The Bible is hard to read. Really, really hard.
A good friend reminded me of this over dinner last week. We’ve never discussed religion in more than 20 years of acquaintance, so she surprised me with her account of trying to read the Bible cover to cover. “Genesis was OK,†she said, “but then I got into Exodus and couldn’t get out. All those begats.â€
A lot of people hit a dead end with the “begatsâ€â€”long genealogical lists in the form of “Abraham begat Isaac, who begat Jacob, who begat…†ad infinitum. Others lose it in the minute description of different types of sacrificial offerings in Leviticus. Some read the accounts of war and treachery and decide (understandably) that the Bible’s not for them.
So allow me to pique your interest by saying that the Bible is chock-full of wisdom we can use in our daily lives. That’s true not only of the “big†passages—the Golden Rule, Jesus’ admonition to love your enemies, etc.—but in the ridiculously obscure.
As Exhibit A, allow me to cite this passage from St. Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi:
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Maybe you’re thinking, who cares. No one could blame you. It’s about travel plans for an itinerant preacher 20 centuries ago.
But look more closely. I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. This is St. Paul we’re talking about—one of the towering figures in early Christendom, a person of extraordinary zeal and commitment. Wouldn’t he be surrounded with people of similar zeal? Or, at the very least, people who had learned to put others first, as Jesus directed?
Apparently not. In all his retinue, exactly one dude wasn’t looking out for himself.
Sounds like the human condition, doesn’t it? To quote Firesign Theatre, we’re all bozos on this bus. Even the “most evolved†have flaws and failings and shortcomings. We are all works in progress, and sometimes the progress doesn’t look like much. And if this is true of Paul’s inner circle—people ostensibly more mature than we are—maybe we can give ourselves more grace to be imperfect, to be bozos, to grow in God’s own good time.
The Bible is loaded with these tiny hidden gems. I’ll try to trot out more of them in the months to come.
For me, the goal is in sight, reading the entire Bible this year- give or take a few days into the new year. Parts of it reinforce my early biblical education in Sunday School, some of it seems brand new, some of it is very accessible to me, some of it I actually read out loud to try to make sense of – I have found some gems but need to keep mining. Personal commentary- I have found the book I love the best, unless Revelations overtakes me and that is unlikely, and that is the book of James-if you read nothing else, read that. Next year I will try re-reading the prophets and the letters Paul wrote, but this time with additional study materials. Has it changed my world view? In some aspects/regards, yes. Has it made me a better person, yes. Without belaboring the point I have assisted folks in need that I might otherwise have ignored, not questioning their legitimacy of deserving that assistance, just giving it. What has done that? Reading the Bible and saying, faith is what brings us to God, not works, but faith without works is dead. Many days my dipstick is low on both faith and works. Reading the Bible helps put some oil back in the crankcase.
What a wonderful comment. The book of James is a jewel: very down to earth. I didn’t take to it at first because I read it through a legalistic lens, but now its everyday practical wisdom means a great deal. I love your point about the Bible’s capacity to change us, too. Even the snippet from Philippians: it carries the reminder I always need that we’re all flawed and fallible, and that it’s OK. Congrats on nearly finishing the whole Bible: that is no mean feat.