I had a discussion just the
other day where someone said that folks should just read the Bible and then
they will know what it says—or something to that effect. I would agree that
reading the Bible is important, and so, too, is knowing what it says, but I also
believe that we do not come to the Bible, or anything we read or hear, with a
blank slate. We bring our culture, our use of language, our time in history,
our geographical location, and all sorts of other preconditions along with us.
These are the a priori understandings that can help us
get a foothold or handhold when we are facing something new, but they can also
prevent us from hearing or seeing what message was intended for the original
readers, or what depth it can bring to us now. They can sometimes make us deaf
to injustice, or blind to seeing God’s Spirit moving through our lives or in a
situation.
The assumptions I have brought
with me might be based on experience I have had elsewhere, but if I insist on
staying within the bounds of those assumptions then I risk missing having my
world opened in amazing ways. I remember a woman who had not come to church for
a long time because people were not friendly. Then she came back and asked to
have her membership reinstated. After a few weeks, she was gone again. Why? No
one welcomed her, she said. I had been watching, and I knew that was not true.
She rebuffed every person who spoke with her—both those who had known her from
before, and those she had never met. She brought with her an assumption that
the church was not a welcoming place, and she would allow nothing to break
apart her assumption.
I pray that the grace of God’s
Spirit will always keep moving within me to help my spirit, my mind, and my
heart stay agile and alert to what new things God might be working within me,
and within the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment