It's Complicated

Our summer sermon series draws from the Marcus Borg book Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. Throughout the summer, I'll be blogging about the issues raised by the book. My friend and colleague Rev. Tom Ott, Sr. Pastor of the church I served in Battle Creek, developed the questions I'll be blogging about. Join in the conversation!

Here's today's question: How would you describe your own relationship with scripture? What feelings, experiences, or reactions does it evoke in you?

My relationship to scripture has been...complicated. Even though I was raised in your average, middle of the road UCC church, I went though a literalistic phase. That didn't last long. Then, when I went to college and took a bunch of theology classes, I had a crisis of faith. I could not reconcile all the things I was leaning in college with my Sunday School education. How could no one have ever taught me about the canonization process, the way in which the Bible came to be? How could no one have ever told me there were feminine references to God contained in scripture? I felt lied to and I was angry. Now, in all fairness, knowing my pastors, it could be that someone did teach me these things. I just wasn't paying attention at the time. Regardless, at that point in my life, I had very mixed emotions about my faith. I loved my theology classes, but they became a substitute for my own experiences of worship and personal devotions.

I think that's when I stopped reading my Bible. When I moved to Florida, I started going to St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Bill Barnes' preaching was revelatory to me. I started picking up my Bible again. Throughout my time in Florida and Seminary in Chicago, I finally felt like I was able to reclaim scripture as important in my life. I figured our how to believe in the truth of the Word even when the words were not factual. I also figured out how to argue with the text. I began to understand that I could disagree with the text. But, I also, finally, understood that I could dig deeper into the text, discovering its historical and cultural context. When I did that, I would always come away with a fresh perspective on the text.

These days, I go to scripture for insight when I need help figuring life out. I also go to it for comfort when I feel as if the whole world is falling apart. Mostly, though, I read the Bible because I can. It informs my faith journey. So, most days, I read the Bible devotionally, not looking for anything in particular. That's when I find the most wonderful things.