I have grown up in church; Baptist boy through to the core. I was taught through my whole life about Christ, God, the Bible. I've heard most of the Bible stories at least twice and, most, I can tell you a good deal of background on and we could have good conversation about them. I am NOT a Bible scholar and I know there is a ton of things I DON'T know. But I tell you all of this so I can let you know how my thinking has evolved over the years. When I was a kid (and for a good majority of my teenage years) I thought of the Bible as a set of rules and some good stories. Not that I didn't believe them, I just didn't understand all there is to what the Bible has to say.... I guess I still don't, but I have a better understanding, and hopefully I can share this with you and you can benefit as well.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path"-Psalms 119:105
It wasn't until today that I actually put this verse of scripture to my philosophy about the Bible. Now I really understand this verse. "A lamp for my feet and a light for my path."
The Bible is not a set of rules written so that our life can be carefully watched for any mistakes we make. Not a way others can look into our lives and see where we screw up so they can feel better. It's not something to be scared of, or find daunting to live out. That's not it. We miss this so easily.It's an instruction manual.
I know you've probably heard it before, because it is one of the, all too used, Christian cliches. But it IS your instruction manual. The definition of instruction manual is simply "a manual usually accompanying a technical device and explaining how to install or operate it." This is what the Bible is for you. Think of all the "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots" that you may have read or encountered in the Bible. Or Christians rebuking you for doing some simple "misdemeanor" because they don't understand what it means either. An instruction manual is written, or at least inspired, by the manufacturer or inventor. They know what a product is supposed to do; what it's not supposed to do. They don't write," Don't stick this microwave" because they want to ruin your fun, they just don't want you to cause a mushroom cloud of an explosion right there i your kitchen! God doesn't say,"Don't get drunk!," because He hates to see you have a good time, He hates to see you give something control of your body and reactions! He doesn't say," Don't cheat on your wife!," because he wants you too miss out on an opportunity that you think you have, He doesn't want you to ruin your life and hurt you AND your wife! I could go on and on and on with different do's and don't's in the Bible, but maybe it's best if you look for yourself and weigh them against what I'm telling you. It's a manual that tells you how your body, mind, soul, and spirit are DESIGNED to work! He's the manufacturer, he should know. The most important thing He tells you that you are designed NOT to be able to live without is," Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." You're not designed to work without this. Now, understand that I have not mastered this skill, but I know it to be true. You're not designed to work without God. But the Bible is NOT just a manual.... read on... please...
I am a proud graduate of Louisiana Tech University, where I graduated in Marketing. GO DAWGS!! I digress... In my Marketing classes we looked at tons of case studies. We looked at businesses that succeeded. We looked at businesses that failed. Inventors. Innovators. Flops. We looked at all these to see what worked and what didn't. When you want to do something the right way, it helps if you see how others did it both right AND wrong.
Joseph, Mary, David, Goliath, Pharisees, Moses, Isaac, Abraham, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. On and on and on the Bible tells of these "case studies" where folks did things right and succeeded. Where folks failed miserably. Some learned from their mistakes. Some just kept on experiencing failure and destruction. The most prominent and successful life chronicled in the bible, is of the One person whom we can model our life after: Jesus Christ. The perfect example. He was rejected. He was beaten. He was killed. Through his life, though, He succeeded. He showed us how we are designed to "work." He knew the manufacturer intimately. This was the key to his success. He had read the case studies; the manual. He would have been a great business man, but He was only concerned with His Father's business.
Check out the Bible sometime. It's been a best seller for years. Look at it with fresh eyes. I will too. Maybe we can both understand how we are designed, and we can set ourselves up for success. Let this manual be a lamp for your feet and a light for your path.
Hey - It's Jeanie not Mary! Anyway, thanks so much for sharing. I have been harping on the fact that we as Christians try to put (and keep) God in our religious man-made boxes. Thanks for helping shove the sides of the box out! We gotta keep pursuing Him! Thanks again for sharing your heart man...
ReplyDeleteVery nice Jarrett except that you claim you aren't "churchy" when it seems to me something about religion has come up in every one of your posts. Soooooo...are you or aren't you?
ReplyDeleteWell, fact of the matter is- I AM a Christian. Am I part of the Church? Sure. The Church is, simply put, those who believe in Christ. I speak on religion because there is a whole lot of misunderstanding when it comes to "religion". I know people who are religious about many things: brushing their teeth, their daily routine, playing guitar ;). But if you look at the life of Christ, you see that he was not a "religious" person. In fact, he fought against the religious leaders of the day. I hate hate HATE that the Church has earned (and I do say earned) itself the reputation of hypocrites and liars. Even Chaucer saw it many many years ago. The Truth about Christianity is in its Love, Faith, and Hope. All these things CAN be contained in religion, but not experienced or truly felt. Being religious and being Christian are not synonymous. Am I a Christian? Yes! Emphatically. I don't beat people with that, flaunt that in front of others, or claim I am spotless and clean. Am I churchy? Nope. I could not, with a clean conscience tell you how good of a person I am, and use all the religious lingo to impress you, AND feel good about being a flawed imperfect human. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast." Eph. 2: 8-9
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying writing in your blog about deeply you're affected by your religion every time you post and being "churchy" are two different things?
ReplyDeleteI don't intend to write about religion. I do like to share my feelings about Christianity. Christianity is more than religion, it's a way of life. In fact it is more than that, it is who I am. And since it is who I am, I find it hard to write about things that really matter to me without sharing how they are rooted (or at least are related) in my way of life. It would be like writing music with no staff: A bunch of notes that make no sense. The lines are important. How I observe things daily are directly related to the "lines" of my life. And I am not preaching anything I'm just conveying my observations. The things that hit me and make me think. The fact that it interests you, tells me that, even if you don't agree, it matters what I say and how I see things. That's great! "Churchy" is an adjective that I use to describe people who feel the need to be obtrusive or deliberate in letting the people around them know that they are Christian. All I do is observe, digest, and report my feelings. I am not always right, I don't always have the best thoughts, but I don't write what I write to impress, but to impact, both myself, and anyone to happens to read my rantings as well. :)
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