letting Jesus speak into my questions...
hey rex and parkside...
its new years eve, and the end of the year has got me reflecting--looking back over the last year--trying to catch the threads of my journey, where God's been leading me, where i've been running, what questions i've been wrestling with on a larger scale, and how God's been at work in me in and through it all...
in many regards i think this past year has been marked by lots of questions, lots of scott-searching and God-searching, lots of listening to God in His word, His Son, and His people (authors, my neighbors, journalists, friends, you--there's some cross over). and although i sometimes think that my questions are self-generated, as i look back over the year and where its all brought me, i think the questions have been spurred on and guided by God.
big questions. fundamental questions. about things that we (Christians) always mention, but often lose clarity on. questions like: What is the Kingdom of God, and what does Jesus mean that it is at hand? What is the relationship between Jesus and the kingdom of God? questions about judgment and salvation, questions about grace (what is it?), questions about life (here and now and eternity), questions about justice, and my relationship to the guys who pick through bins down the hill...
what are the things that Jesus makes clear that we're really fuzzy on? and what are the things that Jesus is fuzzy on that we make really clear...
what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus...
that last question is the one that gives rise to all the rest. what does Jesus teach/reveal in reference to the questions i'm asking?
and i don't think i'm the only one thats had a year marked by questions and searching...
for me, these questions have stirred in me a renewed desire to re-read the gospels and acts and letters (i.e. the New Testament) with an ear to what God has said regarding all this.
as some of you know, i'm always reading, always listening to the thoughts and experience of others, seeking to learn from them... but recently i've been reminded that i always need to read others with the Bible in the other hand. its ok to be a fan of others (authors, teachers like Brian McLaren, Dallas Willard, Anne Lamott, David Watson, Lesslie Newbigen...), but i'm a follower of only one--Jesus. and so i need to constantly come back to him and his life and his words, and let him define me (my life, my understanding and convictions and decisions). (which is exactly what these authors are doing--sharing out of their first-hand pursuit of Christ, not just what others have said about life in Christ).
i've been talking recently with a few people about joining me in this (re-reading the New Testament) over the next while (and i want to throw the invite out to you). re-reading the New Testament with these questions in mind: what it means to be saved? does Jesus draw lines? does it matter if you follow Jesus or not? is Jesus just a secular humanist, that we've somehow turned into a religious leader? what is grace? what is judgment? what is the basis of each? what is Jesus fuzzy on that we make really clear? what is Jesus clear on that we make really fuzzy?
and doing this with an attitude of humility (letting Jesus set us straight) as opposed to just looking for support for our arguments.
i'm at matthew 10 right now (been taking notes on stuff as i've been going), and he's already helped me see some things with new clarity... i trust the things Jesus teaches me will spill out in due course (thats what i'm praying for).
if you want to take this on, i'd hugely encourage you to commit to it along with a few others (a band of brothers, sisters, friends) to share what your learning, to probe each other, to spur one another on, to pray for each other...
i'm confident that Jesus has a ton to teach and reveal to us, if we'll just give him our attention.
your parkside compadre and companion in the journey. scott
posted by parkside padre at 11:05 AM
7 Comments:
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and inviting us in this journey of reading or shall I say re-reading the new testament. And I guess herein lies my biggest challenge...I have often read...and learned...and also not learned...more because of me than anything else... but what I have most recently been wrestling with is my own lack of understanding of the actual context and history of the scripture written...so often, i approach the scripture in a way that is similar to how I may have been taught in my earlier years...over the last five years or so I have learned (through guys like Darrel Johnson, Rod Wilson, Mike Goheen, Stan Grenz, Rob Bell, Brian Mclaren, etc), new things about passages which I had never heard before, and I would say was almost taught wrongly from previous pastors, teachers, etc... I salivate when I have opportunities to hear scripture taught in its context...so sometimes I feel that reading the scripture on my own is like walking aimlessly without a map...so yeah, I like your idea of reading books along side scripture, and reading with others to gain insights...my only hesitation would be to figure out how to avoid it becoming a typical bible study with the nice little packaged question and answers...sorry for that comment...it's more a response to people (including myself hiding behind these types of study formats)...using a format of your previous blog entry would be key...
1:50 PM
bible, eh? I might add that to my reading list!
2:31 AM
I agree with you Mark, so often we have learned scripture completly out of context. I find myself frustrated because when I approach the scriptures it is tainted by the way that I have learned to read it. I know, I know I need to approach it differently but when you have done something one way your whole life it is hard to change. I think as christians we need to take more responsibility in our readings of God's word. So often we just read it and wait for God to speak or come at it from our own worldview. We need (I need) to dig deeper, study harder and be more disciplined in our bible study. Again I agree with you Mark with your "typical bible study" comment. I am sick of the "christian" sub culture. I know I sound harsh (perhaps I am getting cynical in my young age) but for the most part "christians" and how they approach things bug me. I think why they bug me so much is that I am one of the most annoying ones I know. I strive to be real yet I can put on the happy face and speak christianese with the best of them. Now I am babbling, I guess what I am saying is We (meaning I) need to be more disciplined and responsible with our time in the word (theres a little christianese for you)
10:49 PM
i hear you and agree.
i guess i'm assuming that any serious reading of Scripture always involves grappling with issues of context and literary genre.
at the same time, as someone that has a fair amount of formal training in exegesis, church history, and theology, i think the average bible-reader undervalues their own ability to read and make sense of Scripture (generally). and especially when Scripture is read within the community of faith (i.e. with humility to listen to the wisdom of others), the average bible-reader shouldn't feel timid.
i guess one of the unconscious suppositions i live with is that we shouldn't read anything uncritically, whether its John's gospel or Brian McLaren, Dallas Willard or Paul's Epistles. Each and everyone requires us to read and think well--with the aim that we would both understand what the author intended to communicate and discern the value and implications of what they are communicating.
all that said, i think much of my original invitation (to re-read the New Testament) arises out of an awareness that too many of us are reading veraciously, everything except the Bible. that to me is telling. i'm not suggesting that we stop listening to the wisdom of others, but rather i'm simply longing to see us (you and i) listening with as much enthusiasm to Jesus and the revelation of God captured in his word...
no one can disciple us in the way of Jesus like Jesus himself.
12:08 AM
I find your invitiation to join you in re-reading the new testament exciting and frustrating at the same time. I have done this before and found that I am almost too familiar with the new testament. I know what is going to happen next. I wish there was some procedure to remove my presuppositions of the New Testament so that I could come at it with a fresh view. I think that I do approach the word timidly because of this. I'm not sure if that makes sense. Like an old friend you know really well but haven't seen in a really long time. It is sort of awkward but only as awkward as you make it. However if you push past that awkward time you find a deep friendship that you can't ever imagine not having. Wont it be nice to be in the presence of Jesus so that we no longer have to wrestle with these questions?
8:15 PM
chad...
i think part of finding freshness in the familiar is coming with questions--questions that tweak your ears and mind for what you haven't noticed before, or what you've often ignored or overlooked.
they can be your questions, or others. either way, you come at the text with fresh reason to listen.
at least for me, this is how i'm coming at the familiar these days. and its keeping me listening. scott
2:38 PM
It is interesting to see christians who want to read the bible in new ways. There are two approaches being proposed here. There is the "letting Jesus speak" school which seems to invite mysticism. Then there is the desire to be historically accurate. I think both will fail christians until they are willing to come to the text without "christian" preconceptions. The most damaging preconceptions: that the bible is "christian," and that it is different from other texts we read. Once these are overcome the bible will become really interesting again. Here is the test: Read the bible and see whether you can still believe, rather than believing and then reading. I could not.
8:45 AM
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