In continuing my journey to understand Christianity on a deeper level than I have before, a lot has happened lately. I went to church for the first time in aeons last Sunday. There’s been progress, inspiration, questions, wrestling, and recently, fitful sleep. Last night, in looking for more resources and a better theological understanding, I explored Mars Hill’s website for some sustenance. Mars Hill is the church of pastor Rob Bell — a pastor who’s teaching I’ve found to be incredibly refreshing and inspiring — and one of my safe places to go for Christian teaching. On the Articles page I found a link to “How Can the Bible Be Authoritative?“, by Church of England bishop N.T. Wright.
Before I started reading, I only had a tangential interest in the topic of biblical authority, but there is a connection I hoped to explore with a topic I’ve been discussing lately with a friend regarding the church’s place in the lives of practitioners. So this article, wow, it was long and heavy and thought-provoking. I stubbornly pushed through and read the whole thing despite my fatigue and inability to make sense of it all. Still, lots of it grabbed me, like the idea that true authority lies in God’s hands and should not be mistakenly attributed to one’s (or one’s group’s) interpretation of scripture— as is often the warped approach of many Christians today. The idea is presented that the bible is not a rule book, but is instead narrative. In this narrative is truth and the living story of God and how God created and has been involved in our lives. Also in the article is the idea that God’s story is still being told and, quite importantly, that the bible is not the whole of God’s teaching and guidance for our lives today.
I am not going to plumb through that exhaustive article and cite the particular pieces where those ideas are presented, instead I’d rather rejoice for now in those ideas and how they reinforce what I think is a very healthy application of Christian faith. I’ve always been nauseated by church groups that grasp so very tightly to their particular interpretations, especially when taken to the simplistic expression of black and white do’s and do-not’s that are supposedly coming directly from God. I appreciate attempts to take the bible seriously and get to its most profound truths, but I doubt that much Old Testament law is unequivocal when isolated from the rest of the Christian story and used to hone in on and condemn small slices of human behavior. I’m befuddled by how selective this approach often is, how, for instance, many groups are ready to enforce to the letter certain teachings in the OT about sexuality, but then will readily partake in the eating of pork or other forbidden foods. Maybe that’s not the best example, but our eating has a huge impact on the world and I like to dine on swine on occasion!
Sexuality is certainly important and I don’t mean to diminish its impact on our lives. I know I’m comparing apples to oranges here…actually I’m comparing screwing to barbecue. Maybe there are good reasons why so-called unclean foods from the OT can be enjoyed in good conscience by Christians today. One more note about the importance of food— look at how the excesses of the cattle, pork, and poultry industry have impacted the environment and even the safety of our food supply with various E. coli outbreaks. Or, to mention an oft-overlooked sin that is more closely related to the sexual/relationship realm, what about divorce and its prevalence in our society even among devout Christians?
Seems to me the bible has to be examined and appreciated through a much larger perspective than merely as a sort of magical book of enforcement when it comes to difficult issues. When examining the whole of Christian teaching, both scriptural and experiential through our very lives in God, then what do we learn about relationships and selfless love? I think when we take such a large perspective and appreciation of God we find things aren’t so black and white as we’d often like them to be. We’re left with little choice but to approach faith and those in our lives with compassion, with patience, and without the false authority of what we think is best for others.
The tremendous Christian story of God and our actual, worldly lives is still being told, we’re active participants in the unfolding of truth here. Are we going to embrace one another as we are now or take a harsher approach and condemn those who don’t live up to some standard that is not really God’s but is instead something rooted in our own fear and selfishness?
I’m not a proponent of anarchy, we certainly need rules and ethical guidelines in this world, but who’s job it is to make the call on what’s right and what’s wrong is rather difficult to determine. I suppose we all have to work together on it somehow, through real dialogue amidst an appreciation of differing points of view. When I look at the current state of politics, even the bickering between religious groups over contentious issues, I see little healthy dialogue and instead am sickened by narrow-mindedness and contempt. I am confident that such a wicked approach to those we disagree with is not God’s way.
This is my struggle and why I’ve had trouble sleeping at night. No easy solutions to any of it. At one point last night I awoke to a dream in which some slightly absurd poetry was rattling around in my head:
Who is God? How is Jesus and the Spirit alive in us today?
It’s a mystery!
What does this bible, this ancient book of God mean for us now?
It’s a mystery!
How are we, people of this world, to know right versus wrong?
It’s a mystery!
Are the answers written once and for all?
It’s a mystery!
Scooby-Dooby-Doo, Where are you?!?
…….
Not to be flippant, but the Scooby part was really in the dream sequence.
The bible and God’s story for our lives is the greatest mystery novel ever written and it’s not complete. We’re still working out the conclusion. Hopefully it ends well, let’s work together so it does!
wowza Petitto. This was a good good read. Do you realize how much has changed, just in dialogue/writing on this topic of Christianity and God, from years ago when i first began getting an understanding on what you believe in? It’s just… wow. cool.
So i’ve got thoughts (plenty of ‘em). i think i’ll spare most of it in something other than comment form here — (unless you encourage a ridiculously long comment). i will say that “mystery” is intriguing, especially when it seems that some (not all, but some) of that mystery can be sought out and found. Wisdom of that “mystery” shows up (from God) in unlikely places sometimes —- like a church building! (joke. kind of. well, i laughed.)
On a completely unrelated non-deep note: i think it was Christmas of 2000, *other people* made me look obsessive about Scooby-Doo. i bought one window shade w/ Scooby Doo on it that year and then that Christmas, i received everything under the sun in SD : CD holder, playing cards, blanket, two SD shaped pillows (from two diff people- a dup gift), seat belt decorations, etc. i *looked* like the ultimate fan. Then my window shade broke and it all went downhill from there. i still have the pillows & blanket though & playing cards though. (there’s your i-never-asked-to-know-that fun fact of the day. enjoy!)
Thank you, Rosalie! I do realize a lot has changed in the last couple of years. In my attempt to understand and appreciate Christianity more I came to realize I can’t do it justice from the boundaries. Here I am now, with a real practice and faith developing. And now I’m smacked with wonder and there’s so much more to learn. You know you’ve been a big help to me through all this, right??
Share your thoughts here or elsewhere, whatever you’d rather do. I am curious about what you’re thinking though. If you put it here it’ll be available to all posterity and whatever random person might bump into this post. If you share in email then I only get to read, but that’s cool too.
So you have Scooby Doo?!? HA! I’m not surprised. The answer to “Scooby-Dooby-Doo Where are you?” is simply: Rosalie has him! I think I like Shaggy’s laugh better than anything else from that show. Oh, and also how the criminals would often be wearing multiple masks at the end! Good stuff.
ZOINKS!
Actually, what was I saying!? It’s Scooby’s laugh that I love!
Really tho, aren’t Shaggy and Scooby’s laugh pretty much the same, with a difference mainly in pitch?
well there’s already an email that’s been started ..back on thursday or friday, so the majority of a reply will be there. However… the question(s) regarding law — are there only portions applicable to now? & how do we justify what is “ok” to exclude versus important to still be keeping? If it’s ruled on personal taste, well, that’s a wishy-washy “rule-book”; one i’d rather not follow and can’t hardly see how it’d be helpful to each individual either.
So what get’s ruled in and what’s out? This question was brought up in my study group and i don’t think a definitive answer was given. Some things seem logical with human nature to follow after (10 commandments), while there are others, regarding diet and physical rituals/appearances that don’t *seem* logical. As i see it, some of those laws cannot be separated from the culture and time they were first put into place in. i’m thinking specifically of dietary restrictions. Is it fair to say that we know quite a bit more than they did back then about cleanliness and food prep and disease control?
On top of this, i don’t think any laws were given as primarily “punishment”. People (including myself) hear the word “law” and think of external ‘have-to’s’ rather than an internal freedom from the self through practice of “law”. And to make this even more (unintentionally) confusing, i think we have an inner-law working inside of us all, with the only pre-requisite being, a human-being. And just like any outter law, such as following the speed limit, i have the capability of following it or of pressing my foot on the gas to ignore it. It should be stated that this ‘inner-law’ i’m thinking of here, is beyond personal taste. C.S. Lewis talks in depth about this in Mere Christianity.
Now… who mandates law? Inner & Outter Law? isn’t that the biggest question? ‘cuz most people live in the mind-frame of what’s good for you, is good for you and what’s good for me, is good for me. So long as one doesn’t disrupt the path of the other (as though isolated existence could really work?), then “life is good”.
well, i can’t personally “make” anyone do anything. i can’t make anyone believe in what i do. As a Christian, i’m supposed to be in the world but not of it. (John 17:15-17; Romans 12:2) The Church is not a presence in this world to control people… and it’s my opinion that it, never works towards anything good when people take that approach. It is one thing to share what i believe and why i believe it and another thing to burden someone down with a law that they do not understand and have not chosen to follow — like “love one another”. Its purpose would be defeated in becoming something else to follow, rather than having reason to believe of why it is good.
i have started to write, “then WHO mandates it?” multiple times now and then hit the back-space, because i can’t fully answer without getting into to specifics. There are laws of men/women (gov’t) and then there are laws of God and i’m pretty sure there isn’t a single person on the face of this planet who hasn’t broken them on either side. (Maybe if we start from there, then something greater can come from it…. ?) And should the two mix? It’s inevitable that they will cross paths and it’s inevitable that opinions will go back and forth about them. And then who is the final judge? Democracy (inclusive of all the ways we individually divide ourselves into groups of social/political parties and beliefs/religions/denominations, etc.) for the state and God for the individual…….. is that an answer?
(completely unrelated — how come i don’t get notified when you reply? Do i have to reply via “trackback’?)
Romans 12:1-2 (The Message) –
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
——-
Great schtuff!!
yessir. it is
so, i’ve been reading Dobson this morning and on merely the second day of his trying to live like Jesus, he says, “Ordinarily I don’t spend much time thinking about food. I just eat! Some people (mostly Christians) believe that the Jewish laws restricting certain foods are primarily for health reasons; in other words, God was trying to keep the people of Israel from getting sick. But that is not what the rabbis say. They believe that the point of avoiding foods prohibited in the Bible is not to make you healthy — but to make you holy.”
ha. well then.
i just had to share that here after i had definitely implied the health-thing on the reasoning behind the law. Different P.O.V.’s are a beautiful thing, eh?
Appreciating different P.O.V’s is wonderful! Including investigation of other approaches and ideas into my practice of Christianity will hopefully always be part of what I do. I think that as soon as we allow ourselves to get caught up in thinking “this interpretation is the ultimate interpretation” and start to push that pretension onto others in some way, well, then our faith is stuck. All of this is a driving force from deep within my guts somewhere calling me to remain open to other ideas and, at the very least, be compassionate even to those who are themselves obstinately stagnant. I don’t want to be unduly distracted by the ways of the world when God may be trying to move me differently!
I’m going to take a shot at responding to some of your points as I’m understanding them, even though lots of what I’m thinking is still rather nebulous. Following or disregarding rules based on personal preference alone is insufficient, we’re both in full agreement there. I also agree that some of the rules that are specifically tied to the culture in which those rules were set, well, I think it’s fair to overlook some of those, especially regarding personal appearance and methods of worship. Unless we’re going to decide our culture is completely off track, I’ve got to respect some of what comes (both healthy and unhealthy) with a free society. And yet, giving too much credence to that freedom of choice is a slippery slope. I’m getting thought-tangled already in thinking about what rules are important and what are not.
So then I come to inner law and how this may be tied to God’s actual, living presence in our lives. For me, this inner law seems of utmost importance and it is the work of a real, living faith to learn how to adhere to any sort of divine guidance. I don’t have anything definitive to say except that I think inner law trumps any set of actual rules and there may be instances where we have to break an outer law in order to fully respect a more pressing call from God (inner law, divine guidance).