We are Afraid of the Bible
If you don’t read anything else today – and, yes, I’m including what I write – then read Energion Publication’s post “The Problem with the Jesus Paradigm.” There is too much good stuff in that post to quote everything, but I’ll leave you with this teaser:
You see, I’m convinced that we, in the church, are afraid of the Bible. We’re scripture-phobic. How can that be? We use the word “Bible†in our church names. Even secular stores have many shelves of Bibles in dozens of translations which have sold many millions of copies. There are pew Bibles, Bibles on the shelves of Sunday School rooms. I might as well confess it—I have a whole book case dedicated to Bibles, and not all of my Bibles will fit in it.
Then there are all our Bible classes, our Bible readings in our church services, and our Bible study small groups. It’s hard to find a Christian who won’t say “yes†when asked if he or she “believes the Bible.†You can even find quite a number who, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, will loudly announce that they do everything commanded in Scripture.
So how can I say that we’re afraid of the Bible?
Are we afraid of the Bible? Read the post and let me know what you think.
Of course we are!! Start with “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength” and go from there. Love my neighbor? If we really consider this teaching, it’s stupefying.
Alan,
I think we are scared of parts of the bible. We love the parts about God’s love and Christ’s dying to pay for our sins. We are scared of the parts that challenge the way we live.
Cindy,
“Who is my neighber?” 🙂
It’s easier to question in order to make it simpler for us, than to live out what we do understand, isn’t it?
Eric,
Exactly. We’re okay with the Bible when we can put a check mark by a belief. “Jesus died for our sins.” I believe that… check.
But, when it comes to actually living according to those beliefs… something that the authors of Scripture continually talked about… well, those are just hard to understand.
-Alan
We are afraid of the Bible that tells us how to follow Jesus. We’re not afraid of the Bible that we use to proof text our doctrines and show others how wrong they are.
Fred,
Excellent points.
-Alan