories are so rich, so resonating, and so very true on so many levels.

Just not always literally true.

And that’s ok. If our faith is strong and tested and examined and lived, the symbolic and metaphoric and contextual nature of many of the writings in the Bible should not be a problem. At all.

The ones who came before, in the earlier days of our faith, seemed to get that. I don’t know at what point on the timeline we decided to ignore the beautiful, the inspired, the divine. We replaced it with a hard line of

“The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.”

How very unappreciative of us. How unholy.

Talk about missing the forest for the trees.

The Bible can be anything you want it to be. You can change your life with it. Inspire people with it. Overcome tragic circumstances with it. Teach your children with it. Bring about heaven on Earth with it.

Or start wars with it. Excuse grotesque greed with it. Hide sexual abuse with it. Justify slavery with it. Drive people to think the way they are made is so obscenely wrong that they feel compelled to commit suicide with it.

And we have. And we still do.

Proof texting is the Christian’s most deadly weapon.

We should put it down.

Instead, let’s try to see the whole forest, as it were.

The Bible as invaluable, historic…a precious and ancient text added to and edited and interpreted by us, imperfect humans.

If it’s of God, we can tell by its fruits.

What fruit are we harvesting?

Is it Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control?

Or is it Division, Willful Ignorance, Prejudice, Self-Righteousness and Obstinance?

I’m no Bible scholar and I will never claim to be. I’m a hypocrite and a definitely flawed human who has made plenty of mistakes. But I am also a person who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus as best I can, with an over abundance of analytical skills and a compulsion to figure out what is really true, and of God.