Let me tell you a story...

Greetings All,

The man sat quietly at the dining room table, looking over his Bible. “I still just don’t know what to make of this thing”, he thought. “Some people say that every word in it is literally true. Some people say that it’s just an informative piece of fiction. I just don’t know what to believe anymore.” He sighed heavily. “Hey God, if you could give me some way cool sign I’d really appreciate it.” With a fanciful hope in his heart he looked and listened intently. Nothing. He sighed again. “I guess I’ll start on the bills”, he thought, moving his Bible off to the side.

Just then, his children got home from school. They were two years apart and thankfully hadn’t reached an age where they didn’t want to tell dad what happened at school that day. His daughter came running in and said “Dad, dad! We studied birds in school today! It was sort of icky and I learned a lot, but I’m not sure I like birds so much.” Close on her heals the man’s son burst into the room. “Dad, dad! We studied birds in school today! It was totally awesome – can we get a bird?”

Why the difference? What could raise two different responses?

…

The daughter had learned about birds through biology class, by dissecting it with a scalpel. The son had learned about birds by going on a bird-watching fieldtrip. To have well-rounded knowledge of the bird, we need both. To have just one or the other leaves us short.

Consider this story when feeling that Bible in your hands. We need both. We need to be aware of scholarly knowledge about the Bible. It is informative and provides us with relevant information for understanding the context of the Word. But never let that detract from the assurance that it is a living Word that speaks to us today in our lives. If we encounter the text on it’s own terms, rather than trying to control and analyze it, it’s energy and it’s message will leap off the page. We need both.

Be smart, but be deep. Peace!

Blessings,

Kevin