Originally posted on Thursday, December 31, 2009
Exploring the Pagus
If you have ever tried to study the Bible you have probably
found that reading the Book doesn't always offer immediate answers to all that
ails you. I know many Christians who have become discouraged trying to glean
and understand the truth as it applies to their lives. And too often many of us
Christians have been guilty of prescribing Bible study as a magic cure all. We
prescribe the correct dosage of verses while ignoring that sometimes simply
reading the book is not enough. But if we are honest I think there are times
when all of us have looked at this book and wondered what we were missing. It
is as if someone forgot to give us our secret decoder ringer, because nothing
seems to apply to our particular circumstance.
So how do we avoid this feeling? How do we get the most out
of this book that is to be central to our lives? How do we steer clear of the
guilt we sometimes feel when our daily Bible studies seem dry and pointless? Is
it us? Are we too dense? Flat out stupid?
First off, don’t sweat it. All of us have been there, and if
we say we find wonderful revelations that speak directly to our souls each time
we open the word – well, we’re lying. There are going to be days when the Bible
seems like any other book, it isn’t but it can sure seem that way sometimes. If
we aren’t careful that sense of not “getting it” will send us into a spiral of
guilt and self condemnation that we make us avoid our Bibles up.
Second, let me offer you a few tools that most Christians
don’t utilize. The first one is a method of Bible study used in the rabbinic
schools. Many rabbis taught that the Bible should not be studied alone, and
they established a method of study where the Bible was studied in pairs. The
verses were read and then discussed. There is something that happens in talking
it out. The words become more than a story, more than something that happened
thousands of years ago, and the truths of the scriptures are come alive. It
isn’t some magical process. It is how we are wired as human beings.
Stop for a second and think about your favorite movie. You
probably saw it with someone you care about, you probably discussed it with
your friends, and even spontaneously quote random lines from it. Something as
common as a movie takes on a new significance if you share it with someone.
Even movies you may not particularly enjoy watching become memorable if you
share it with the right people – think Monty Python.
So buddy up. Find someone to talk about the Bible. Get their
perspective, share yours, and search out the answers for any questions you
might have. I am not advocating doing away with all individual study of the
Bible, but there is strength in numbers, use it.
The second method is imaginative reading. Don’t just blow
threw a passage. Stop and really think about what if it were you standing at
the base of Mount Sinai, confronted by the lions, or watching the locusts swarm
across the Egyptian sky? Put yourself in the scene, and not as someone who
knows the end of the story. Really think about how you feel if you were
experiencing that event.
Set the stage in your mind with as much vivid detail as you
can. Find some pictures of the land, some recreations of homes, caravans, and
market places. Feel the sand in the wind as the breath of God divided the
waters of the Red Sea, hear the pounding hooves of Pharaoh’s army swooping in
behind you, clutch your trembling child in your arms, and wonder if you will
survive this moment. Experience the fear, the loss of your home, the terrible
unknown before you, and be there.
The rabbis taught that by experiencing the emotions of a
Biblical moment you were preparing your heart to meet the challenges of your
life. If you could see yourself as present in a Biblical event and think of how
you would have reacted than you would be better prepared to live out your faith
in this time. I mean after all once you live through the conquest of Canaan
suddenly rush hour doesn’t seem so bad.
The point is you have to take the time to think about what
you are reading it. If you are just plowing through it because it is the right
thing to do, it is going to become meaningless pretty quick. We aren’t engaging
in relationship, we are being superstitious, and we are missing the whole
point.
In our goal driven society these approaches feel rather
strange at first – like we goofing off or day dreaming when we should be
studying. Well, here’s the good news, God is not a geometry problem we have to
figure out. The test is not going to be whether or not you can work the
formula. It is going to be over whether or not you have a relationship with
Him, and in relationship we have the opportunity to know someone, not dissect
them.
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