Oddities of Bible Reading

"How one reads shapes spirituality, just as much as how one’s spirituality shapes how one reads."

If you've been in the church long enough, you know by now that our spirituality shapes how we read.  For example, if we know God is trustworthy, this informs how we read (interpret) Scripture.  But the crazy thing is that often times we don't think about the ways in which our reading shapes our spirituality.  So what exactly do I mean when I say, reading shapes spirituality?

CONSIDER:  5 odd ways in which people read Scripture and thus form spirituality:

1. Lawbook – Here, one reads the Bible as a list of rules.  It informs how one ought to live primarily.  Emphasis is given to obedience and conformity.

2. Collection of blessings and promises – Here, one reads the Bible as primarily how God is blessing each person.  God becomes a kind of “Mr. Rogers in the sky.”  Emphasis is on the nice, pleasant passages.  

3. Rorschach inkblots – Rorschach inkblots was a psychological test given to patients where they describe what they see based on random inkblots on a page.  In other words, they project meaning onto an image they see.  From this, one can see how certain persons can read the Bible and see it as a mere projection of what they want.  What one sees is entirely dependent upon what one wants to see, instead of what is there.  So, when one comes to the Bible with the longing, “Tell me I’m OK,” texts of Scripture can be misapplied and skewed to confirm what they want to hear.  Though it may be true, it can gloss over the ultimate meaning/purpose of a text.

4. Massive puzzle – The Bible is a system of truth, and these people thrive on deciphering its complicated meaning and can explain it better than the Bible can.  This is a draw for intellectually minded folk.

5. Maestro reading – Since the Bible was written by numerous human authors, and there are difficult texts in many books, the Bible then becomes explicated best by one person.  Be it a Reformer (Luther/Calvin) or a Biblical character (Jesus, Paul, or James), these people like to interpret through another interpretive grid rather than assimilate all of them.  

EXAMPLE:

Read Jesus' temptation in the wilderness (Matt 4) and draw some simple applications.  Finished yet?

Now ask yourself:

Did I get a strong sense of what I need to do when under temptation?  (oddity 1)
Did I get a strong sense of the promise that Satan flees at Scripture's quotation? (oddity 2)
Did I get a strong sense of some personal need met? Ie, God confirmed to me that I need to fast and pray. (oddity 3)
Did I get a strong sense that this temptation was Matthew's way of comparing Israel's failure in the wilderness against Jesus' success and sinlessness (drawn from Jesus 40 days in the wilderness as compared with Israel's 40 years in the wilderness). (oddity 4)
Or did you get a strong sense to interpret this story through John Piper's book on fasting? (oddity 5)

PROBLEM:

Each has strengths and some more weaknesses than others.  You also may be a mix.  I am inclined to be a Rorschach inkblot guy, but seminary is inflating the systematic side (as well as maestro).  I have to be careful not to let my perspective color texts wrongly.  But the problem arises when our odd ways of reading Scripture influence our spirituality unknowingly.  Because our reading shapes our spirituality, our reading could be constructing a false god in our image or making.  Also, if we see Scripture only one way sometimes distorting texts and glossing over the meat for our impressions/feelings, we lose God's heartbeat in the passage.  Lastly, we can become arrogant and regard others' interpretations as wrong, when we in fact are the wrong party.  

SOLUTIONS:

1. As the Greek Philosophers say, "Know thyself!" Know your tendency/be aware of how you are inclined to spin texts in favor of your personality.
2. Study the Word - read, read, and reread a text and context - consider it within the surrounding verses, chapters, books, New Testament, and whole Bible.  How does it fit with the rest?  Draw personal application only after careful study.
3. Supplement your Bible reading.  Not with a devotional (often times they are heavily oriented on self) but with a study Bible, theology, or commentary (see www.bestcommentary.com for a good list of commentaries).
4. Get involved in a Bible study where there is TEACHING (not only sharing).  Often times that only muddies the waters, hearing a bunch of zealous Bible readers talk about what they think or feel about a text.
5. Do you have any further solutions?  Feel free to post your thoughts.

Further things to consider:

Hermeneutics
Interpretation

Context (Historical, Cultural, Literary)
Scott McKnight, Chapter 7 in Church in the Present Tense

Walks and Floods

As soon as the weather started to warm up, we decided to enjoy some outdoors.  Two weeks ago, we went for a walk in one of our frequented Forest Preserves.  It was a nice change from the usual days of studying for Tim and working for me.  

 We saw a blue jay on our walk, so cute! It was my first time seeing one.  

First signs of Spring, makes me so happy :) I am sooo eager for Spring to be officially here! Mainly because my family is coming to visit in a couple of weeks, and I really want them to see the beautiful cherry blossoms and pretty flowers.  

 Goodbye snowman, we call this little guy the stick man :)

Not too long after our first walk, we decided to go on another.  This time we weren't able to travel too far because of the flood that occurred last week.  Tim and I decided to explore the aftermath of the crazy rain.  Fortunately the Trinity campus was not affected, but some of our professors, church family members and co-workers are still cleaning up their homes.  

This is at Half Day Forest Preserve, we normally walk on this trail.  

This is at another forest preserve nearby.  

Driving by the front of someone's home entrance.  

 This is a street close to our church.  

If you look closely, you can see the top of the trash can.  

 We weren't the only curious ones, this kid decided to bring his bike and fishing pole.

This is what happens when you live in a flat state.  

I couldn't help but think of the flood back in Noah's time, what a horrible time that must have been.  Fortunately, we haven't heard of any death or injuries caused by the flood, praise God!

No apology for theology!

I don't blog...

"Wait a minute," you're thinking, "you just blogged now."

I know, I know, but really, I don't want to blog.  In other words, this isn't my idea of a good time.  You can tell if you're a writer.  If so, this saying would ring true, "I think with my pen."  However, the words swirling in this brain of mine find themselves bottlenecked awaiting dictation by my slow mistyping fingers.  So it's more like torture at times.  I love the dynamics of give and take, speaking and listening.  Some have said, the closest thing for a man to give birth is writing a book, but I say it can even be a blog.  Being too dramatic, you think?  Possibly.  But, I really see this as an opportunity to put out what is going on in my brain.  Seminary is constantly pumping me with new ideas, and some of them need to be put down on paper (Retention isn't my strong suit either).  Besides, this might be interesting and engaging for you to begin to process as well.  So, my hope is that you will permit me to unload my weekly musings for you to then pick up and investigate for yourself.  Of course, not everyone will be interested in superlapsarianism, dynamic omniscience, meta-narratives, adumbrations, speech act theory, economic trinitarianism, passe no pecarre, but everyone I'm sure everyone if they are honest want to know:

What is my purpose in life?
How we know the Bible/Christianity is true?
How can we make sense of it, it's so complicated?
How much of the Law do I need to follow today?
How do I grow/stop sin in our life?
How I know I'm saved?
If men and women are equal, why should women submit?
Why doesn't God speak to me?
Does the presence of evil refute God's strength or his love?
What should the church think about homosexuality?
Trini-what? Trin-who? (borrowed from Jay-Z, ha)
How do I forgive?
What is theology and why is it important?
James says works, Paul says faith - who's right?
Why should I go to church?
Why are there so many denominations?

Every Christ follower at heart should be a theologian.  That is, you are a theologian if you simply engage in the study and thought about God and how he relates to us.  I hope life has not relegated God to last place, quarantined him to Sunday, or reduced him to a kind of cosmic ATM or some kind of seasoning to spice life up.  He is deserving of so much more, He is deserving of our all.  Let us press into the eternal God and see how knowing him better breathes new life into our soul!

To Have and to Hold

Wow! I am so touched by the video below and by this couple's example of what marriage is all about, I just had to share it!  Marriage is such a wonderful gift from God, and I am beyond blessed to have received such a gift.  Today, before coming across this video, I was sitting in my office thinking of how much better my life is because of my husband, and I couldn't help but smile as I reflected upon the little things Tim does that make a big difference in my life.  Those little things bring such happiness, laughter, peace, delight, and contentment into my life; I know that they are gifts from God.  Today I encourage you to reflect upon those little things that your spouse does which bring great joy into your life, and be grateful!

Ian and Larissa's love for each other is such a great reflection of God's love :) and a wonderful example to follow.  Here is the link in case you can't see the video below.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1XA59JkzWg

"to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better for worse, for richer for poorer, 

in sickness and in health, 

to love, cherish, and to obey, till death do us part, 

according to God's holy ordinance; 

and thereto I pledge you my love and faithfulness." 

A Couple of Resources

Hi family and friends,

I wanted to share a couple of resources with you that have been very beneficial for me on my journey with Christ.

1) Moody Radio http://www.moodyradio.org/internetstations/
I have been blessed by this radio station in many ways.  I listen to Moody on my way to and from work, and then when I'm at work I tune in to listen to the different programs, sermons, and talk shows.  I particularly enjoy listening to the sermons on Today in the Word, and Running To Win.  I also like This is the Day with Nancy Turner, and In the Market with Janet Parshall.  There are many other programs and stations within the Moody network, I invite you to check it out.  If all you listen to is christian music, this will be a nice change and I know that you will be challenged, blessed, and encouraged.  Plus, you can listen online for free if there is not a radio station where you live :)  

2) Desiring God http://www.desiringgod.org/ with John Piper.  So much to check out in this website, I particularly like to read the blog entries.

3) Revive our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss https://www.reviveourhearts.com/, I hear her program on the radio, but you can also check out her website, and listen to past programs online.

4) The Gospel Coalition http://thegospelcoalition.org/.  There are so many good resources within this website alone, such as sermons, conferences, blogs, book review, etc.  But I wanted to point out one in particular -- the Gospel Coalition 2013 National Conference.  This conference is happening from April 6 (today) to April 10, and you can watch the free livestreaming video feed, how cool is that! Just click on the link and enjoy :)

There are so many more resources I can share, but I think this will be plenty for now.  Now I leave you with one of the songs that Tim and I lead this past Easter Sunday at our church.

 

Finding Joy In the Boxes

God is good, and He never ceases to amaze me! He is sovereign, always in control; I am just so glad that he is Lord over my life.  He is constantly working in my life to mold me into the person He’s purposed me to be.  Lately He has been exposing a lot of sin in my life, and bringing me down on my knees to a place of brokenness, repentance, forgiveness, healing, and growth. 

Last week I was having one of those days at work where I gave into my weaknesses one too many times.  I have been assigned a project of boxing up thousands of 2011 files, organizing them and getting them ready to be picked up by an outside scanning company.  Just when I thought I was beginning to see the end of this project, my boss asked me to start the same process for all the Termed 2012 files.  So each day of work I spend the last 2 hours of my time organizing these files—accounting for them, putting them in boxes, labeling the boxes, and moving them in a cart to a designated area downstairs (thank God we have an elevator).  It sounds easy enough right? But when you have thousands of folders to go through, it can be overwhelming, very time consuming, and sometimes frustrating.  Last Tuesday I was having one of those frustrating moments with the boxes; every time I got a paper cut, or hurt myself lifting and moving those heavy boxes, I just wanted to hand in my resignation and look for a job where I could make better use of my talents and earn more money.  Oftentimes the following thoughts would cross my mind:

“Karys, you can definitely do better than this!”

“You went to college and graduated with honors to move these stupid boxes?”

“Why are you sweating in an office job; they did not tell you that you would be doing labor when you applied, they are taking advantage of you!”

“Wow, you totally just wasted a degree, time and money; anyone can do this, someone else should do this, you deserve better!”  

I would try to take those thoughts captive and tell myself that it wasn’t so bad, and that I should be humble instead.  But this desire would soon be replaced with the thoughts above or with even worst thoughts, such as

“Maybe this is all that you could ever do, you’re just not good enough to do better!” “You’re the lowliest in this job, that’s why you’re doing such insignificant work; just stop whining and accept that this is all that you are capable of!”

On and on I wrestled with these thoughts.  When I finally got home that evening, I felt defeated, physically and emotionally. As soon as Tim asked me how my day went, I grumbled, complained, cried, and justified my doing so. I vented all my frustration with Tim, and shared my struggles of desiring to be humble, but at the same time wanting a better job where I don’t feel like I wasted four years of my life working hard in school. Tim on the other hand, encouraged me to look at this project with a new perspective, and to try to find joy in these boxes. 

That night while Tim worked on homework, I read chapter 11 of Ravi Zacharias’ book Walking From East to West, which by the way is a great book! One particular part that stood out to me was a low point for Ravi when he was turned down by the Air Force, and a man encouraged him with these words:

“Remember this, from Psalm 37, ‘the steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.’ God has it all in order.”  “Commit thy way unto the LORD; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” 

I immediately thought, “wow God are you trying to tell me something?”  Little did I know that that moment was only the beginning of all that God had to say to me.  After I read a few more chapters, I proceeded to read from another book Your Beautiful Purpose by Susie Larson.  The section began with The Message’s translation of Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen to God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep track.” 

My stomach got that warm feeling inside, and I just knew that I was in for a ride with God that night. I turned the next page and began reading chapter 3, which started with 1 Peter 5:5-7

“God has had it with the proud, but takes delight in just plain people.  So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs.  God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time…” 

Oh man! that proud person putting on airs was definitely me.  Susie proceeded to share about a refining period in her life where God cleansed her, and brought her to a place of submission and obedience. God taught her about purity of heart, serving with a good attitude, and trusting God in that place.  The struggles she shared truly resonated with what I was going through.    

As I read, every single word felt like an arrow to my heart, I was breaking as God used this book to expose the filth in my heart.  The tears were welling up inside of me, and I just had to get alone with God, so I locked myself in my bedroom and just wept before the Lord. In that moment of brokenness, I confessed all my sins—my poor attitude, my pride, my lack of trust and contentment, my selfishness, and my self-righteousness among many others.  I asked for forgiveness and accepted the grace and healing which only my beautiful savior can bring about.  But God didn’t just use this particular chapter titled Wait on God to expose my sins and cleanse me, He also taught me and brought new hope into my life.  I love this part from Susie’s book:

If you are in a waiting, not-yet season, slow down and let the Lord speak to you in that place.  And when He does speak, do not harden your heart.  When He addresses a weakness in your life, don't shrug it off like it’s nothing, because it’s something.  And when He points out an area of inconsistency in your life, don’t crumble in despair like you’re nothing, because you’re definitely something! He disciplines those He loves.  He invests in you because He intends to use you greatly.

I have also made her prayer my prayer:

Lord, I trust You in this place.  If You make me wait, it’s because You’re making me ready. You give Your best gifts to those who trust in and wait on You. Amen.  

So now I am trusting God as He is making me wait and preparing me for what lies ahead.  I am remembering that He is Sovereign, and I am learning to constantly commit my way unto Him because He has everything in order. It's funny, I used to think that God had led me to this job so that I could be a witness and have an impact on others. But now I am learning that He brought me to this job because HE wanted to work in my life – to teach me, refine me, prepare me, and grow me.  God is so good! Through these times of brokenness I have found so much joy in knowing that God cares enough to discipline me, to teach me, to love me.  He could have just left me in that place of grumbling, complaining and discontentment, but instead He chose to gather me up in His loving arms and refine me.  How could I ever doubt that God is real, when His timing is perfect and I can clearly see Him working.  It’s no coincidence that I read those two books on that particular Tuesday night, God was working, oh how I love Him!

Name Change

A couple of weeks ago an idea popped into my head – to change the name of the blog. Oftentimes however, my ideas stay too long in my head before they are actually processed and executed.  So after a few weeks of putting it off (I mean, thinking J) I talked it over with Tim, and we’re doing it! We’re changing our blog name to “3 Sets of Footprints.”  Let me start by clarifying that NO, we are not pregnant J baby Lee is not the third set of footprints, God is! 

Lately, it has been my heart’s desire to use this blog to share God’s continual work in our lives.  The truth is that as Tim and I are on this journey of following and serving God, He is the one who is leading and walking with us every step of the way.  When we look back at our journey, we delight in seeing 3 sets of footprints along the path; He has been faithful in guiding, providing, teaching, protecting, disciplining, and loving us.  I take very much comfort in knowing that we are not walking alone, He truly is with us.  This is why the name “3 Sets of Footprints” makes sense and reflects our marriage.  In the words of David, the Lord has been our shepherd, He has made us lie down in green pastures, He has led us beside still waters, He has restored our souls, He has guided us in paths of righteousness for His name sake, His rod and His staff have comforted us, and He has always been with us.  As I write these words, I find it funny that Psalm 23 was the first passage Tim and I decided to memorize together as a couple.  
I want to be more intentional in giving God a bigger role in this blog, and in sharing the work He is doing in us and through us.

I leave you now with one of my favorite songs :)