Part One
So two very interesting things happened today. First, for some reason I decided to start reading Proverbs. As I read through the first chapter, these verses really stood out to me:
"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?... "For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them..." (Proverbs 1:22,32)
Ok, so second thing. I was facebook chatting while looking through some of my books today and commented to this male acquaintance from school that I was "reading some books... and my Bible." The response I got kinda surprised me so much that I laughed and got pretty mad at the same time. His response, "Oh that is so cute!" CUTE?!?!? That was probably the last straw. Or the straw after the last straw. If there was never a term "laughing in anger", I think I just invented it!!!
There is nothing cute about the above verse, and really any other passage of the Bible. Now, before I am accused of judging or not being light-hearted enough, I happen to know that this person doesn't really read the Bible. So, I would challenge him to study it in depth, and then tell me again whether my Bible reading habits are really cute or not.
Ok enough of that rant. Sort of... Ok to be honest, these two small parts of my day, really defined it. And these two meaningless tidbits of information really point to something that has been wanting to scream out of me: let's grow up! We have spent enough time sitting around being "ok" with how we are and our lame version of Christianity that looks a lot like bossing God around and expecting Him to clean up all our messes! He wants a relationship, we want a life saver. He doesn't work that way, and we are going to be incredibly disappointed. He invites to experience Him in the deepest and richest ways. Where do we start? That's where His word comes in. His word is His love story to us! No where else can I find advice for the problems I'm facing in life, encouragement in times of dark depression, and most of all, a clear perspective of life outside of the selfish lenses I see everything through.
It is time to get off our spiritual butts and take a chance. Take a chance on His very un-cute Word. His Word is a matter of life and death. To be honest, sometimes reading the Bible is the most gruesome task I can think of. But that's where the growing up comes in. It takes discipline, and after a while, the rewards are so evident! Let's stop laughing, stop sleeping, and start reading.
I have been doing so much research and seemed to have opened a bit of a pandora's box, but tomorrow I will be clarifying some issues with the reliability and authority of Scripture. After that I hope to (in the next couple weeks) tie in the importance of the two testaments, show the life giving power the Word has throughout the world and how people sacrifice their lives daily just to read its pages, and finally, what it can do in each of our lives personally. Until then, grow up, and give it a chance! :)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
An Essential Foundation... First things First...
Posted by girlgoneglad at 10:48 PM
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2 comments:
Wow Katie, your passion can be contagious. It's a gift, it will push you to grow and search and be "real". We studied last night how prayer, namely praying about our sin issues leads to confession which leads to a desire to purge the sin out of our lives (we get so disgusted with it after telling the Lord about it for a time)....I think in the same way, time spent in the Word faithfully leads to the realization and understanding of the gravity and magnitude it possesses. But it's a living work of the Word in someone's heart, so keep encouraging others to seek.
"Authority" can be a tricky issue when it comes to scripture. We tend to fall into a couple of "traps." One is the "It's true because it says it's true" circular argument trap. This might work for us "churchfolk" but it does pretty much zilch for those "outside the fold." And, in the end, circular arguments are just that. The other trap is the "modernist" trap of external proof. This one goes something like this, "The Bible says that Abraham dropped his wallet beside a well in Israel in 1600 B.C. and last week an archaeologist dug up a wallet next to a well and it looked really old and it had no I.D. in it so it could have been Abraham's so this proves the bible is true."
(Ok, so this is a bit harsh.)
In the end, the strongest evidence for the authority of scripture comes from neither source. Paul got it right when he said, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe."
In other words, the strongest (perhaps only) argument for the authority of scripture is the transformation of the lives of those who trust in it. In the presence of changed lives no defense of scripture is neede. In the absence of changed lives none is adequate.
Blessings for the journey
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