Acquiring a Taste
At one stage in my life I gave the Christians I knew a hard time. I challenged them about myths and legends in the Bible. The problem was that I had never even opened a Bible. That did not stop me. I was using newspaper and magazine articles as my sources. It seems that just about every Christmas and Easter there are stories questioning the truth of Christian claims about Jesus. These were the stories I used to challenge the Christians I knew. Then I read it for myself. I have since become an avid Bible reader. I also learned to pray before I read that God would give me understanding and affection for what I was reading. Strikingly some of the Bible writers describe revelation from God as a delicious delicacy to be eaten. The Old Testament psalmist compares that revelatory word to honey (Psalm 119:103).
Of course, there were puzzling things that I read or heard. I remember early on sitting in church and hearing about how Israelite priests carried the ark across the River Jordan. Nonsense, I thought. How could anyone carry Noah’s ark like that? I soon learned that in the Bible the word “ark” could refer to a very different object. The Ark of the Covenant was a box in which certain sacred objects were housed like the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone. It could be carried. (If only I had seen Stephen Spielberg’s, Raiders of the Lost Ark—but that came later.) At times, I needed to consult others to truly understand what I was reading or hearing. Books helped immensely. Good preaching that explained the Bible with care and intelligence also helped me greatly. So to develop a wise reading strategy we need to be prepared to consult others when necessary.
Coming from Australia to live in the USA, I found my first American Thanksgiving Holiday was a new cultural experience. For Americans, this is a great family reconnection time. Now eating is an intimate activity. It requires engagement. Simply sitting at a table is not enough to be fed. At Thanksgiving, to participate you can’t simply look at the food. The knife must be taken up and the fork used. Eating with a knife and fork takes time to learn. We start learning to do so when we are very young. As an adult I have had that same need for time to learn how to use chopsticks. So what about the skills needed to be a wise reader and what do we read first? I recommend beginning with the Gospel of John in modern English.51 This gospel confronts us with the magnetic figure of Jesus and has proved transformative in the experience of many.52 The language is simple; the ideas in it are profound. I also recommend adopting a well-thought-out reading strategy. In this regard, I like the Swedish Bible study method.53 If you find your mind enlightened as you read use a pencil to draw a candle or a light bulb next to the text. Or if have downloaded the gospel then use words in a comment space to do so. If the text strikes your conscience in some way and challenges you to change your attitudes or behavior then draw an arrow in the text.54 Don’t expect every text or aspect of the text to make perfect sense on first reading. If puzzled, draw a question mark. Do research to seek an answer to your question.55 Ask around. Pray for clarity.
Since I have mentioned John’s Gospel let me use it to illustrate what these tools look like in action. The narrative climaxes with this editorial comment (John 20:30-31): “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” For me a light bulb is the reference to other signs not recorded. I learn from this that this foundational New Testament writing is highly selective. I should not expect it to be able to answer all the questions about Jesus that I might have. As for the arrow targeting my conscience, I cannot think of any issue of conscience that the statement arouses in me. What this illustrates is that not every tool will be relevant every time. Questions abound. What is a “sign”? What do those titles ascribed to Jesus mean? What is the “life” referred to and how does this life come through a name?
Everyone today seems in such a hurry, don’t they? The appeal of the instant fix is pervasive. Speed dating, speed with everything (except the Grammys). However, worthwhile relationships take time. This is true at the personal level with friends. That’s why some people are only acquaintances or work colleagues. It is also true in other areas of life. It takes a while to deeply appreciate art or music. As John Piper argues, all of us stand in some relationship to the Bible.56 It may be we have been raised to trust it like Piper or to be skeptical like I was. Being drawn into the Bible’s vista too takes time. It was only over time that I came to appreciate that this book really understands me.
Conclusion
Life poses questions. Why am I here? Who or what am I? Why do I hurt those who love me? Why do I fall short of who I should be? Is this life all there is? How can I get perspective on such questions in the quest to understand? In Chicago where I live stands one of America’s tallest buildings. The Willis Tower is 110 stories and 1729 feet to its tip. From its Skydeck on the 103rd floor I can see vast tracts of Chicago. I can see the northern suburbs, the western and southern ones and I can see the magnificent Lake Michigan. The tower gives me a vantage point. The Bible provides me with a vantage point and opens up a vista. It gives me perspective. Reading its pages helps me to see so much that I would not otherwise see. In fact in its pages I have found a book that understands me. It understands my need for purpose in life, a noble aim. It understands my need for value. It understands my need for realism about human behavior: the good and the bad. It understands my need for hope. It understands my need to make sense of things. Embracing such understanding requires an open mind, but not an empty head. This book understands my need for evidence and argument, not blind belief. However, perspective and understanding only take us so far. The book not only informs. The book offers an invitation to embrace a relationship. It reveals a person, a person worthy of our trust.