The Story and the Song - Chpt. 1

This is a remarkably subtle statement regarding the doctrine of revelation with real importance for how we read the Bible.  And so well written that a kindergartner can get the idea!

First, we read of “General Revelation,” what we see in nature and the world around us.  “God wrote,’I love you.’”  Simple.  Sweet.  Would have to say it glosses over the problem of suffering – but this is a book for children and there is more to come on that topic later in the storybook anyway.

Next, we read about what the theologians call “Special Revelation.”  Ie. God’s disclosure of things that cannot be known through human reason.  They must be made known to us at God’s initiative, for instance in the Bible.  Here are three helpful links for looking more at this. 

A     B     C

 But let’s get to a wonderful look at how people come to this special revelation, the Bible.

“Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules.  . .”  This is a very common perspective on the Bible, one I like to call “reading with Pharisee eyes.”  The Pharisees of Jesus’ day had a high view of the inspiration of Scripture, but they saw the Scriptures as full of rules that they needed to obey.  Even as God’s chosen people, their obedience was critical for God’s blessing in life.  They believed, for instance, Messiah would return if all of Israel would obey the law for 24 hours.  This sort of Pharisee folk lore ended up placing the critical focus on the obedience of a nation, rather than on God’s grace.

As an evangelical, I for years viewed the Bible as full of principles that God had revealed.  These were principles that I needed to obey in order to grow into maturity, be blessed or whatever the goal of the moment was.  I certainly began my Christian faith by grace, but soon enough, I was working with great sincerity to go on in faith by my own strength in the discovering and applying of God’s revealed principles.

At the deepest level – so deep we rarely reflect on it – this perspective turns the Bible into a manual on works righteousness.  Again, we certainly preach salvation by grace alone by faith alone: there are altar calls and prayers of salvation and confessions of faith.  But honestly, think for a moment about how most church people are trained in how to grow in faith and maturity after that initial experience of grace.  How does most discipleship training work?  What do we learn in the financial seminars and on and on?  Deep inside, aren’t we hoping to find out how we need to live in order to be safe, or experience God’s blessing or be accepted or whatever my deepest heart motivation might be?

When life blows up, if you find yourself thinking that God “didn’t come through” or that you “didn’t believe enough” or some variation on those themes, it is highly likely that you’ve been looking to your obedience as the reason for God’s blessing in your life.  That is “living with a Pharisee heart” and it comes from “reading with Pharisee eyes.”

“Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy.”

If seeing the Bible as a book of rules is “reading with Pharisee eyes,” then looking for heroes to emulate is “reading in search of inspiration.”  Rules call my will to obedience, but inspiration stimulates my emotions with new energy to pursue that same goal of maturity.  I read and tell myself, “Just as David stood strong and killed Goliath, so each of us must confront our giants and conquer them!”  I’m thinking that if I could just see the right model of faith or get charged up to do what’s right then .  .  .  .  but suddenly, it’s right back to what I must do. I’ve played into a works righteousness of the emotions rather than one of the will.

“But the Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing.  It’s about God and what he has done.” 

And there is the catch!  “The Bible isn’t mainly about you.”  In the end, works righteousness – whether of the will or of the emotions – ends up making the Bible about me and what I can or should do.  In truth, the Scripture and life seem painfully clear about just how much I can in fact do.  Can I ever be sincere enough?  Is my obedience ever perfect enough?  Have I ever really loved anyone without mixed motives?  To be honest, when I was younger I thought that all I needed was more time, insight and effort and that one day I could answer “yes” to those questions.  I thought that would be “spiritual maturity.” I thought that was God’s purpose for my life and the reason Jesus gave His life for me.  I have lived enough now though to realize that my problem is deeper than how long I’ve been at it, or how much I understand or how committed I am to doing whatever it is I should be doing.  Something is broken, and all I can produce on my own is touched by that brokenness.  I had the wrong goal, the wrong understanding of what spiritual maturity would be. 

Spiritual maturity was never meant to be me arriving at a place in my life where I could do everything that God wanted me to do by myself.  No!  The problem is too deep and serious.  I need rescue, not rules or inspiration.  And that rescue is what the Big Story, the True Story, is all about.  I just need to learn to “read with Gospel eyes.”