welcome to the story.

Patchwork: The Bible as Mosaic Week Three So we�ve proposed that the Bible is closer to a conversation than it is to a detached monologue lecture from God. Closer to being a narrative or a story than it is to being a list of facts about theology. And today we begin a shift towards the actual authority of the Bible. Is it authoritative? Is it 100% right? Is it true? Is it bogus? Is it the made up story of men? What role does it play in our lives? I think if we were all honest, we have at some point asked ourselves questions very similar to these. Skeptic and believer alike, we wrestle with the Bible. For the skeptic in all of us we wonder how a book can be the word of God when a bunch of human authors composed it. For the believer, we wonder why we our lives aren�t as �cut and dry� and perfect as we assume the biblical characters lives are. Deep down we struggle with whether or not words written on a piece of paper over two thousand years ago really carry any weight in our lives today. So how do we answer these questions? How do we remain faithful to ourselves and what the Bible actually says? How can we reconcile the believer and skeptic in ourselves? We have to begin with a verse that most people manipulate into something that its not. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: �All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God�s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.� All Scripture is inspired by God. The Message Bible says, �Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful.� What this verse does not say is that the Bible is perfect. It does not mean that its not, it just never claims to be. That it claims to have all the answers to every question in life. The author Timothy just makes the simple, deep, and confident claim that the Bible originated with God and it is useful. It is inspired. It is God-breathed. But what does that word inspired mean? Inspired. That�s a huge word. A weighty word. A multi-layered word. A word that requires our attention. The church has turned the word upside down and created a new definition outside of its true meaning. We�ve said the Bible is inspired. And to us that means, �perfect�, �right�, �without wrong�, �inerrant�. I�m not saying the Bible is or isn�t any of those terms. But I am saying neither of those are synonyms of the word inspired. None of those are honest or faithful to the meaning of the word inspiration. Disclaimer/Food For Thought/Rabbit Trail/Aside: The argument is made that because God is perfect and without error, then that means the Bible, logically, would have to follow suit. And again, I�m not saying it is or isn�t any of the above. I am saying that Bible does not claim to be those things. You can make the logical argument that because God is perfect then the Bible must be perfect. But you can also make the logical argument that God likes to slaughter people and children when you go back and look at the story of Noah or the wars of the early nation of Israel. The problem is we always try to assume things with the Bible. Assume it says thing it doesn�t say. Assume it means things it doesn�t mean. And the Bible doesn�t claim assumptions are inspired or useful. It simply says the text of the Bible is inspired and useful. And that is all it says. The Bible does not make the claim that its perfect. It does claim to be inspired and �useful one way or another � showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God�s way�, as the Message puts it. So what does it mean to be inspired? Let me answer that question by asking you a question . . . have you ever been inspired? Inspired to do something. Inspired to say something. Inspired to live a certain way. Inspired to make a change in your life. Maybe it was a person, a movie, a place, an event. But most inspiration comes as a result of seeing something. Hearing something. Believing something. Something that changes us. Something that moves us. Something that gives us a picture of what could and should be. And so we are inspired. A spark goes off within us. Soon the spark turns into a small flame. And that flame consumes us, moves us, causes us to move forward towards something higher. That�s what inspiration is. That�s what the Bible claims to be . . . inspired from God. That�s what God did to the people that wrote the Bible. He inspired them. The authors of the Bible saw God. Saw a picture of something . . . higher . . . grander . . . bigger . . . more beautiful . . . and they began to move toward it. They began to align their lives with this vision of God. And so they wrote. They were inspired. They began to talk about how they had connected with God, related with God and how in turn God was connected back to them, relating to them. That�s what God does. �He works in his people�s lives, and then sets them to talking and writing about it. When the people write down their passions, visions, call to holy life, and their interpretations of how God is working in history, and when the believing community around them says �Yes. This is what God is saying to us�, then God is pleased. He is succeeding. The humanity of the Bible is not a mark against the divine influence in it. In fact, it is proof that God�s mission on earth is indeed going forward. People are willingly joining him � heart, mind, and soul.� � Neil Livingstone That�s why I have no problem with the Bible being written by humans. I don�t see that as an attack on the validity of the Bible. Or on the authority of the Bible. I see it as the affirming of the story of God by imperfect human authors who are simply telling their story of how God is relating to them, speaking to them, inspiring them. And to me that is the point. The point is not to fight over whether the Bible is �inerrant�, �inherent�, or any other big theological word (we get way to caught up and busy fighting and trying to prove things that we can get distracted from the point). The point is that God inspired humans to tell their story. To share with others what he did, is doing, and will do in their lives. What he did do in history, what he is doing in history, and what he is going to do in history. Some would say that this view of the Bible is to loose, to low. I think it�s the opposite. I think it�s a much higher view. I esteem and value the story of God, the inspired Scriptures. They show me truth. They expose my rebellion. They correct my mistakes. They teach me to live God�s way. I stand in agreement with the author of Psalm 119. It�s the longest chapter in the Bible. It�s 176 statements declaring that God�s word, God�s story, God�s heart is the center of the author�s heart. And I affirm those statements. God�s word is at the center of my heart. It�s life to me. It�s water to my soul. A light for my path. It�s food for my journey. And to me, that is a much higher view of Scripture than those who try to make the Bible say something it does not say. Make it into something it is not. At least I�m not assuming. Because we all know how dangerous assumptions are. All of this conversation to me continues to illustrate how the Bible is primarily a story and is very much conversational and contextual and engaging. The very fact that God inspires people to write is so much more aligning with God�s character than it would be if he were to have just dropped the Bible in our laps. Just think of how detached the Bible would be if it were just a set of laws or facts or a book of theology that God dropped from heaven to earth. But he inspired the persons and personalities and contexts of humanity. After all, God has shown himself over and over again to be a God who involves himself on a personal, human, and incarnational way. Why would he all of a sudden shift gears and become impersonal and detached? So he remains true to his nature. He continues in the same way that he has always dealt with humanity . . . personally and relationally. He steps out and speaks to Moses and says, �Moses . . . tell your story.� He looks at David and says, �David . . . tell your story.� He turns to Matthew and Mark, Luke and John and says, �Tell your story.� That�s why Luke begins his book by saying, �This is a recording of things I�ve seen and heard� (paraphrase mine). That�s what the Bible is, people telling their stories. Telling the story of how God related to them and how they related to God. It�s a huge shift from our previous understandings of the Bible as a textbook or weapon or book of theology. But it�s essential that we understand the Bible as a book of story. That�s where we must begin and end in our journey to understand it, to apply it, to learn from it. And we learn by looking at the lives of ordinary people like us. We do not look to them as mythical figures. Or cartoon characters. Or super saints. We look to them as ordinary people who are connecting with God in their lives. And we look to their story, their lives, to see and learn and remember and dream. To be inspired ourselves so that we can begin to model the same type of life that they do . . . the God-life. That�s the point of the Bible. Not facts for us to memorize. Theology to learn. The Bible is not primarily about the mind and right thinking. It is primarily about the heart and right living. Right practice. That�s where the backend of our verse ends up. 2 Timothy 3:17 reminds us that the purpose of Scripture is to �put us together�, to �shape us for the tasks God has for us�. It teaches us about right living. And that begins when we look to the story of those who have gone before us and begin to see how they modeled the God-life. And I�ll stop while I�m ahead.