I found myself thinking last night about how so many people
treat the Bible as a Deity encapsulation service. I have been reading recently
about how some people when they give birth like to eat the placenta…fried, put
in a smoothie etc. Then someone said that there was such a thing as a placental
encapsulation service.
Eh??
Apparently you can send your placenta off and have
it dried and put in capsules to make something which seems very gross into
something more palatable. For the record I have no intention of doing either of
these things but it did get me thinking about how we relate to the Bible.
We treat it like one of these encapsulation services, we
take the concept of God and decide that anything and everything that can be
known or is important about God can be found in one book. We encapsulate the
idea of God so that the concept of God becomes more palatable, easier to
swallow. And we have to hand every answer we ever wanted in life, no need to
look elsewhere… isn't that a comforting thought??
Well to honest for me, no it isn't. It is a frightening
thought!! The amount of times I hear people of faith starting and ending an
argument with the words, “it says in the Bible”
There is NO argument that can be made like that, that cannot
easily be refuted using the Bible itself, for every verse you take in
isolation, there is another that will contradict it somewhere.
But even more frightening to me is that when we do this we
end up reducing God to a few pieces of paper. And a living, breathing, transforming
relationship with God becomes nothing more than academic.
I watched a video the
other week by the wonderful Rob Bell and it really struck me, he talked about
how we have lost the awe and wonder when it comes to God. How God calls us to
see the world in a childlike, not childish, fashion.
He’s right!! PUT YOUR BIBLE DOWN!! Not because it isn't important, it is, but because it is only a starting point, it is the place
where we are taught how to look for God, how to begin a relationship with God,
how to see the world through God’s eyes. We learn all that from the Bible. Jesus
taught his disciples all this, but he didn't then say, “Go from here and write
down word for word what I have said and done so that everyone will think I am
awesome and worship me!!” He said, “Go from from here and live what I have told
you, I have taught you a new way, now go and live it so others can learn it!”
(Not a direct quote, my own interpretation)
But this is the thing…the Bible is not the God encapsulation
service, if it were then there would be no Holy Spirit, or continuing
relationship with God. There would be no need for prayer, or community, we
could just continue in life with our little book and be done with it.
Thankfully there is nothing, not a library of books or a
million great thinkers that can hold or fully capture our God and the endless possibilities
for transformation, challenge or living fully as a person of faith, and for that
I thank God every day.
Next time you open your mouth to say, “But the Bible tells
me so” Close your mouth again and think…Does my experience of God in my life
tell me this? Have the lives of those wonderful people of faith I share a
community with shown me/taught me this? And if the answer is yes, then say it! Until
then enjoy exploring life with God like a child, with awe and wonder and let
yourself get a little challenged and excited about the God who is not always an
easy pill to swallow!!
