Several years ago, I decided that since I consider myself a Christian, I should consider reading the entire Bible (all 66 books). And when I announced this endeavor, one of my close friends cautioned me that reading the entire Bible can confront my faith in a very deep and personal way. I didn’t really understand what he meant, and brushed off the warning as nonsense. While I have always been an evangelist at heart, I realized that my mind is overflowing with “bumper sticker” Christianity. I know all the famous versus, but my knowledge was shallow and probably too focused on the New Testament.
I’m going to admit, reading “the entire Bible” wasn’t as enchanting as it sounds. I started with a yearly planner which gave me daily snippets. I’d routinely read those snippets, and then some more. But most of the readings were dry and somewhat boring. There were moments where I connected with the story of God and Jesus, and that could be described as simply magical. But the vast majority of the readings were more of a task of “reading the Bible” rather than “absorbing the Bible”. I’d rarely stop to conduct a word study, and would move chapter by chapter through the days and weeks. Yes I understood what I was reading, but I also knew that sometimes you can and should spend weeks on specific versus. All that being said, I once attended a church where the pastor spent 6 months on the book of Ruth – which is 5 pages in my Bible.
Additionally, I’ve always been a little bit of an outlier in the sense that I believe the Bible as a literal translation. Not figurative. That means I do believe in a 7 day creation. Even if we, as humans, can’t explain it. And so throughout this endeavor, I would question that deeper belief of literal versus figurative. Who composed these 66 books? Are they divinely inspired? Are they divinely authored? And so while I continued to read, I started to dread the fact that I might encounter something absurd that would confront these beliefs. Maybe the Bible was a collection of confusing and absurd stories that somehow were fraudulently arranged to speak to a conjure story of God’s love. Maybe it wasn’t divinely inspired. And this proposition went deeper, because maybe the Bible is not a work of God, but a work of fallible men and women. This line of thinking pointed to the fact that maybe the Bible isn’t what we think it is, and maybe God isn’t who we think he is. Maybe we are accidents in a Godless, forsaken world.
That dread persisted until I came across II Kings. Now before I go into this story, I need to say something. If the world is divided into 2 teams – Team God and Team World – I’m standing with Team God. And while this wasn’t such a controversial statement when I was younger, it certainly has become more controversial later in life. And that being said, if God says, “People who shave their beards are going to Hell..” I will explain to my non-Christian friends that members of the Dollar Shave Club are standing on thin ice. If God says, “Sexual-deviants are going to Hell.” I will explain to my sexually deviant friends that they need to take a long look in the mirror. And if God says “Abortion is wrong.” I’m going to say abortion is wrong.
When I was younger, these virtues were so commonplace that they could have been printed on wallpaper. Nobody argued that murder or lying was bad. But somehow, things changed. Now I find myself surrounded by social media opinions that are far too eager to explain to me that my stance on abortion infringes upon women’s rights. Or that lying can be good in some situations. And while I understand the complexities for many of these arguments, I think the best Biblical story that comes to mind is when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Issac.
As a father of both a boy and girls, my love for my son is unique and special in a way beyond words. And if I’m standing with Team God, and God tells me to sacrifice my son. Firstly, I really hope and pray my faith is never tested in that manner. But secondly, and this is important, if (and that is one GIANT IF) God asked me to do that, I’d firstly check my medication, and then consult with numerous mental health professionals. The reality is that I don’t know if I have that type of faith, if you want to call that faith. But this is an interesting story, because in this case, you can interpret this figuratively, and it is still a severely significant story. And this story reminds me that sometimes, standing with Team God, things might seem crazy. But regardless, it’s important to stand with Team God. God is in control. Even if it doesn’t look like it, to us.
But the story of Abraham and Issac doesn’t compare to this tiny, largely uncharted section in Kings II that derailed my utopian interpretation of the literal Bible. That is, specifically, when some bratty kids are making fun of Elisha. What happened?
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him, chanting, ‘Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!’ He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children.”
II Kings 2: 23-24
When I encountered that scripture, I had to read it several times. 2 female bears? 42 mauled children? What? Why? And this is where I stopped and really began to confront my understanding of a literal versus a figurative Bible. Why was I reading this? Who wrote this? This was like starting to read the Gettysburg Address and then coming across the phrase “lol”. It seems so out of place it’s kind of comical. But it’s not when you’re having an existential crisis concerning the literal and figurative meanings of the Bible, this is exactly the scripture I dreaded.
Several weeks ago, my current pastor mentioned latitudes on social media during his sermon. During that discussion, he remarked that the older he gets, the less he thinks he knows about life. I couldn’t agree more. When I was younger, life was certainly “less complicated”. And while I still stand firmly on the Bible and Team God, I also recognize that I’m truly unqualified to judge others. I’ve become much more patient, and slower to judgement. And the oddity is that when I was younger, I was more inclined to preach and teach others about the teachings of Jesus. Now I’m less inclined because I understand life is complicated. Sometimes bumper sticker slogans just don’t help the situiation.
Arrogance
The book of Job is one of my favorite books in the Bible, largely because it is so absurd. This book changed my faith in a deeply profound way, because when you really stop and take a moment to consider the narrative – you realize something that, for years, I found deeply disturbing and offensive. That is precisely in Job 1:8 when God says to Satan:
“Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Job 1:8
I find this disturbing, because in the following chapters, Job endures deep pain and suffering. And all of that pain and suffering is traced back to the single verse above. Satan accuses Job for being blameless and upright exactly because he is so blessed (think prosperity gospel?). And because of this, God grants Satan power over all his belongings. And so the test begins.
Throughout my faith over many years, I continue to keep returning to this section of the Bible. I’ve told many people that it’s easy to be a Christian when times are good. However, I’m more interested in myself when times are tough. Who stands up for Christ during perilous times? I am reminded of watching Ben-Hur as a child. At one point in the movie, the adversaries ask “Who is Ben-Hur?” from a crowd of prisoners. In response, everyone from the crowd announces they are Ben-Hur. I know this sentiment goes strait back to my bleeding evangelist heart, but I am constantly bothered by the fact that salvation certainly can elude those who consider themselves saved. The other day I came across Matthew 7:21 and that verse just haunted me for hours.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 7:21-27
The world is full of false disciples. And that bothers me so much partly because “what is enough” is never really defined. If it were, we, as humans, would likely do the absolute minimum. God purposely leaves an open door. How much do you love? How far are you willing to go? We certainly understand we are saved by grace, but then you have Matthew 7:21 and Revelation 3:16 which strongly emphasize the reality that some of us consider us saved, and we aren’t. We are “lip service Christians”.
I could go on about how I attended a private school overflowing with affluent families, to be the strikingly poor boy who attended because -Dad worked there. And as an adult, I understand. Parents make deep sacrifices for their children and their children’s education. Oftentimes, charitable giving just doesn’t make the list. Secondly, the fact that coined the term “Cheasters” or worse, the “overtly religious”. The self-righteous Pharisees of our day.
For years I struggled over the fact that because of a pithy proposition between God and Satan, Job loses everyone and everything he cares about. All that being said, there is a recognition that Job didn’t deserve any of this. This is summarized in Job 3:3 when Job laments his life. This is just a glaring example that life isn’t fair. But it’s not fair because God wanted to conduct a test. Does that seem wrong? This opened up questions about the God I serve. Is this the kind of God I want to serve? At my workplace, I sometimes hear people say, “If you have a choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.” And while that sounds wonderful and is something I believe in, Job’s story is not about being kind. It’s about a deep commitment through suffering. In my opinion, it’s about being right.
I’ve often said that life isn’t fair. But it took several years for me to accept that Job emphasizes how big God is, and how small we are. All of this traces back to arrogance. We love to think God needs us. But he doesn’t. We need him. And after a long time, I can accept that the suffering of Job, for the glory of God, is justified, because it’s God. Even if it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or downright painful.
Blasphemous
Job’s suffering transforms him. Job ultimately confronts God, which is clearly blasphemous, but deeply moving. Job questions the God he serves, and in my opinion, transforms into a saint. One of my favorite aspects of this book is that Job’s religious friends are always ready to provide an explanation to justify the suffering. Perhaps Job sinned? What did Job do to make God angry? These are futile hopes to hold onto the ideal that life is fair and just. That God would dare do something to us, just to test our faith.
Job’s religious friends stand on theology and theory, but have no experience. They have thoughts about God, but no love of God. They believe in theology, but Job witnesses the God of their theory. This is the chasm. There is a difference between information and wisdom. And suffering often produces wisdom, even if it is downright painful and unfair.