The Beautiful Bride

In Ephesians 1:17-18, Paul talks about hearing about the faith the Ephesians have in Christ Jesus, and in their love for their fellow saints.  Paul then also talks about how he is thankful for all of them, and how he constantly remembers them in his prayers.  And as I read these words, one thing has struck me time and time again.  Paul is writing these words about his fellow saints in Christ Jesus.  Paul is writing about the Church, that which, in other contexts, God calls His Bride, or the Bride of Christ Jesus.

That's a jolt for many of us as we think about God's Church.  I hate to say it, but there are way too many times that we don't see God's Church as the beautiful bride of Christ that she really is.  For those of us on the inside, we look at our fellow members and saints, and we see their ugliness.  We point out their faults and flaws.  We far too often talk negatively about them, more often than not behind their backs rather than to their faces.  And then, when they really mess up, we let them know it, regardless of who may hear what we have to say.  We fail to see the beautiful bride of Christ in our fellow saints.

Those on the outside of God's bride also fail to see the beautiful bride for who she is.  They see a group of people that, in recent years, they feel is best described as hypocritical, homophobic, bigoted, and the like.  They also see the warts and the flaws and the sins, and focus on those in their descriptions of the Bride of Christ.  (Sad to say, way too often we have given them cause for having these descriptions, but that's for another post on another day.)

That's why the words of Paul here should really hit us square in the forehead.  Paul is thankful for each and every one of them.  Yes, let me say that again.  Paul is thankful for each and every saint who is a part of the Body of Christ Jesus.  He is thankful for them, even as he knows that they are not perfect.  He is thankful for them, even though they come with warts and flaws and sins.  In fact, because they are the bride of Christ, he does not cease to give thanks for them.

As you consider your local Body of Christ, how thankful are you for those brothers and sisters, for those fellow saints?  Do you find it much easier to grumble and gripe about them than to be thankful for them?  Then maybe they aren't the ones who need the heart change.  Maybe it's you.  Yes, you should and can expect sin and fault and flaw in your fellow saints.  But that should in no way take away from your thankfulfness that God has made them part of the Body of Christ, as His bride.

If we looked at all of our fellow saints as the Bride of Christ, would our eyes be opened to seeing them in new ways?  Would we, perhaps, leave that lingering hurtful word unspoken?  Would we reach out a hand to help, rather than storing up judgment within?  Would we desire to speak the truth to them in love, rather than in letting them continue their hurtful ways, which are also destroying their repuation?  Isn't that what we would do if it were our bride?  How much more so if it's the Bride of Christ Jesus, the beautiful bride, that we are talking about?

So how do you explain that?

Yesterday I wrote about some of the worldviews that are out there, which seek to explain what happens in this thing called life.  Today, I want to dive in a little bit into what I have seen and observed from God and from His Word that truly seems to explain this the best, and which fits so much of our lives, even as we realize that there is far more going on than we can ever suspect.

Most worldviews struggle to answer the questions like, "Why do bad things happen to good people," and "Why do the wicked get away with so much and seem to prosper?"  These would seem to be anamolies in life, and yet, they happen with such frequency that we always seem to be asking the question.

Believe it or not, God reveals some things that truly do explain that situation far better than many others that I have investigated.  First, God tells us that He created us to be good, in His image.  We were created to perfectly love and care for others.  But then, God tells us that we lost that image by losing our relationship with God when the first man and woman disobeyed God.  Now, we became disconnected from God, and this thing called sin entered our human relationships.

This thing called sin now causes us all kinds of trouble.  We take advantage of each other, we hurt each other.  We want what doesn't belong to us, and we're not content with what we have.  Some of the problem is right there inside of us.  And then, God tells us that there are outside forces also at work.  Satan and his followers look to latch on to that inborn trouble spot and draw us even further away. 

Yet, the foundation of God's will and design for life were still alive in us.  That is found in the rules, or laws, of God.  Inherently, we know it's wrong to murder, or to steal.  Sure, the definitions of some of those rules may be different from one culture to another, but the essence of them is still the same.  You don't steal your buddy's wife, or stuff.  You don't just stick a knife into someone if they tick you off.  And there are times where we still respond appropriately to that design that is written into our lives.

Likewise, we also know that, if we tend to treat others one way, they will respond in somewhat of a like manner.  When we're kind to others, they have a tendency to be kind to us.  If we're a jerk to others, we probably shouldn't be surprised that they don't like us.  And yes, God does address all of these in His Word.

That's a big part of the reason why I hold so firmly to what God tells us in His Word.  It makes sense.  Sure, it's helpful that there are real places that correspond to what the Bible says, and it's great that archaeology has proven some of the Biblical facts.  But, in a sense, what God says just really does accurately describe life.  And that, at least for me, speaks volumes about why I should listen and follow in this particular way.

Equality and God

In Luke 16:19-31, we have a rather interesting story from Jesus.  From the outset, I should say that I take Jesus at His word, so if He tells this story as though it actually happened, I'm going to go on the assumption that it actually did happen.  I'd encourage you to read through it briefly before you continue on with this post.  (You should be able to move your cursor over the Bible reference and have it pop up for you.)

Over the past few years, I have become very intrigued at how God has made us human beings.  We have a dual nature, or perhaps it would be better to say, we have two natures that exist together.  We have a physical nature, evidenced by the body we inhabit.  We also have a spiritual nature, evidenced by our mind and soul, those things that simply cannot be described or explained.  (As a sidenote, I've never heard a scientist come up with a reasonable response to how a "soul" or "spirit" came into being.) 

The reason I bring this up is because we live those two natures out at the same time.  Understanding them helps to bring some sense to some of the things God says in the Bible, including the topic of equality.  So, with no further ado, the question for the day.  Does God see us all as equal?

In one sense, yes, He does.  We are all His beloved creation.  God made every single one of us special, according to His own will and design.  Taking that a step further, because we have all inherited a nature from our first father and mother, that of sin, we also are all equal in that we are sinful in the eyes of the righteous God.  That one isn't such good news for us, but it does remind us that we are equal in some respects in God's eyes.

However, God does not dole out His gifts in this world on an equal basis.  Look at the story I referenced above.  It seems pretty clear that God gave good to the rich man, and God didn't give that much good to Lazarus.  We also see this in several other places, in regard to things such as spiritual gifts, where we are told that God gives His gifts according to His design, not according to equality.  Some were given much, and much was expected.  Others were given little, so that those given much might share with them and truly show neighborly love.

We'll dive a bit further into this, but let's just say that God does see us as equal, and yet, at the same time, God doesn't see us as equal.  We'll look at this a bit more in future posts.

I Don't Like What I See

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."  2 Timothy 3:16-17

There are times when I read things that I don't like to read.  Sometimes, these are because the items I am reading about are things that bother me (slavery issues, sex trade issues, crimes, and the like).  Sometimes I don't like reading things because they point out things that I don't do well.  And that brings me to the next point I want to make in why we read and study the Bible.

We read and study the Bible, as Christians, because they show us where we fail to live up to God's will and design, or, in a more general sense, where we fail to live up to His law.  We find that God has a lot to say about what goes on in our lives, and truly, we may be surprised to learn that God has an active interest in every aspect of our lives.  He watches us every moment, and wants to be part of everything that happens to us in life.

However, not everything that we do lines up with what God wills and designs for us.  And that's where we encounter His Word, to be corrected, to be trained in righteousness, as St. Paul wrote in the words quoted above.  We encounter that Word of God to see what needs to be worked on in our lives, so that we recognize those areas where we fall short of what God says for us, and where we go against what God has designed and willed for us.

That's not an easy reading of the Bible, though.  In fact, though we read for this purpose, being corrected is only one aspect of why we read the Bible.  Yes, it points out our faults, sins, and shortcomings.  But it does that to graciously remind us that God has taken care of that, in Jesus.  It then shows us that, by God's Spirit, it is possible to improve this earthly life in line with God's will and design.  Not perfectly, but that we can, and should be, constantly growing in our alignment with His will and design.

Often, I don't like what I see when I read the Bible.  Jesus says that, to view a woman with lust is equal to adultery, and I don't like that.  However, God isn't merely trying to get me angry, but to drive me to the forgiveness of Jesus, and then, the Spirit-led reform of my life, where I strive to bring myself in line with God's will and design.

My Place in This World

"And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"  Elizabeth to Mary, recorded in Luke 1:43

What is man, that you are mindful of him, and the son of man, that you care for him?  Psalm 8:4

To get it out of the way right up front, there are many times in my life where I am taken by my own sense of self importance.  At times, I think of myself as essential to such things as my family, the congregation I am part of, and other ventures in life.  I start to think too highly of myself, that I am the linchpin that holds things together, and while there may be a small degree of accuracy in that, one thing I often need to be reminded of is that God's Church goes on, even as individuals of that Church pass on.  God's Church is bigger than any one person, except for Jesus.

That's why I need to approach God's Word in the Bible.  It reminds me of my place in this world.  Yes, it is great that I am one of God's highest parts of creation.  Yes, it is great that God has called me to an important role in the context of my family.  Yes, it is wonderful that God has called me to be a leader of His people in the context of His Church.  I have important roles in each of those, and I have to assume those responsibilities with a great deal of seriousness.

But there is also another thing that I have to face.  I am not the glue that holds these things together.  That is God, working in Christ Jesus.  God is the originator and creator of all things.  While I may play a role in His creation, it will also continue on after me.  God is the originator and sustainer of my family.  While my absence would be a great loss to them, God still proves faithful to them in providing and caring.  And God is the originator, creator, and sustainer of His Church.  The ministry of the Word and Sacraments continues even in my absence, and when I one day must either move on or be called from this world.

After all, He is God, and I am not.  I tend to overestimate my importance in these roles.  And so, I approach the Word of God to be reminded that I'm not the one who makes the wheel spin, so to speak.  I'm actually part of the wheel itself.  Perhaps a very important part, but I still need to be reminded that I'm not the one who makes all things, preserves all things, sustains all things, and redeems all things.

So I approach the Bible to be reminded of my place in this world.  I am the creation, not the creator.  And that reminder is a regularly humbling thing, which I believe we all benefit from gaining.

The Form of My Life

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."  Psalm 51:10

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Psalm 119:105

As we think about the reasons that we read and study the Bible, I want to remark on a quotation that many of you may have read or heard before.  There is an acrostic of the word Bible which highlights that the word Bible could be listed out as "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth."  While this quotation has an admirable point to it, I also believe that it can easily be misunderstood.

As I have presented in a previous blog post, the primary reason for our engagement of the Bible is to know and believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that, by believing in His name and His work for us, we may have everlasting life.  And that is where I have come to believe that this acrostic fails.  It seems to point us to things that we do, and not to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

Yet, at the same time, we cannot discount the basic assertion of the acrostic.  Truthfully, the Bible does indeed say a lot about the living out of our lives.  However, I do think we need to make this point very clear.  We align our lives to what God says after God has acted to make us His people.  We don't start our conversations about faith or life without first realizing that we are who we are because of what God has done for us in Jesus.

As people who receive the work and benefits of Christ, the Holy Spirit then begins His work in us of creating a new heart and a right spirit.  And that's where the word of God in the Bible enters in.  That new heart and right spirit search God's Word of the Bible to see what such a life looks like.  In that regard, the Bible becomes the lamp to our feet and the light to our path.  We do so, not because it makes us more worthy of what God gives, but because it demonstrates our love for a God who would do such things for us, and to then begin to love our neighbors, that they also may come to know this God, and what He has done for them.

So God's Word in the Bible does indeed form our lives.  But it does so as a response to God's gracious working and action in Jesus.  In fact, I would even go so far as to suggest that it is improper for us to enforce the form of our lives upon those who do not share our faith.  That would be trying to get someone to form their lives around things that they do not believe, which is something we Christians often complain about when others attempt to do the same to us.  We may see how society around us isn't in line with the form that God designs, but the aim isn't to change their behavior.  It is, rather, to work that God might create a new heart and a right spirit within them, so that they then form their lives according to what God has designed.

A Word To The Wise

"Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?  How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?" Proverbs 1:20-22

 We've all likely heard that there is a difference between wisdom and knowledge.  It's very true.  Knowledge may be helpful, but wisdom comes in to show you the value of your knowledge, and gives a guide to help you understand what to do with that knowledge.

Last week, I blogged about how we may approach the Bible to gain more knowledge.  We can acquire quite a bit of knowledge about God, about His will and design, and other such matters, like salvation.  However, merely "knowing stuff" isn't necessarily the main point of us reading the Bible to gain knowledge.  That knowledge needs to have a grounding in real life, in what it means for us as the people of God.

That's where wisdom enters in.  Another reason we read the Bible is to gain wisdom for the living of life in this world.  And believe me, there is much wisdom in the Bible.  Knowing what it means to forgive someone is one thing.  Having the wisdom to understand and implement forgiveness into your relationships is a completely different thing.  Knowing that God desires for us to love our neighbors as ourselves is one thing.  Wisdom is found in growing and learning how you actually go about that, and reveals what it looks like, as well as what it doesn't look like.

So we read the Bible to know more, but we also read the Bible to learn the application of that knowledge.  And that is where wisdom enters in.  Wisdom connects the dots of knowledge and real life.  Wisdom applies what we learn from the Bible into our lives.  And you probably shouldn't be surprised to know that such wisdom and application is led mightily by the Holy Spirit, who comes to us in our interaction with the Bible.

I hope that, as you regularly engage God's Word, you don't do it merely to understand more of what God is saying, but that you also look to see how it applies to your life, and what it means for you.  Pray that God will give you wisdom by His Holy Spirit, and then, be ready to see how God may open your eyes to that wisdom and its application into your life.

Trivial Pursuit

I remember watching the TV show "Cheers" in its heyday.  Cliff Clavin always struck me as a fascinating kind of person, mostly because I actually know several "Cliff Clavin's" in my life.  You know the kind.  People who know things that astound you, but the things they know actually serve no purpose other than to dazzle you with how many meaningless things that they know.

Over the years, I've also been amazed at how many facts people can know about the Bible, its history, and its content, and yet completely miss the main point of it all.  And this brings me to the heart of today's blog post.  One of the reasons that we study the Scriptures is because we want to know the things of God more and better.  Knowledge of who God is, of what He has done, of what He continues to do, and of who we are is an important thing. 

So we encounter God's Word to grow in our knowledge.  However, even as I say that, one of the things we must have pointed out to us is that knowledge alone is insufficient.  To paraphrase a verse in the Bible, even the demons "know" about God and who He is and what He has done, but that knowledge isn't gaining anything for them.  Merely knowing what God has done is insufficient for what God intends to do through His Word.

That's one side of the coin.  Knowledge merely for knowledge's sake isn't really that much gain, especially since the central key to the Bible is Jesus, and what He has done, and, as the last post mentioned, to guide us to belief in what He has done for us.  However, we can be found in Christ Jesus through faith, and yet still have a warped intent on gaining knowledge from the Bible.

A believer who encounters the Bible to know more about the things of God is commendable.  A believer who doesn't take that knowledge and "do" anything with it, though, falls far short of God's intent for the Scriptures.  Yes, God wants us to know more about Him as He reveals Himself.  Yes, He wants us to know what He has done.  Yes, He wants us to know how He has acted. 

But God doesn't intend for such knowledge to merely serve the function of expanding the brain of the one who reads.  One of the reasons for reading the Bible that we will address is that of making God known to others.  If we study the Bible only for our own personal edification, in a sense, we still fail some of the purpose of the Word.  Yes, we need to know about God so that we can share it with others.  And perhaps that right there is the key.  We approach the Word to know, with the intent that the knowledge is not merely for our edification, but for the building up of the community of faith.

Why Read?

Why read?  Of course, you might be asking yourself why you take up your valuable time to read these scatterbrained words here, but that's not the point I want to make.  The big question I have, that we will be looking at over the next number of posts, is simple.  Why do we read the Bible?

As we dive into this topic, there is something that I believe we should be clear about up front.  There is not one and only one proper, correct answer to this.  In fact, as we work our way through this series of posts, one thing I hope you come to realize is that God has given us His Word, and that Word does a variety of things to us as we engage that Word.  But today, I think it might be helpful to start with one very basic thing.

We read the Bible in order to know who Jesus is, and that He is the Christ/Messiah.  In John 5:39, Jesus is quoted as saying, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me..."  At the end of his Gospel account, in John 20:31, John reiterates this point.  "...these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." 

We Christians read the Bible because it tells us about Jesus.  That goes for the Old Testament as for the New.  We see in the Old how God prepared the way, and how the themes of God all come together in Jesus, in what He did, and in what that means for us.  Jesus is the heart and soul of the Bible.  We cannot truly understand the Bible if we do not understand Jesus, and we simply do not understand Jesus if we do not understand the Bible.

But even in that, there's more to it.  We don't read merely to know who Jesus is.  As John points out, what we read about Jesus is to guide us to believe in who He is, and in what He has done for us.  We could know who Jesus is, but if we don't believe in what Jesus has done and continues to do for us, we actually haven't gained anything.  Knowledge is okay, but faith takes precedence.

Of course, we'll hit on these keys again.  But as we start off today, we do so remembering that one of the many reasons we read the Bible is to know and to believe in Jesus.

A Multi-generational Household

In olden times (and by olden, I mean time over about 100 years ago), it was not uncommon for multiple generations to be living in one house, under the same roof.  People would add on to their houses when children began their married life together, and then, as they had children who got married, the house might be added on to for a little more room.  You might actually have households with four generations all living under the same roof, and that was normal.  It was common.  In fact, in some places and times, it was even seen as odd if a child were to leave home and go live somewhere else, even if it was only over on the next street.

In recent years, I have started to see a return to this multi-generational household.  I know of quite a few families that have up to three generations living under one roof.  Now, these have come about for a variety of reasons, but the main point I want to start off with is that this is becoming more and more common.  It used to be looked down upon highly when the children didn't go off and establish their own households.  They were strange if they continued to live at home beyond the college years (an arbitrary number that we arrived at for some reason). 

One thing that I think we forget at times is that the Bible times were times that were used to the multi-generational household.  Children cared for their parents, and more often than not, people would die in the same house in which they were born.  (Yes, birth and death often took place at home, which meant that it wasn't as taboo to talk about or think about as it is in our circles these days.)  Life was truly lived together in that context.

I truly believe that this impacts our understanding of some of the things we encounter in the Bible from time to time.  I actually want to spend a little time reflecting on this over the next few blog posts, since it cannot but help us to better grasp the world in which God's Word came to us, and then to see how that same Word powerfully affects and influences our understanding in our day and age.

Amidst Much Fanfare

It's an historic day.  Today marks my 500th blog post on here.  At times it has seemed like a lot more, and at other times, it doesn't seem like I could have maintained a blog long enough to get to 500 posts.  But anyway, here's hoping that the next 500 go even better than the first 500.

While we're talking about numbers, this is actually a good time of the year to remember that numbers often have significance in the Bible.  And yet, numbers are so very often misunderstood in the Bible.  When you throw in different times, different places, and different cultures, it's really a wonder that we truly understand as much of the symbolic aspect of some of the Biblical numbers as we do. 

The reason that this is a good time of year to think about numbers is because we are entering the final weeks of the "Christian Church Calendar Year."  The days following All Saints Day begin to count us down to the Last Sunday of the Church Year, often also known as the Sunday of the Fulfillment or Christ the King Sunday.  These holy days mark the end of the Church Calendar Year, which begins with the season of Advent (typically late in November or early in December, hence the reason that November marks the end of the year).

Part of the reason numbers come into play is because there are often misunderstandings about some of the numbers spoken of in conjunction with Christ's return.  For example, in the Revelation given to St. John, it speaks of Christ reigning for 1,000 years.  Many take that in a very literal sense, as in, either Jesus will reign for 1,000 years before He returns in glory, or that He returns in glory, and then reigns for 1,000 years in perfect peace.  In some ways, it makes sense.  After all, 1,000 is 1,000, right?

Though we also understand that there are certain numbers that tend to have much more symbolic status throughout the Bible.  Take, for instance, the verse from Psalm 50:10, where the psalmist writes that the beasts of the forest belong to the LORD, as do the cattle on 1,000 hills.  Now, if we take this literally, where are those 1,000 hills?  I want to know because I want my cattle on hill #1,001, which means that they belong to me, not to the LORD.  However, in this instance, we understand 1,000 to mean the full scope of creation.  In other words, it's not a literal 1,000 hills, but that every herd of cattle on every hill belongs to the LORD, as does all creation.

Take that understanding of the symbolic meaning of 1,000, now, and apply it to the 1,000 year reign of Jesus, and what do you get?  That Jesus will reign forever.  Now there you have a Biblical fact that is found, not just in the Revelation, but throughout the Bible.  Everywhere we find Jesus/God having all authority over everything in heaven and on earth.  We hear often of the kingdom of God, which will be an eternal reign.  In other words, the symbolic meaning of 1,000 fits the Biblical picture much better than some 1,000 year literal reign.

I could keep going on, but I've probably already bored you enough.  But maybe it's worth thinking about the significance of the numbers we come across in the Bible. 

Who ya talking to?

There are a lot of people out there who claim that the Bible has contradictions.  Now, I'm not going to harp on how they often don't actually know what those contradictions are, and that they are typically just mouthing an argument that they think holds water.  But I do want to acknowledge that there are statements that often seem to be at odds with each other, especially when you pull them out of the context and simply compare one verse to another, especially when they both come out of the mouth of the same person.

Now, I've already given away part of my thought in that previous paragraph.  One thing that many "contradictions theory" people hold is that Jesus says different things, or that the Bible says different things.  I will readily acknowledge that.  For example, in one story, Jesus tells a person caught in sin that He doesn't condemn that person, and then, in another, He pretty much seems to blast what seems to be a fairly minor thing.  Or, in once case, He says that those who aren't against Him are for Him, and yet, in another instance, He says that those who aren't for Him are against Him.

So we might want to say, Jesus, You seem to be speaking out both sides of your mouth.  But here's the rub.  We have to look at the story in which these different statements are offered to understand why the Bible says the thing it does.  In one case, Jesus is speaking to someone who seems to have been set up merely to try to prove a point to Jesus.  In another case, Jesus is talking to people who take great care to count their tithes, but forget things like God's mercy and forgiveness.  In one case, Jesus is speaking to those who want to stop someone who is acting in Jesus' name, and in another case, Jesus is speaking to those who are actively working against Him.

In other words, context actually serves to clear up most "contradictions" in the Bible.  We could simply ask the question, Who ya talking to?  If Jesus was talking to someone who was convinced that they were right with God on their own, He's going to answer very differently than He would to someone who recognized their sin and asked for forgiveness.  If Jesus was talking with someone who was content with their sin, He would say something far different than He would to the person who felt great remorse over his sin.

To whom is this statement directed?  That's a great question to ask when supposed "contradictions" are brought to our attention.  And honestly, I think it should fall on the shoulders of the person who brings up these contradictions.  In that sense, it's obvious that they need to do their homework.  They need to point out the specific incidents that they are talking about.  And then, they need to examine those to see why the statement is made at that time, in that place, to that particular person or group of people. 

You might notice that this requires them and us to have a decent working knowledge of what the Bible actually says, and to go even further in knowing the context in which these things are found.  Yes, a pretty tall task, but I honestly don't recall God or Jesus ever saying that the life of faith would be easy.

Demons in the Bible

Last night, I was part of an interesting conversation.  We had been studying Luke 11, starting at verse 14, and on through the rest of the chapter.  A couple of stories from Jesus' life are found there, starting with the healing of a man with a mute demon.  It then moves on to talk about what happens to an individual who may have a demon exorcised, but not subsequently filled with God's Spirit.

In the course of our conversation, a couple of things came out.  First, we talked about the apparent lack of demons and possessions in the Old Testament, which also led us to think about how often we encounter demon stories following the ascension of Jesus.  To our recollection, there weren't really all that many, either before the time of Christ, nor afterward.  And that got my mind to thinking.  Why would that be?

The one thing that jumped into my mind was that Jesus, being the one true God in human flesh and blood, can see that which we sinful humans simply cannot discern, spiritual realities that are beyond our vision in the form of demons.  That could be part of why demons are such an integral part of the Gospels, but not really all that common in the rest of the Bible.  Since we don't have the ability to see or discern demons with any sense of regularity, it fits that Jesus, being God, would not only be able to see them, but talk about them with His disciples.  But then, once Jesus ascended, we sinful humans still are unable to discern demons with regularity, and so things go back to the way they were before Christ's "arrival".

The other thought that came up was that Satan and his followers were extra busy while Jesus was walking the earth.  They would be unable to resist Jesus as a mere human being, since God would seem to be limiting Himself by becoming a human being.  Thus, if they could show their strength, perhaps they had a good possibility of foiling God's plans.

I'll state right out front that I don't expect any answers to this question on this side of God's eternal kingdom.  But it is something interesting to think about, especially in a day and age that either completely denies demons and spiritual forces of evil, or is overly fascinated by them.  But above all, it really reminds us that we aren't the ones who have power over demons and evil spirits.  That's God's job, and we're probably wise to let God handle those rather than taking on things that are beyond us anyway.

Why Do You Study The Bible?

On my twitter feed this morning, I saw a link to a blog that caught my attention for a moment.  I read several missional blogs and follow several missional leaders on twitter, and this one happened to say something that I hadn't really thought of before.  In sum, the caption said something like, "missional communities study the Bible, but Bible study isn't why they gather."

That got me to thinking.  What is the "point" of Bible study?  Of course, we want to be growing in God's Word.  God's Spirit works in us as we are engaged in the Word.  It brings life as it reveals our God and His grace.  It also shows us God's design for life in this world, as well as our shortcomings and sin in that same regard.  Our study is also to help us see how God has acted in the past so that we have an eye to seeing how He continues His work in this world.

And yet, there's something to our study of the Word when we have specific things that we'd like to grow in or understand better.  And I think that this might be the point of the blog link that I saw this morning.  When God works it in our hearts to take seriously His desire that we take His message of His Son to the world, we're wise to see what the Bible says about how God wants us to do that.  It involves looking to the Bible for a specific purpose or reason.  We identify an area that we want to focus on, and then we see what all God has to say about that.

Come to think of it, that's often how we approach the Bible.  If we want to know about God's gifts of grace, say in the sacraments, we look at the parts of the Bible that speak to those.  If we want to know about the sacrifice of Jesus, we look up the parts of the Bible which speak about that.  And so, it makes sense, that if we want to see what the Bible says about how we share the message of forgiveness in Jesus, we would look to the Bible to see what it has to say about that topic.

I guess, in summary, I both agree with the link that I saw, and I disagree.  I think there's more to the Bible than just looking for practical wisdom when you have a question about something, but I also think that the Bible gives us much practical wisdom.  However, God also does more than just convey practical wisdom.  He delivers life through His Word, especially as His Word guides us to what Jesus has done for us. 

Immediate Correction or Not?

From Proverbs 18:13: "If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame."

It's happened often enough to me now that I almost expect it.  I'm talking to one of God's people about some point of theology, and they say something that's not quite in line with what the Bible says.  Or, I'm talking with someone who isn't one of God's people, and they say something that is blatantly different from what the Bible teaches.  My first instinct in either of these cases is to stop the conversation at that moment and "correct" them.  That's a product of the theological education that I received, as well as some of my own personality that really strives for the "right thing" to be known and believed.

In the past, I've let that immediate desire to correct the person take over.  And guess what I have found on a number of occasions.  My "correction" wasn't all that well received.  For one or two, it actually was upsetting enough that they stopped being interested in our conversation, and sometimes even in the Christian faith.  They had questions, and they had thoughts, and those thoughts weren't in line with what God says.  And yes, those kind of issues need to be gently addressed.  But the point of this post is, should we do that immediately, when it pops up on the conversation?

I've given a lot of thought to this, and I've come up with an answer that I am comfortable living out.  I rarely will give an immediate correction.  Instead, like the verse from Proverbs above, I want to find out more about what has shaped that person's thought or belief.  There may be events in their life that have shaped who they are, and they may not really believe what they say.  Or, they simply may not have ever thought about what they believe and why they believe it.  One thing tends to hold true, though.  They aren't talking about it with the idea that I'm going to instantly correct them on anything that they say that doesn't line up with what the Bible says.

It isn't that I'm avoiding the correction, but I'm interested in learning more about that person.  Then, as future conversations unfold, there may be opportunities to probe a little deeper on that thought or belief, and then, to bring what God says into the discussion.  If I immediately try to correct them, I may lose that future opportunity.  True, there are no guarantees that the future opportunity will ever arise.  And yes, I have to remember what it is that need to be talked about.  But in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather have that discussion at a time when they are ready for it, rather than forcing it upon a conversation just because I heard something incorrect.

Thoughts?  Comments?  What have been your experiences in this regard?

Misquoting

There's a story that I heard a long time ago.  I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it demonstrates the point that I want to make in today's blog.  A man woke up on morning and wanted to see what God had in store for him to do that day.  So he let his bible flop open in front of him and randomly pointed to a verse on the page.  "Judas went out and hanged himself."  Well, surely God doesn't want me to do that, so let's try it again, he thought.  So he shut the bible, let it flop open again, and randomly pointed to another verse.  "Go and do likewise."  Hmm, he thought, that still doesn't sound right.  Third time's the charm and all, so let's try it one more time.  So he closed the bible, let it flop open, and randomly pointed to another verse.  "What you are going to do, go and do quickly."  And after that, I'm not really sure how the story ends.

One thing that I get frustrated with every once in a while is when people will just randomly quote a bible verse to me as though it proves the point they are making.  Sure, there are times when that is appropriate, but the thing that always gets me is this.  In order to do that, you basically rip a verse out of the entire context and story that gives it meaning, and then you cut it out and paste it onto something that you want in order to prove your point.  While it sounds all good and holy, what that sounds like, at least to my ears, is a severe case of misquotation, one that can do a lot more harm than good.

I'll grant you that most people who do something like this really do try to make sure that the bible verse actually does fit with the point that they want to prove.  Using a Psalm verse of praise when you are moved to praise God doesn't seem very out of place.  In general, though, individual verses drawn from the bible, separated from their given context, have a danger in saying something that they weren't originally written to say.

The stories and saying in the bible are written down by humans, but are inspired by God's Spirit.  That means that God says what He wants to through those stories and sayings.  He says them in particular ways because that's the best way to know what He means.  To cut one part out of God's story, and then paste it onto a point you want to make simply because it seems to say the same thing may seem to work, but it goes against the way that God's Word conveys meaning to us.

It's important to know the things that the bible says.  It's even great to memorize bible verses, to have them handy in our minds.  I just throw out the caution to make sure that you try to understand what God is saying through that verse in its context in the bible before you decide to paste it onto something simply because it seems to match what you are saying.

A "Prophetic" View

One thing we must acknowledge right at the beginning of this post: the Bible is a really large book.  I really feel for the person who doesn't have any experience with the Bible who decides to read it one day, and then starts to do so in typical book fashion.  That is, start at the beginning and work your way through to the end.  Sure, the first part is pretty exciting, as Genesis and even Exodus have some exciting stories.  But then, once you get part way through Exodus, things can really start to bog down on you.  Lists of "do's" and "don'ts" fill the pages, and even the most devoted reader may start to find excuses not to read.

One thing that the size of the Bible has led to is an overlooked view of the books toward the end of the Old Testament, those books known as the prophets.  The things that people find most familiar about them are the little quotations that we come across in the New Testament.  We hear of their foreviews of Jesus, but really don't know much more about them than that they spoke those words.  As for the time in which they lived, or the reason for the words they spoke, or even the general theme of their messages, these are mostly unknown.

I've asked around a bit over the past few weeks about what people know about the prophets, and have found that most people seem to have what I am calling a "romanticized" view of the prophets.  That is, they think that the prophets were wise, well-respected men who spoke as though they had most of their attention on the future in Jesus.  In general, people seem to think that they were liked, almost to the point that the people of their day would be waiting breathlessly for their next words.

That is hardly the case for most of the Old Testament prophets.  To put it bluntly, the life of a prophet, while blessed in the eyes of God, was not an easy one to live.  Most prophets were not liked, and even had attempts on their lives.  Tradition has several of them dying in rather harsh ways, such as Isaiah being sawn in half.  People like Jeremiah were despised, imprisoned, called traitors to the country, and even seen as blasphemous to the people.  They lived on the edge of society, proclaiming God's justice and wrath, as well as God's grace and favor.

For anyone who wants to get an idea of what some of the prophets went through, I would always suggest reading through Jeremiah.  If his story doesn't give you a clearer picture about what it means to speak God's Word to people, then I don't know what will.

Reading the Bible and Being Christian

As a pastor, one of the things that I regularly encourage people to be doing is reading the Bible.  We live in a day and age where access to the Bible is really not that big of an issue.  I've downloaded a few versions on my Kindle, and can pretty much access any translation from the internet.  So it's not that access is an issue as it has been in centuries past, where literacy was low and books were practically non-existent.

But over the past few years, I've given a lot of thought to this issue.  Why do we encourage people to read their Bibles so much?  In part, we really do want people to know what God says.  It's far easier to interact with people in their spiritual needs when they have an idea of what God has really said on the pages of the Bible.  Sure, they may not like what it says, or disagree with what it says, but it's known, and that makes the discussion at least a little bit easier.

However, I have found that this emphasis has also had an unanticipated effect.  On occasion, there have been those who would say that such an emphasis actually served to create a greater sense of guilt, since it wasn't their habit.  And some of these are long standing church people.  As I have encountered that on occasion, it also makes me wonder if an emphasis on reading the Bible is a good thing if it only serves to grow people's guilt.

On top of that, we also face the reality that there are many things in the Bible that are not easily explained, and that the Bible itself is structured in such a way that a straight-through reading likely won't make the most sense to someone who doesn't know it well.  (Plus, it's a big book, which makes it a challenge to read through the whole thing anyway.)  A guide often proves to be a helpful thing, but still fails to paint a complete picture of everything that God says, and often doesn't give answers to the questions that people have as they read through it.

Finally, I wonder if such an emphasis is mostly a modern "problem" that hasn't had to be addressed by God's people over the course of time.  I say it's a modern problem because most of the time between the writing of the Bible and now has been marked by illiteracy.  People knew what they heard read to them during worship times.  Very few individuals had the ability to read, much less access to books or scrolls.  Would we say that those people were "less" Christian because they didn't have the ability to read the Bible?  I would hardly say so.

In my mind, that's why it is appropriate to encourage people to read their Bibles, but to understand that the vast majority of learning God's word is still going to take place in what is read during worship times together, and in the preaching that takes place.  God's Word was given as a spoken word, and only after it was spoken did it become a written word.  The "spoken-ness" of God's Word should always have priority.  That places a great deal of emphasis on what is preached, and so a well-constructed sermon will always be the best vehicle for the Spirit to do His work as God's Word is preached and expanded upon for God's people.  It's not wrong to encourage people to read, but overall, we face the reality that the preached and spoken word will continue to have more far-reaching impact than any amount of encouragement to read on their own.

What Really Happened? Sunday School Endings

For those of us who grew up in Christian churches, it's very likely that we attended Sunday School.  In those classes, we probably learned a lot about a number of Bible stories.  However, as I have grown up and looked over those same stories, I've noticed that our Sunday School lessons tended to end with a happy ending.  However, the actual Bible stories often didn't end so nice and neat.

So today, I'm just going to put a few Sunday School stories up here.  Your task is to see if you know the true, grisly ending of these.  (If you need to consult your Bible, that's okay!)

Elijah and Mt. Carmel: Elijah challenges the Ba'al prophets to a showdown.  While they wail around for their god all day, Elijah taunts them.  Then he dumps a lot of water on his altar, and fire from heaven consumes the sacrifice.  What is the next interaction between Elijah and those false prophets?

Jonah: Jonah refuses to go to Ninevah.  Instead, he gets on a ship going the other way.  When a storm arises, Jonah is thrown overboard, to be swallowed up by a big fish.  He's then vomited out on the beach, and this time goes to Ninevah.  He preaches, and the people repent.  How does Jonah feel about this?

Daniel and the lion's den: Daniel ignores a command to only pray to the king.  He gets caught and spends the night in the lion's pit.  The next morning, he's still alive, and the king is overjoyed because he cares for Daniel.  What happens next, especially to the people who caused Daniel to be thrown in the lion's pit?  What about their families?

As you look at these answers, you'll probably find out that the Bible isn't the cute little story that we learned as children!