we bring a lot with us to our reading of scripture.
people read…
through their tradition,
through their upbringing,
through their perspective,
through every sunday school class they did or didn't attend,
through every well-intentioned but doctrinally disjunct bible study,
through every talk that put them to sleep before the final point,
through every song they've heard that had biblical content..
everything.
reading the bible is a lot like trying to interpret a work of art.
it requires study, preparation and informance because we can't get away from the fact that we have perceptual screens which colour or otherwise distort everything. it's probably prudent to both acknowledge them and, where they distort truth, apply more perspective- like corrective lenses.two lenses are particularly useful in this regard:
experience. nothing comes close to equipping us for drawing meaning from a piece of art or a piece of scripture like experience with the genre in question. the more experience we have with it, the more familiar we are with the languages used and therefore the more capable we are to perceive the deeper themes, to discover the rich poetry that lays beneath the surface of our earliest impressions.
relationship. being surrounded by fellow students affords us both balance and perspective, enriching and informing the conclusions that we draw through ongoing dialogue with these others as we wrestle the angel in search of meaning and blessing.
the goal, after all, is to earnestly discover the word behind the words...
5 comments:
I really enjoyed your sermon. I strongly agree with you on your idea that we need two lenses to read scripture. The analogy which came to my mind was taking a pair of reading scripture with out lens and only being able to see basic ideas and concepts. But when you put on your "3-D" glasses (which have one lens for experience and the other for relationship) and read the same scripture, you are now able to interpret the scripture and apply it to your reality making the scripture 2-D to 3-D.
When I think of all the time I spent reading scripture in "2-D", I am thankful that I can now get to the point where I am seeing scripture in 3-D.
yes yes- scripture is meant to be read and then lived in the third and fourth dimensions: space and time.
the challenge for us all seems to be not willingness or even faithfulness so much as interpretation and initiative. we need to find people that we can gel with, bounce things off of, live alongside of, and then receive the wisdom and insight that doing real life with these real people affords us. from there, i think, we need to be ready, as Christ followers, to just try things in serving others... to apply the insights gained from our relationships.
unfortunately, somewhere along the way we've come to believe that community service is the responsibility of the church and that, if there is no program in place, the members of said church may default to the idea that meeting this need is 'someone else's ministry.'
that's where i think initiative comes in: we can step out to bring service to another as individuals- not with the desire to somehow start a new program or anything else, but simply out of the desire to be faithful stewards of the relationships and the vision entrusted to us by God.
for some things, a faith community is a great rallying place- but not for all things... for some others, it is a refueling station for those individuals who are actively engaged in serving their fellow man outside of those four walls- it is sanctuary.
in my view, the challenge for us as hearers and doers of the word is to discern what God is inviting us as individuals into next and how we, as members of the larger church body, can draw strength and support as we endeavour to faithfully serve.
"unfortunately, somewhere along the way we've come to believe that community service is the responsibility of the church and that, if there is no program in place, the members of said church may default to the idea that meeting this need is 'someone else's ministry.'
that's where i think initiative comes in: we can step out to bring service to another as individuals- not with the desire to somehow start a new program or anything else, but simply out of the desire to be faithful stewards of the relationships and the vision entrusted to us by God."
that's a huge struggle with the church isn't it? the even bigger challenge, is the fact that you can find the people you gel with, do live with and receive wisdom and insight, but having them understand the fact of doing something to simply serve as an individual...to live His word and our faith in everyday life, not putting another 'ministry' on our plate...that's been really hard, at least for me lately!
it's an awesome challenge to take on.
"the even bigger challenge, is the fact that you can find the people you gel with"
I don't know if the term "gel with" applies to me. More like not connected with. I agree that our focus as a church should be connecting everyone together. For example, I really would like to see some kind of fundraiser with our church for cancer research. Cancer is a real concern with a lot of members of the church, my problem is who to connect with. My mom 2 mom group is a great place to start for me, but if they don't have the passion or desire, I don't want force people to do something they don't feel passionate about. Is my problem lacking initiative to start the projent? possibly. How do I connect with people I don't know with in the church? I guess one way is post something in the bulletin in hopes someone will respond. Is there a better way?
Would someone new to our church think of reading the bulletin for ideas in ministry? Do people who are "old timers" read the bulletin on a regular basis? Do I have to submit something to the board to get approval for the funraiser? Is this process too lengthly? I am sorry for throwing out a lot of questions out there, but I feel these questions may help our church understand how to help connect eachother or analyze our current plans to connect people and maybe find a way to make it simpler for Northviewian's.
trying to raise money from people we don't know is probably not going to facilitate connection the way doing some life with them will.
buy a coffee for them, introduce them to somebody you know- now they know twice as many people and it's only their first day.
that's what i call simple.
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