This silly cartoon recently came across my Facebook feed. Initially, I laughed when I saw it, but then I saw who posted it and knew that this person actually believes it. Since I’ve been out of the church scene for awhile, I tend to forget that people still believe stuff like this and it honestly makes me kind of sad.
I mean seriously…If my wife or one of my daughters says she wants to talk to me and I respond by silently reaching across the living room, handing her a book, that’s just not going to go over well! That is not how a healthy relationship works!
If you really think that God only speaks to you through a book, can I suggest that perhaps you are just not paying attention?
Have you ever had someone silently sit with you in your pain?
Have you ever been embraced by a friend, your children or a lover?
Has anyone accepted you as a friend and wanted to be in your presence just because you are you?
Have you ever had someone help you out in a time of need when they had no obligation to do so?
Have you ever hiked though the Rocky Mountains and been overwhelmed by the rugged beauty of the landscape?
Have you ever stood on the beach and been in awe with the power and mystery of the ocean?
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and been amazed at the vastness and beauty of the universe?
If you can say “yes” to any of these, God has spoken to you. Whenever you witness love, life and beauty, this is God speaking words of affirmation to your very existence. The presence of God permeates everything and everyone and is always speaking to us if we would only listen. As Richard Rohr says, “We live in a Christ soaked universe”.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the Bible, but do not see its purpose as the only way God speaks to me. The Bible is incredibly important to me, but not as the sole, inerrant and infallible word of God. The Bible is an amazing, diverse collection of ancient, inspired writings which showcase various peoples experiences and ideas about God throughout the millennia. It shows us how individual people and entire cultures evolved in their thinking about God. I love the poetry of Genesis and how the post-exilic Israelites imagined a more beautiful creation story than the violent Babylonian Enuma Elish story they had learned while in captivity. I love seeing the perspectives of different writers recounting the monarchical period of Israel from Kings to Chronicles. It is fascinating observing Davids spiritual growth and development in the Psalms. It is life giving to me to read the accounts of the life of Jesus in the gospels, revealing what God in the flesh is like. It encourages me to observe the writers of the New Testament, struggling to rethink their inherited faith after encountering Jesus and gives me permission to do likewise. In fact, if God says anything to me through the Bible, it is this: “Ryan, don’t worry about it if you get the wrong idea about who I am and what life is about. You are in good company and I’m frankly not worried about it. Keep on learning, exploring and growing. Learn to see, hear and experience me in everything and everyone around you. Just know that no matter how good and loving you imagine me to be, you are STILL underestimating me! Now go and play. Enjoy this existence I have brought you into!”
Here’s a news flash for you: The Bible contains many false ideas about God, particularly in the Old Testament. I love how Jesus comes on the scene and corrects those false assumptions about God which had become entrenched in cultural religion. To quote Archbishop Lazar, “Any Scripture that claims to reveal God must bow to the living Word of God
when he came in the flesh.”
The Bible is NOT the Word of God.
Jesus is.
Full stop.
If you are a part of a church who’s statement of faith contains wording such as, “We believe that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God”, could I suggest that you have turned the Bible into an idol? Could I suggest that you are involved in a dead religion? Could I suggest that you find the nearest exit and leave as quickly as you can?
Could I suggest that we ask God to help us to listen better?