Language

I've been preparing for a sermon series in July on learning to read the Bible, and one of the questions that nags at me is why it's so hard. Yes, I understand the cultural differences and that sometimes we don't understand the peculiarities of the Biblical world. And yes, I understand that we don't read much anymore. My own kids, who are the product of two book-loving parents, both don't care to read (one is more adamant than the other—I'll let you guess which one!). We prefer to get our information quickly—through visuals (television) or sound bites or summaries on the internet. Reading a book—well, that just seems to take too long!

But I think Eugene Peterson is right that there's another, deeper reason why reading the Bible seems so hard for us in the twenty-first century. His contention (one of many valuable insights he has) is that the way we use language has changed. Language, certainly in the Biblical world is intended as revelational rather than informational. Let me unpack that a bit...

We treat language as something to convey information. "Just the facts, ma'am." I think about our own home, and the conversations that happen there. We update each other on calendar items. We talk about what we need to purchase to make this meal or that project. We share what we need to do that day. And so on. I'm guessing (hoping?) conversations in your home follow much the same pattern. We turn on the news to get information. We listen to the weather report to get information. We store tons and tons of information and then we complain about "information overload"!

And so we come to the Bible looking for information. Give me a thought, an inspiration, a fact, a devotional thought so that I can move on with my day.

The problem is this: the Bible's language is not about information but revelation. Not just the final book of the Bible (though it's certainly about revelation) but all of it. The Bible's language is meant to help us see the world better, to experience God more, to see the divine in the midst of daily life. "Revelation" means to "unveil," to peel back the layers of the mundane so that we can see what's really going on. And the way the Bible does that revealing is by telling stories.

We've reduced stories to illustrations (I do this in my own preaching), something to make a point. We even try to take Jesus' parables and reduce them down to a "point," when perhaps the real reason he told the parables and the real reason the Bible tells stories is to help us see more clearly, to understand a bit more about God. We come looking for information. The Bible isn't interested in JUST giving us information. The Scriptures want us to see things more deeply than that.

To be able to engage the Bible on that level will require us to slow down, maybe even to stop, and to engage the text—to let it speak to us, to allow ourselves to become part of its story rather than the other way around. We're going to have to change our mindset and allow the Bible to speak to us, and allow it to say whatever it will say to us, rather than demanding that its stories fit into our life. It's going to take time, and energy, and might even call us to make changes in the way we live. Are we willing to invest those things so that we can know God better?

I'm still thinking about this...more coming...