God Chooses Us

Talking about predestination so much lately has made me think about an issue a lot more. In our discussion, the debate over predestination often boils down to "Did God choose us, or did we choose God?" These are seen to be two completely different incompatible worldviews. I have been espousing the view that we choose God, and completely ignoring the idea that God chooses us. I've been thinking and praying about this, and I believe that I need to change my views.

I now think we (meaning me) are looking at this issue way too egotistically when we say we can choose God with no qualifiers. The Bible says we are dead in our sin (Eph 2) and we have no ability to help ourselves. When we view God, we cannot help but choose darkness (John 3:19). Yet, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Beyond that, we cannot choose God, but God chooses us (John 15:15-17). And God reveals Himself to us. That is the only way we can gain eternal life: by God's grace.

I think it undermines the nature of a relationship to say we don't have a choice in the matter after Jesus chooses us. But that is besides the point. The point is that it is nothing we do that gets us saved. God bears down on us, and we can either stand stubbornly in our sin, or we can give in to his love and mercy and holiness. God is the great initiator. We still have a choice, but we do not have the choice, and it is not our choice that primarily saves us. It is God's grace that primarily and ultimately saves us.

The Bible's True Place

                I feel like lately I have been propagating a very serious error regarding the Bible. I have written a bit about how I believe the Bible is not completely true and how we should not trust in it, but in God. I stand behind everything I’ve said so far, but I have one important caveat.

                Why should I be able to take down what God has inspired? Reason and science are great achievements of mankind, but they are only that: achievements of mankind. The Bible was inspired by God! Whether God chose a people and hand-made their history step by step or took an ordinary culture and used it for extraordinary things, both amount to essentially the same thing, don’t they? I feel humbled today, thinking that I could deem to say so much about the Bible without looking at myself first.

                The biggest error I’ve made lately is the cultural relativism I’ve subjected the Bible to. Who am I to throw out 39 of the books of the Bible (40 if you count Revalations) and say the remaining 26 or 27 will do? Who am I to take the Bible’s teachings and try to mold them into the cultural expectations of today? If we are going to believe in an absolute truth, why go halfway? Most importantly, who am I in this lost age of chaos to undermine the only reputable source of direction we can find?

                Maybe I’ve gotten this way through familiarity. It is certainly Biblical to feel rebellious, and it is socially acceptable to question “common sense”. I feel my attitude has been misdirected. The Bible is not at fault here. People who use the Bible as a curtain to hide their own sins of pride and laziness are the ones at fault. Just as much, the people like me who trivialize the Bible’s place in our society are also to blame.

                Here’s to the Bible: God’s word. Whether perfect or imperfect, literal or figurative, complete or partial, God-spoke or God-breathed, the Bible is not outdated or irrelevant or worthless. If we believe Christianity at all, we should treat this book with the respect it deserves. I’ve lately been using God’s word as a footstool, helping me reach other things, but relatively unimportant once I’ve done so. God’s book should be my ladder, which I continually climb, because it is folly to trust in my own understanding. Reason only gets me as far as I am able to use it, and to say I can discern everything is simply self flattery and self deceit.

                Finally, here’s to finding the Bible’s place in our lives: somewhere between my view and a fundamentalists, I guess, but ultimately still at the top.

The Bible Idol

I think when I talk about the Bible, people often get the vibe that I do not respect the Bible. I know I sometimes say things like, “the Bible is not the final authority” and “the Bible is not always 100% literally true” or “there are parts of the Bible that are downright contradictory to what Jesus said”. When people hear me say these things, I get the impression that they view me as a heretic, or even blasphemous. At the very least, they think I am seriously confused.

I understand the appeal of viewing the Bible as absolutely correct and the only sure way to know truth. It means we know exactly what happened, what we should do, and what is expected from us. The Bible gives us a sure footing for faith, if only because it is something we can turn to as explanation for anything we do:

                “Why shouldn’t we steal?” Because the Bible says so.

                “How do I know Jesus loves me?” Because the Bible says so.

                “Why is homosexuality wrong?” Because the Bible says so.

                “Why should we believe the Earth was created in 6 days?” Because the Bible says so.

                “How do we know Jesus really said the things He did?” Because the Bible says so.

                “How do I know I’m going to heaven?” Because the Bible says so.

I can see how having this fail proof way of interpreting the world is alluring and even convenient.  

Now, here is where many Christians will stop me. “I don’t act like that,” they’ll say. “I have reasons for why I believe the way I do.” Do you really? If you pretended you never read the Bible and then looked at the evidence with an open mind, would you still come to the conclusion that the Earth is only a few thousand years old?

More importantly is the answer to other questions.  “How do I know Jesus loves me?” Well, if the Bible is the only thing that tells you this, I can understand why you’d feel under attack when the Bible is under attack. When the Bible is the foundation of your faith, I can understand why you guard the Bible so carefully. I'm not saying faith is bad. Faith is good! Reason does not supplant faith in importance. Reason should support Faith. Faith is not always blind. Faith can be earned.

Yet, I propose that Faith not only can be earned, but should be earned.

There are several reasons why the Bible can be considered by anyone who claims to have an open mind on the subject to be wrong in several key areas. I think the Genesis 1 story fairly obviously contradicts the science we have found. The chilling accounts of infanticide and genocide in the Old Testament should be more troubling. The changing moods of the Old Testament God, the evil spirits He sends to torment men and cause them to sin, the games He plays with Job are all concepts that cannot be explained away, although it is often tried. When a respected pastor of a congregation believes that if any Amelekites were alive today it would be his duty to destroy them, we know there is a moral problem. At that point, it is difficult to split differences between Christian fundamentalism and Islamic jihad. The merciless injustice of the Old Testament is in direct conflict with the humble love shown by Jesus. To portray God in this horrific light is perhaps the greatest blasphemy of all.

Regardless of whether you agree with any of the last paragraph, there will come a time when you will hit a troubled spot in the Bible where you cannot quite understand a passage, or seem to feel the Bible is being self contradictory (maybe it is…). Whatever it is, not only will your faith in the Bible be tested, but the entire weight of your faith will be tested along with it. Because, remember, the Bible is what justifies your faith. This is perilous. It almost killed my faith. Because, even though the Bible is a great great book, the most inspired book ever written, to build your faith on anything other than God is to build your house on the sand.

This is a big problem I see in Christians’ faiths today. They view the triune God as the Father, Son, and Holy Bible. We place what the Bible says above what Jesus and, more often, what the Holy Spirit says. I understand that it is hard to listen to the Holy Spirit sometimes. It is difficult to pick out what it says amongst the mumbo jumbo of our own lives and our own inner thoughts. That is one of the reasons it is important to pray together and to have a sense of community: so none of us develops the God complex. When we start viewing our own thoughts as God’s, we are in dangerous waters. However, at the same time, when we start viewing Paul or Peter or Isaiah or Jeremiah or Moses’ words as God's, we are in almost as dangerous waters. Maybe more, because in some cases these words were handed down for generations orally before they were ever written down.

What does Jesus have to say about this? As stated elsewhere, Jesus had the biggest problem with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the keepers of the Law. The Pharisees knew the Bible inside and out, memorized it backwards and forwards (literally), and studied it for hours every day. The Pharisees knew their stuff. Not only did the Pharisees know the Bible, but they meticulously carried out every law they could find and even some that were a stretch (sound familiar?) The Pharisees condemned anyone who did not or could not follow this rigid set of codes. However, one very important law the Pharisees did not keep: “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me”.  In God’s place, the Pharisees honored the idol of the Bible.

Jesus came to abolish this. John says Jesus is the Word. Not the Law. Not the Bible. Jesus says “I AM the Way.” Not the Law. Not the Bible. Jesus says “I AM the Truth.” Not the Law, and not the Bible. David sings out in Psalms, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Jesus gives the controversial response, “I AM the light.” Not the Law, and not the Bible.

Does Jesus say He’s here to abolish the Law? No and yes. He does not give us free reign to run rampant through the street. He did come to put things in their proper perspective with the proper prioritization. God is first. Nothing comes before the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Not even something as gifted as the Bible.

This is why I do not have a problem saying the Bible has a couple spots where things aren’t completely accurate. I don’t have a problem saying that the Bible is imperfect, or that the Old Testament writers seriously misrepresent God at times. Our savior is Jesus. We can believe in a just, holy, perfect God who detests sin without condoning the merciless, unjust, imperfect actions of so many Old Testament characters. In this fallen world, only God is perfect. Not even the Bible can claim that title as well. Only God is worth the dedication and commitment I see people give this book.