There has been interesting discussion among the classes that I am taking this semester at Simpson, and the current discussion is the idea that Evangelicals have divinized the Bible. hhmmm, controversial I know. So the whole idea is that through the progression of the story of the children of God, people have always sought to build some sort of middle-man between them and God. First we have the children of Israel wanting Moses to speak on their behalf to God, because they are too afraid. Then skip forward to the time of the Levites and the priestly order. Those who are chosen to speak to God on behalf of others. Then we have Christ. The fulfillment of the law, and BAM, no longer are priests necessary. Thanks to the Holy Spirit we now have an interactive and closely bonded relationship to God. But at this point the collective "church" is formed and as history progresses more and more emphasis is put on the influence and importance of the church, until we have the Pope. Now the Pope is a great guy, and as far as I can tell well intentioned, but anyone who speaks on the behalf of God to the entire world... it just seems a step back against what Christ came to do. So we have a group of people who agree with this and they form the Evangelical movement to find freedom from the church as an establishment. And now we reach today. So with the pattern that has continued throughout history we now must question ourselves, what have we made into the middle man? So with a greater emphasis in the modern church on correct context for scripture and making sure that we are reading the Bible as it was meant by the authors to be read to the original audience and not simply what we desire it to mean, we must think, have we been substituting our precious and personal relationship with Christ for instead studying letters and biographies as if they were all totally and completely direct words from God to us today? How often do we go directly to the letters of Paul when we have a question about respect or tolerance or rights, instead of bringing it to the feet of the living God we worship and wrestle with him about it? How often do we forgo the beauty of asking questions to God and letting him answer us because instead we want the simple already processed out answer from 2,000 years ago, in a context that we rarely use correctly?
That being said, I am not saying that the Bible is bad, or wrong or not the truth, or that the truth is whatever you personally believe God is saying to you, because that is not where I am headed, and I am saying that now. There are eternal and fully real truths and those lie in the very nature of God and are expressed over and over in the Bible. But to give up our God given gift of personal, dynamic, intimate, and very real relationship with Yahweh the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Trinitarin God, is to go against every movement of God throughout history. From creation and the Garden of Eden, to the Exodus of the Children of Israel, to the coming of the prophesied Messiah, to the formation of the community of believers, and finally a collection of documents from a vast portion of history made to show that God does not want someone inbetween us and him. So there it is. Some beleive that the Bible is end all say all as far as who God is, what He's done, adn what He will do in the future. But honestly I know that God is way bigger than that, and that he is far better in person than on paper. So next time you read your Bible, don't stop, but after you are done ask God what he has to say about what you just read. What else besides what's written (in the correct context) does he wants to share with you, and what is your repsonse to what he says. (yeah, we are allowed to talk back, crazy!)
Think about it.
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