"God Said it, I Believe It, That Settles It....."

This is actually a followup to my last post.  This morning as I was chatting myself up in the mirror, I was talking about this phenomenon.  (This is a followup to my last post because I was talking about walking with God and my faith walk not being dependent upon any person, place, or denomination).

But the inherent lack of logic in that statement (God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It) jumped out at me.  First of all, the God I serve still speaks.  If God Said It, I Believe It, and That Settles It, doesn't that sort of close the door on any further conversations with God?  And while this next point is slightly circular in its logic, if the Word of God is Alive and Active, if we serve a God with whom Abram can successfully plead to not destroy Sodom, and with whom Moses can plead to deflect the harm God said He would visit upon the Hebrew people; if we serve a God with whom Hezekiah could plead to change his affliction, then why do we act like His Word is static? The Word of God is ALIVE and ACTIVE.  I don't know -- to me that implies a certain amount of dynamism; it certainly presupposes that the Word of God is contemporary.

I think I got into this discussion (it's hard to say because neither my thinking nor autolocution are linear) -- but I think I got into this discussion after admonishing some students to seriously apply themselves in studying the Word and in realizing the role of the historico-political contexts of the Word.  I let them know that, if they are properly rooted and grounded, delving and digging into the Word will not diminish their faith, but rather will build a broader base from which they can exercise their faith.

As part of that digging and delving, we need to understand some basics.  First, we need to understand that the King James Version of the Bible, the one most of us quote as authoritative or "authorized," was not freely translated from the original texts.  We need to understand that, as beautiful as the prose of the KJV is, that translation was commissioned by King James I.  We especially need to realize that King James didn't send the translators out to search the original texts and mine the truth from them; no, he commissioned them with the task of creating a Bible that would conform to what was being taught and practiced in the Church of England at the time (early 17th century?).  I'm not dissing the KJV like I used to; I'm just saying that the circumstances of its creation do not lend one to believe it was authorized by God, and knowledge of history reveals the fact that it was Authorized by King James I.

Ok.  But the translation doesn't matter so much.  The Word is the Word, right?  Yes. The Word is the Word.  And just like we read a novel differently than we read a TV Guide, just like we read a poem differently than we read a classified ad, there are different types of writing in the Bible.  Before we can convincingly or honestly state that "God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It," it behooves us to at least have a passing familiarity with what, indeed, God said.

I'm not saying everyone has to be a Biblical scholar.  I am saying that we who profess to be Christian need to understand that rightly dividing the Word is not something left to our Pastor, and is not something we do on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Rightly dividing (or correctly handling) the Word extends beyond the Book.  We need to correctly handle God's Truth in our lives.  If God Said It, I Believe It, and That Settles It, does this conviction show in our attitudes, or only when we want to use the Word to prove a point?  If God Said It, I Believe It, and That Settles It, then are you even reading this, or have you sold everything and given it to the poor as a pre-requisite for walking with Jesus?  If God Said It, I Believe It, and That Settles It, does that mean that neither you nor anyone in your household has any tats, and all the fellas have full beards?  We are America, a country that says it is devoutly Christian, but the Bible says that if you divorce your wife and get remarried, you've committed adultery.  If God Said It, I Believe It, and That Settles It in this country, why do roughly half its marriages end in divorce?  And just for the record, God's Word says that if a female is not a virgin when she marries, the men of the city should stone her to death. If God said it, I Believe it, and that Settles it, are you willing to cast the first (or any) stone there?   I grew up in a state with Blue Laws. You couldn't even buy alcohol in our county; you certainly couldn't buy any on Sundays.  If God Said It, I Believe It, and That Settles It, then how come we work on the Sabbath?

I Believe God's Word.  I Believe God still speaks, which means that I have to shut down the "monkey mind," stop talking, be still, and listen --  really listen -- to what God is saying.  God SAYS it; God still Speaks, God Still Gives a Fresh Word to us, if we only have ears to hear.  It doesn't mean that I filter God's Word for what "resonates with my spirit;"  rather, it means that I adjust my spirit, heart, and actions so they line up with the Word of God.  We have to listen for a Fresh Word from God, and not listen only to hear God co-sign that thinking or those opinions we already hold.  If we honestly believe God can Blow Our Minds, then we have to submit ourselves completely to God. That takes courage, and I just don't think we do that.  I think we fall back on old familiar ways of understanding, and we accept those bits we want of God's Word only so long as they reinforce what we already believe.  I think that we don't allow ourselves -  our bodies, minds, or spirits -- to be CHALLENGED by God's Word.  I'm not so sure that we saints believe that as long as we're on this side of Jordan we will continue to develop spiritually.  Sometimes I think we believe we're so Saved, Sanctified, Tongue-Talking, Fire-Baptized, and Spirit Filled that there's no room for improvement.  We then are qualified to pick and choose what in God's Word will bind us, and what we'll explain or interpret away (and no, this isn't a dig at progressive Christians.  Fundamentalists are as prone to do this as Progressives; whether it's seen or recognized is another matter).

Anyway.  That's what I believe.