church at watershed

over the next few weeks we are going be working through how to study the bible.  most people just need to start by dusting it off.  if you are one of those people, that’s ok, there is no time like the present to get started.

now, call me a heretic if you want, but i do not believe that the bible is God’s manual for life.  it’s not a map, or a guide, or even a rulebook, even though i have heard it referred to as each of these and more.  i believe the point of the bible is to demonstrate to us who God is and what he is like.  God demonstrates himself in nature.  this is known as general revelation.  it is God’s “revealing” of himself, as the word revelation properly indicates, to all in the general way of creation.  the bible is considered to be God’s special revelation.  this is where he reveals more of himself by speaking and working through the course of human history in order to draw humanity closer to himself and his Life. He does this by conveying his intentions for humanity, how things were broken, and how he has restored and is restoring humanity through his salvific work in Jesus Christ.  the bible, then, serves as God’s narrative or his story; his work in, through, and with humanity.

the problem with reading the bible as a playbook or a guide to life comes when we read passages like Ezekiel 23:20 and major chunks of the history of Israel.  we in the north american context want to apply everything to our own lives immediately.  if we do this with the mindset that the bible is a manual for life, what do we do with Sampson’s actions or David’s rendezvous with Bathsheba, as he was a man after God’s own heart.  now, many of these can be worked through as we gather the context of the bible, but i spent most of my life trying to apply the books of joshua and judges, though stories of israel’s conquest of canaan and rebellion against God, to my life.  this is hard to do when you view the scriptures as “the rules,” but if we allow the narrative of scripture to be “the story” of God working in, through, and with humanity to restore all things to himself, then the stories allow us better understanding.

so, for starters, can we please read the narratives as narratives?  there are thousands of years recorded in the bible.  multiple generations.  let’s read the stories of God’s work with people and remember that they are the stories of God work WITH people.  God reveals himself to the people in scripture and he does it again today with us.  are there rules and guides?  of course!  but we’ll get there, ok, so just chill and read the stories like you did when you were 5 years old.