Preface:
I am not a health nut. So for me, a chicken nugget every now and then is not the worst thing in the world. But even I know that a constant diet of them will make you fat and lethargic.
Disclaimer:
I continue to be conscious of the lack of Bible I read, study, and memorize. I start with this sentence because I do not want to give the impression that I think myself a scriptural expert. But as a pastor, I do have a passion for God's Word that I think may be somewhat extraordinary, just as a doctor may be fond of his journals. There is nothing worse than a pastor trying to guilt people into being as amped up as he is about his occupational journal. Thus, this disclaimer.
However, as someone who is passionate about helping others become passionate about the Holy Scriptures, I want to debunk a popular myth about the Bible: that it is primarily "inspirational."
Part 1:
Please do not misunderstand - I do believe the Bible is inspired, but I do not believe it is primarily inspirational. Looking for inspiration in the Bible is a bit like looking for the proverbial needle amongst the hay. Sure there are extremely inspirational passages, many found in the Gospels and Letters, the Prophets and Poetry, but if we go to the Bible for inspiration, we are perhaps missing the point of what it means for the Bible to be inspired.
Paul gives perhaps the best description of Holy Writ when he writes to Timothy, "All Scripture is God-breathed (inspired) and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (II Tim 3:16-17)." I love Paul's description because it shows both the objective and subjective sides of Scripture -- the ontological (being) and the teleological (doing). It is 'inspired' and 'useful.' The objective side is that it is inspired, from God by the Holy Spirit, holding the words of life, the embodiment of Christ himself. The subjective side offers a utilitarian meaning - it is useful for various purposes.
Part 2:
The Bible is so rich in purpose because it offers so many benefits for our lives - temporal and eternal. It teaches us about God (theology); it teaches us about ourselves and our humanity (anthropology); it brings the standards of heaven to earth (sanctification); it warns us about our future (eschatology); it gives us a wide-angle lens of time (history); it teaches us how to live (ethics), through good and bad ethical models (biography); and it truly inspires and empowers through the Spirit (pneumatology).
The difference between the Word of God being inspired and it being inspirational is that its inspiration comes from the Holy Spirit, but 'to inspire' is only one of many tasks the Bible takes up. When we approach the Scriptures as a means of inspiration, we not only disappoint new believers who pick it up and find instead a great deal of confusion, we also task the Bible with a goal that is not necessarily inherent.
Perhaps the best example of this dilemma is the famous 'verse of the day' phenomenon. Nothing exposes the 'Bible as inspirational' myth more than this. Not only does it pull a verse out of its proper context, causing possible misuse and even abuse, it misrepresents the whole of Scripture, since most verses in the Bible would never be used in this way. Then, as an unintended consequence, we get a view of Scripture that is based on the limited exposure to our 'favorite verses,' which in turn affects our theology and how we live our lives.
Going to the Bible in search of inspiration is a bit like going into a bookstore in search of Mad Libs. Instead of taking in all the knowledge through the reading of history, biography, and philosophy, we tend to enjoy making the Bible say what makes us feel good, rather than actually letting it teach, rebuke, correct, and train us (II Tim 3:16). This is the great dilemma of modern Christianity and the primary reason for nominal Christianity in the Church.
Part 3:
N.T. Wright, the Bishop of Durham, and a best-selling author challenged me in a video I saw a couple years ago to start reading the Bible in larger chunks -- the way it was intended to be read. I had never noticed before, but I had been reading scripture in very small amounts - getting a chapter or two in and going on my way - checking off my spiritual checklist and feeling much better about myself and my walk with God. What I had not realized is I can sit for much longer periods and read other books or magazines, and somehow we have been trained to consume only a dutiful portion of Scripture at a time.
I had not, until this revelation, experienced the joy and fascination of reading an entire Gospel through in one sitting (a task that only takes around two hours for Mark), nor in my 30+ years of Christian faith had the thought to do so ever crossed my mind. I would venture to say that 99% of Christians have not experienced this spiritual pilgrimage of ingesting a Gospel in this way, but most of us find no time-preventative excuses not to read other books in good-sized chunks. Why this is so is less important than the urgency with which we must correct it.
Summary:
It is time for another disclaimer. I am not suggesting that one verse is not better than zero verses (unless it is taken out of context, in which case it is potentially more harmful than good). Neither am I suggesting that ancient practices such as lectio divina and other meditational reading mechanisms are not important. I am simply suggesting that 'biblical banquets' should be considered alongside our routine of 'scriptural snacks.'
Feast on the Word and live! (John 6:48-58)
