Reading the Text

Over the past year or so, I have been rethinking the way I read the Bible and how the Bible "should" be read. Like many of you, I suppose, I was raised to view the Biblical text as God's answer book or a book of laws. If there was a question about life--any question--there was some surefire proof-text to tell me what to do.

I can flip to "right" text concerning baptism, music in the church, polity, you name it. However, as my life, and the lives of the people around me started to become more complex and complicated, I began to realize that the Bible doesn't really unravel itself as a rulebook. I guess if you live long enough you will find that there are no easy answers on a checklist, but rather Scripture tells the story of God and his interactions with His people. It is through these interactions that we come to know God and understand what it is that he asks of us.

Tom Olbricht's book "Hearing God's Voice" put it better than I can. Olbricht writes, "I was brought up to view Scripture as God's handbook of rules and private channel of information...I came to believe that, in fact, the Old Testament as a whole did revolve about the mighty acts of God and their interpretation...the opening of the Red Sea did not disclose its own meaning. The raw event may have been a freak accident of nature; no more, no less. Only because of the interpretation of the event--also an act of God--do we confess that it was Yahweh, coming to the rescue of His people (Exodus 15.1-5), who parted the sea. The Scripture is a report on the mighty acts of God and what they mean. Scripture discloses and act-interpretation event. 'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the Land of Egypt' (Deuteronomy 5.6). The law of God which follows is based on God which follows is based on God's prior love and its concrete form. The proper interpretation of Scripture, therefore, first identifies God's loving action for His people and his profession of why He acted. Only then does the focus shift to the manner in which God's action is to be translated into human action."

Family of Faith

In the midst of so much bad news and heroic stories surrounding Hurricane Katrina, I was blessed with some personal joy. This weekend my mother was able to score a fast, cheap plane ticket from Atlanta to Houston. She flew in at midnight Friday, but I was glad to pick her up. I suspect that my mom was motivated by a desire to see her granddaughter over and above seeing me or Rochelle.

It was a good weekend. It was fun to see my mom playing with blocks on the floor and repeatedly reading tales about Pooh and Christopher Robin. I have to admit that it was a kinda weird seeing the woman who gave me life holding my daughter.

As many of you know, when grandparents come to town gifts come with them. This weekend I ate a restaurant twice (which Ro and I never do anymore), and Malia made out with several of her most coveted items: shoes. About a month ago, Malia's other grandmother came to visit. She walked in overloaded with toys and dresses. But it's not the gifts that we like most about when grandmothers come to visit.

The best part is the reminder that Malia is part of a legacy of faith that reaches back generations. When our family comes to visit we sit at table with people who share and have helped shape our deepest devotions and convictions.

I love and am proud of my family; both sides of it. And I'm pleased that Malia will enjoy a life under the guidance of the faith of her family.

Help for the Helpless

Like most of you, I have been amazed by the tragedy and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. I have been nearly equally amazed at the length of time it has taken for aid to reach those most affected. On the brighter side, I have been moved to tears by the outpouring of love and graciousness demonstrated by so many around the country and especially in my city, Houston.

Right now over 20,00 people are setting up temporary shelter at the Astrodome. Many more than that are being housed at churches and houses of worship and healing around the city. My only regret is that my congregation is home to a pre-school so we cannot house people ourselves.

This Sunday our faith community will be taking a special contribution. I know our people well enough to know that they will respond with overwhelming generosity. I was wanting to take some of our Jr. High and high school students to the Astrodome to help, but those in charge have alerted us that volunteers are overflowing and it's beginning to get hard to manage, so they're not asking for any more people. That's the kind of faith communities are here in Houston, they are trampling over each other to help. These are the times when Christians can reach beyond the rhetoric of politics and right and wrongness and be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Though we can't go to the Astrodome this weekend, there are ways to help if people have eyes to see them. My neighbor, Chandler, is housing about 5 cars worth of relatives. They will need food and clothing and all kinds of other things. Rochelle and I have agreed to help with whatever we can. I'm not sure how long they will be here, but I know it will be a long ride back to wholeness, for them and thousands of others.

The Church

I'm not anti-church, though some people think I am. I can see why, sometimes I say and write things that aren't very complimentary of the church. I saw an ad for a congregation that was looking for a preacher several years ago. One of the "qualifications" was "someone who is not critical of the church." Now those of us from a church of Christ heritage know exactly what this congregation meant by "THE CHURCH"--but I thought that was a funny qualification to have for a minister.

Something about that qualification suggests that there is nothing wrong with the church and the problem lies with those who criticize it. Believe me, I don't think criticism is an enviable trait. We shouldn't go out of our way to be critical, but there are times when someone, somewhere needs to hold up a mirror to the church and force it to see itself as it really is. My experience has been that churches become overwhelmed with being the institution of "the church" and dismiss being the body of Jesus to the world. When I am critical of the church, other Christians, and even myself, it is because I have been re-awakened to the vast difference in how people responded to Jesus and how people respond to church.

John Eldredge puts it this way: "Common folk tear roofs off houses to get to him (Jesus). They literally trample each other in an effort to get closer to this man. I've never seen anyone acting like this in order to get a chance to serve on some church committee or to hear a sermon on why dancing 'is the devil.'"

Instead of trying to recreate the 1st century or cut and paste the slivers of information we have about the Christian churches in the New Testament (most of which are pretty bad churches), perhaps our churches should re-commit themselves to simply living in the way of Jesus? Maybe then people might rush to us too.