Of Our Cynics

Here's a thought I'm trying to deal with: How in the world do I deal with this thing called the Bible? In my limited observation of the world around me, I've come to the conclusion that there are three types of Bible readers. There are the types that take the whole thing as if it were written specifically for them, and apply every single book, chapter, and verse to their personal lives. Now listen up cynics who just scoffed at that sentence...tell me honestly you've never done that. Yes, then there are you people who have swung to the opposite side of the spectrum and view the book as a historical document. Cynics, I call them. These people arrogantly scorn anyone who says, "The Lord gave me this verse..." The third group of readers are caught somewhere in the middle of these two, dutifully reading, but muddled as what to glean from it.

I am one caught in the middle. It frustrates me to the point of throwing the thing across the room and not even bothering. When I was a young, innocent child, I read the Bible as one of the people in type 1. I was young and didn't know better. Here's what I'm wondering...when I was struggling, grieving or rejoicing and I flipped open my Bible and it "just happened" to land on a verse I needed to hear...what was that? God? Or coincidence? This sort of thing happened a lot in my Bible reading while I was growing up... so now that I'm older do I go through my journal and throw out all those verses that I probably shouldn't have applied to my life because the Bible is a historical document? Or is the Bible "living and breathing? And what the hell does that even mean?

This whole thing makes me angry. Somewhere along the way, our generation crossed over from "critical thinkers" to cynics. I don't like cynics, but I think I am one.

In my walk with the Lord, there was a time when I was dangerously close to losing my faith. The Lord used two songs in very profound ways in my life. One of them was "My sweet Lord" by George Harrison, and the other was "As Is" by Ani Difranco. The first was relatable to me in that I "really wanted to know him, go with him, but it was taking so long." I couldn't find Him even though I was striving so hard. The second one, even though written about a lesbian lover, dealt with acceptance "as is." The Lord used it to show me he would accept me as I was, regardless of my crap. Without these two songs, I may not be a Christ follower today.

So then, why can I take those two songs, which were written by imperfect people, and say that they had a profound impact on my walk with God, yet I'm hesitant to apply the written word of a Holy God to my personal walk, because OH CRAP I TOOK IT OUT OF CONTEXT!

I swear to you I'm not the only one who's done this. I think if you're honest with yourself, you've done it too. Our cynics, in all their arrogant, educated glory, are nothing but hypocrites.

So where's the line? I know that there has to be a balance somewhere, but I'm baffled by the magnitude and complexity of this book. Whether you are a type 1 or type 2 reader, you have seriously underestimated the Bible. This is the reason I've been avoiding it. The task of trying to grasp it is daunting, and I'm seriously intimidated. It's only the written word of a Holy God. But we brainless little humans have this unquenchable need to understand everything, even if it means we have to diminish the power of God.