Finding the Center
Where is the center of your faith? Is it Jesus or the Bible?
Here's the funny thing when we talk about "the Bible." When we say "I believe the Bible" or something like that, we don't mean it in a objective way. We may fool ourselves into thinking otherwise, but as limited humans, the only thing we are capable of meaning by that is, "I believe my interpretation of the Bible." And that interpretation is not only subjective, it is capable of change as we learn new information.
Building your faith on the Bible is like building your faith on a house of cards.*
Yet this is what many of us have tended to do. We read every verse like it's equally important. Above all, we read every verse literally (of course, no one really does, but we come to a place where we cling to this ideal of reading literally for our very identity). And then we forge very dogmatic and rigid beliefs about what we think every verse says. Eventually we fit all these beliefs together into what we think is a solid foundation on which to build our faith, but it's actually a house of cards.
What happens if we confront new evidence that challenges one of those beliefs? We're terrified to change and we end up putting our head in the sand and doubling down on that belief. Because we know what happens if that one belief gets pulled out. Then we'll have to pull out another. And another. And another. Because if we decide, well that part of the Bible is no longer literal, then what about this part? Or if I adjust this belief, won't I have to rethink dozens of others, too? It just becomes too much.
A lot can and will be said on this blog about how to interpret the Bible, but here's the point for today... Don't make the Bible the foundation of your faith. Make Jesus the foundation of your faith.
The Bible itself tells you to do it this way.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11 - "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 2:19-22 - "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."
1 Peter 2:4-6 - "And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: 'Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed."
I especially love this last reference because here you have the an eyewitness of Jesus writing a letter that was later canonized by the Church into the Christian Bible, and he is quoting a book that was canonized by his forefathers into the Hebrew Bible, in order to tell you that something other than the Bible is the cornerstone of your faith. I mean if anyone took the Bible seriously, it's Peter and the church fathers who recognized this letter has having divine inspiration.
And here they are through all those layers of history telling you these books are not the foundation of your faith.
It's Jesus.
So let Jesus be the center. Let Him be the foundation. Because what He did on the cross will never change. The fact of his resurrection will never change. The fact that He sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father will never change. The fact that He (especially on the cross) is the fullest possible expression of the infinite love of the Godhead for mankind will never change. The fact that He personally has redeemed me will never change.
Of course, the easy comeback is, well didn't you get all that from the Bible? Well, I did and I didn't.
Because every copy of the Bible could vaporize into thin air right now and none of that would change.
This is the shocking truth that revolutionized my faith and finally made it so real I could feel it with every fiber of my being...
Jesus and the Bible are not the same thing.
My beliefs about the Bible have and will change. For so long I was terrified of them changing. If I was confronted by anything new I had to hold my nose and ignore it for as long as possible.
But I don't have to anymore.
Because Jesus and the Bible are not the same thing. Jesus transcends the Bible. He is bigger and better and greater and fuller than it could ever hope to be. That's why when Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the "word" of God is living and active and able to judge, piercing us like a two-edged sword, the word it uses for "word" is Logos... the "better" word. Go on to the next verse and it even says, "there is no creature hidden from His sight"... not it's sight.
And that's good news! Because the Bible may be words of God, but Jesus is the living and enfleshed Word of God! I may be able to read the Bible. But I can have a relationship with Jesus. I can know and love Him, and be known and loved by Him. I can eat and drink Him in the sacraments, hear His words spoken to me in the liturgy, respond to Him in prayer, feasting, and fasting, and enter into the embrace of Trinitarian fellowship with other believers who are likewise being built up together in Him. And note that all these means of experiencing the risen Christ happen outside the Bible.
Believing this way takes real faith, because Jesus, unlike the Bible, is unseen to us. It's much more difficult to be "certain" about what is unseen. Of course, I got that from the Bible (Hebrews 11:1). But I struggled for years with feeling like I had a real, tangible, authentic faith, because without knowing it, I was placing my faith in the word of God, and my certainty that I knew what it meant, rather than in the Word of God and all the mysteries that attend His indwelling and all-filling presence... that is, until I realized (let me say it one more time), that Jesus and the Bible are not the same thing.
Jesus I hold on to tightly. My beliefs I hold onto loosely. They may change, but He never will. The freedom that has come from this is beyond what I can put into words.
So listen to the Bible. Do what it says. Make Him, not it, the foundation and center of your faith.
* I am indebted to Greg Boyd for the "house of cards" analogy. Hearing him describe it was a genuine "light bulb moment" for me. I later read a very eye-opening bit of correlating research that of course I forgot to write down so I could properly cite it, but here it goes from memory... Christian adults from a fundamentalist/evangelical background are less likely than mainline/liberal Christians to change their beliefs. This makes sense since we tend to cling so tightly to the certainty of those beliefs, much more so than mainline Christians do. But, when fundamentalist Christians do experience a change in their beliefs, they are much more likely than mainline Christians to become atheists (liberals tend to just get more liberal, but remain Christian or at least "spiritual" nonetheless). In other words, when a card gets pulled out, that house of cards tends to completely crumble.
Here's the funny thing when we talk about "the Bible." When we say "I believe the Bible" or something like that, we don't mean it in a objective way. We may fool ourselves into thinking otherwise, but as limited humans, the only thing we are capable of meaning by that is, "I believe my interpretation of the Bible." And that interpretation is not only subjective, it is capable of change as we learn new information.
Building your faith on the Bible is like building your faith on a house of cards.*
Yet this is what many of us have tended to do. We read every verse like it's equally important. Above all, we read every verse literally (of course, no one really does, but we come to a place where we cling to this ideal of reading literally for our very identity). And then we forge very dogmatic and rigid beliefs about what we think every verse says. Eventually we fit all these beliefs together into what we think is a solid foundation on which to build our faith, but it's actually a house of cards.
What happens if we confront new evidence that challenges one of those beliefs? We're terrified to change and we end up putting our head in the sand and doubling down on that belief. Because we know what happens if that one belief gets pulled out. Then we'll have to pull out another. And another. And another. Because if we decide, well that part of the Bible is no longer literal, then what about this part? Or if I adjust this belief, won't I have to rethink dozens of others, too? It just becomes too much.
A lot can and will be said on this blog about how to interpret the Bible, but here's the point for today... Don't make the Bible the foundation of your faith. Make Jesus the foundation of your faith.
The Bible itself tells you to do it this way.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11 - "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 2:19-22 - "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."
1 Peter 2:4-6 - "And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: 'Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed."
I especially love this last reference because here you have the an eyewitness of Jesus writing a letter that was later canonized by the Church into the Christian Bible, and he is quoting a book that was canonized by his forefathers into the Hebrew Bible, in order to tell you that something other than the Bible is the cornerstone of your faith. I mean if anyone took the Bible seriously, it's Peter and the church fathers who recognized this letter has having divine inspiration.
And here they are through all those layers of history telling you these books are not the foundation of your faith.
It's Jesus.
So let Jesus be the center. Let Him be the foundation. Because what He did on the cross will never change. The fact of his resurrection will never change. The fact that He sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father will never change. The fact that He (especially on the cross) is the fullest possible expression of the infinite love of the Godhead for mankind will never change. The fact that He personally has redeemed me will never change.
Of course, the easy comeback is, well didn't you get all that from the Bible? Well, I did and I didn't.
Because every copy of the Bible could vaporize into thin air right now and none of that would change.
This is the shocking truth that revolutionized my faith and finally made it so real I could feel it with every fiber of my being...
Jesus and the Bible are not the same thing.
My beliefs about the Bible have and will change. For so long I was terrified of them changing. If I was confronted by anything new I had to hold my nose and ignore it for as long as possible.
But I don't have to anymore.
Because Jesus and the Bible are not the same thing. Jesus transcends the Bible. He is bigger and better and greater and fuller than it could ever hope to be. That's why when Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the "word" of God is living and active and able to judge, piercing us like a two-edged sword, the word it uses for "word" is Logos... the "better" word. Go on to the next verse and it even says, "there is no creature hidden from His sight"... not it's sight.
And that's good news! Because the Bible may be words of God, but Jesus is the living and enfleshed Word of God! I may be able to read the Bible. But I can have a relationship with Jesus. I can know and love Him, and be known and loved by Him. I can eat and drink Him in the sacraments, hear His words spoken to me in the liturgy, respond to Him in prayer, feasting, and fasting, and enter into the embrace of Trinitarian fellowship with other believers who are likewise being built up together in Him. And note that all these means of experiencing the risen Christ happen outside the Bible.
Believing this way takes real faith, because Jesus, unlike the Bible, is unseen to us. It's much more difficult to be "certain" about what is unseen. Of course, I got that from the Bible (Hebrews 11:1). But I struggled for years with feeling like I had a real, tangible, authentic faith, because without knowing it, I was placing my faith in the word of God, and my certainty that I knew what it meant, rather than in the Word of God and all the mysteries that attend His indwelling and all-filling presence... that is, until I realized (let me say it one more time), that Jesus and the Bible are not the same thing.
Jesus I hold on to tightly. My beliefs I hold onto loosely. They may change, but He never will. The freedom that has come from this is beyond what I can put into words.
So listen to the Bible. Do what it says. Make Him, not it, the foundation and center of your faith.
* I am indebted to Greg Boyd for the "house of cards" analogy. Hearing him describe it was a genuine "light bulb moment" for me. I later read a very eye-opening bit of correlating research that of course I forgot to write down so I could properly cite it, but here it goes from memory... Christian adults from a fundamentalist/evangelical background are less likely than mainline/liberal Christians to change their beliefs. This makes sense since we tend to cling so tightly to the certainty of those beliefs, much more so than mainline Christians do. But, when fundamentalist Christians do experience a change in their beliefs, they are much more likely than mainline Christians to become atheists (liberals tend to just get more liberal, but remain Christian or at least "spiritual" nonetheless). In other words, when a card gets pulled out, that house of cards tends to completely crumble.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis was a profound realization for me, as well. There was year-long period where I put a lot of my beliefs about the Bible to the test. I began to realize how deep the rabbit hole went, and it was then that I asked myself, "Do I truly need to explore ALL my options, or does my faith transcend the Bible?" When it came down to it, I had to confess Christianity, not because all of my questions were answered, but because it is part of who I am at my core. To deny it would be to deny myself.
ReplyDelete