welcome to the story.

Patchwork Week One The Bible. Out of all the things that I�ve talked about over the last few years to students, this is one topic that I�ve never addressed. I�ve talked about sex. I�ve talked about God�s will. I�ve talked about making wise choices. But I�ve never said one word about the Bible. And I�ll be honest, the main reason is because it scares me to death to talk about it and to try and lay out some framework for understanding it. I think the biggest part of my fears has to do with the way I�ve seen the Bible misused and misquoted by pastors, evangelists, cults, friends, etc. And just to let you in on a little secret of mine, it scares me to death to speak to you every week. Not because I�m afraid of speaking in front of people. That doesn�t bother me. Not because I�m afraid of not saying my �r��s right. That only bothers me a little. Its because I�m afraid that I�m going to mis-�explain� the Bible in my pursuit to explain it. I�m afraid that I�m going to make it say something that it doesn�t say. I�m afraid that I�m going to make God say something that he didn�t say. It literally scares me and humbles me to the point where I almost don�t even want to speak at all. Or offer any explanation or an opinion or a perspective. Anna and I were actually talking about this last Sunday night on our way home. When I speak, that�s why I usually spend the majority of my time deconstructing or telling you what a passage doesn�t say. Or what �God�s will� is not. I�m more comfortable making those claims. I�m not as comfortable telling you what a passage does say or does mean. It�s a lot easier for me to tell you what �God�s will� is not, than to tell you what �God�s will� is. Because truth be told, I�m still learning myself. I have an idea. I have a small understanding. I have a fuzzy reflection. And I say that as someone who has a Bachelor of Arts in Relgion and five years of undergraduate and graduate level classes under my belt. I say that as someone who has read close to a book a week for over six years (do the math). It scares me to talk about the Bible. Because what I believe, is that the Bible is the story of God. And I believe it is one of the primary ways that God chooses to communicate to us today. Ultimately, I believe it is a love story about a Father and his children, a Creator and his creation. And what happens more often than not, is that the Bible turns into a weapon in the hands of someone who wants to use it to prove �their� point, whether spiritual or political. It becomes a source of power. Not power for living, but power for control and elitism, where those who �understand� it (Christians) can assume the posture of looking down at those who don�t �understand� it (non-Christians) or those who don�t agree with their �view� (other Christians). I say all of that as a preface as to why it makes me nervous to approach such a weighty subject like the Bible. But I�m going to do it for a few reasons. One, I believe the whole problem of the Bible is one of the primary �walls� that keep most people from following God. So if I can address and resolve the issues that some of you might have, then hopefully you will have one less �wall� to move around or step over (I don�t care which you do by the way). Secondly, I think many God-followers wrestle with some of the same questions that everyone else wrestles with. I believe this becomes a stumbling block in our faith because I think we doubt that the Bible really does provide solutions for many of our problems and answers for many of the life-questions we ask. And finally, and again I�m just going to be honest, I don�t want you to grow up and have a jacked up idea of God because you have a jacked up idea of the Bible. And I don�t want you to go out and join a cult. And I don�t want you to use the Bible as a sword for conquest and power. And I don�t want you to hit your friends over the head with it while quoting John 3:16. And I don�t want you to live your life disconnected from the story of God. With that being said, how do you begin a conversation about the Bible? What direction do you go? How do you try to validate its importance? I feel like I�m almost having to introduce my family. And my family is not normal. When Anna was meeting my family for the first time, I had to explain a lot of things to her before she actually met them. I had to almost give her a disclaimer about certain things. Because without that disclaimer, without that understanding, she wouldn�t be able to �get� my family. Like having to explain why my dad likes to walk around in sweat pants and a v-neck undershirt all the time with his chest hair protruding, all while rubbing his stomach in a very, very weird way. Or my brothers who are equally . . . �interesting�. Or my mom who has extreme difficulty with allergies and has respiratory infections. If I wouldn�t have told Anna about this, she would wonder why my mom sounds like she�s coughing up a lung every morning in the bathroom. Which she probably is by the way. My family is unique. We have a different accent from living in the deep South. We have a different way of doing things. We are altogether weird at times and very difficult to understand unless you know us. It�s the same way with the Bible. Unless you understand it�s purpose, what it was meant for. Unless you understand the context � the location, the geography, the language, the personality of the people and the writers � you won�t understand the Bible. When we say it�s �supper time� in Alabama it means it�s time to eat. But there is no such thing as �supper time� in New York City or Los Angeles. In Alabama, if I say, �Let�s go out to eat�, that means we are going to eat at Shoney�s or the Western Sizzlin. If I say, �Let�s go out to eat�, in Atlanta, it means we are going to eat at Chili�s, Longhorn�s, or Macaroni Grill. In the same way, when I hear the word �justice� in my current American, Republican, postmodern, suburban, middle-class context, it means something totally different than what it would mean in the Bible in it�s ancient, middle-Eastern, primitive, desert context. So we have to understand the Bible�s intent, the Bible�s purpose, the Bible�s context before you can even begin to understand it�s content. And what I would like to submit today is probably drastically different than what you�ve been taught growing up. But if we can shift our understanding in this direction, I think we can begin to make some steps in the right direction. And it is that I believe the Bible is a narrative, a story. I do not believe it is primarily a text book, or a weapon, or a political law book, or a tool, or an Idiot�s Guide to Life. It�s not a scientific textbook where we can look objectively for detached answers. It�s not a tool for us to �use� (as if God�s could be used). It�s not full of ammunition for us to use on others. It�s not even a sword. We�ve ripped Hebrews 4:12 out of context where it says, �The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.� Our false understanding of this verse leads us to believe the Bible is a weapon. It�s a seemingly small change in language, but it leads people down a road where their image of the Bible is that of conquest. An almost human like figure, the 4th part of the trinity, a mini-God, that people have used to justify wars (The Crusades, Constantine, etc.) and to approach their friends, neighbors, and world in a militant, hostile, and the very least, �unfriendly� way. The language of �sword� used in Hebrews 4:12 has to do with the word of God being able to cut, shape, mold our own personal lives. It�s a sword to be used inwardly on ourselves not outwardly on others. The Bible is not a scientific text book, a book of laws, a sword. It�s primarily a narrative. A story about how God relates to humanity and how humanity relates to God. The first words in the Bible are, �In the beginning . . .� It reads just like a story. Once upon a time . . . Long, long ago. In a time and place far, far away. In the beginning . . . the story begins. The last word of the Bible is, �Amen�. This basically mans, �I approve�, �I agree�, �I echo�. Almost sounds like "The End". The first and last verses of the Bible serve as bookends to the story of God. John 1:1 reads the same way, �In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God.� The Bible is a story. It�s a story with a beginning and an end. It is a story with characters and plots and subplots. It has its ups and it has its down. It has its conflicts and turmoil. And with plot resolution. It�s a story. Jesus is this story. God is this story. He is the beginning and the end. That�s why the Bible�s purpose is not to serve as a textbook. Instead it tells a story of how God relates to people and people in turn relate back to God. It tells about how God came to earth. Entering into the story. Becoming one of the main characters. Entering into humanity. Inviting us to join him in the story. That�s the purpose of the Bible. To tell us the story of God and then invite us into the story that he is writing. The Bible�s primary purpose was not put together so that we could approach it as abstract scientists or students. It was written to tell us of how God is inviting us into the story. It�s just like any other great story only greater. Only grander. Only better. When we read a great novel. Moby Dick. The Great Gatsby. Charlotte�s Web. Treasure Island. Our primary purpose is to read and enjoy and immerse ourselves in the narrative that the author is writing. The great tragedy is when these books get broken down and ripped apart by students and professors in colleges and high schools. Broken down to the smallest parts and psycho analyzed until there is no mystery or grandeur left. Could that be what our seminaries do to the Bible? Could that be what our churches do? Reduce the Bible to facts, to a textbook with easy answers, to objective/scientific explanations about God. Perhaps we miss the point of why any author writes a good story. Namely, to create a story and world that invokes and calls us to immerse ourselves within the story, with the characters, with the plot. To enter into the world the author created and become a participant in the story. It�s a story. It�s a narrative. It�s where we must begin. And it�s where we must end in whatever conversations we might have about the Bible.