Not your normal Simpson

This is the kind of stuff I like these days. Not stuff that challenges (or even supports) the existence of God, or whether Jesus was who he said he was, or did he rise from the dead, but rather thoughts that challenge my paradigm of this Jesus Christ.

Today I read this.
And here is a bit more that is good for me to mull over and share.

Coming to the Bible with an a priori understanding of who God is and how God works that is the product of my cultural and personal influences, my spiritual and moral intuitions, my experiences and observations of the world around me, my deepest emotional and psychological needs, my religious community, and, hopefully, divine inspiration, I then underline, interpret, and even overlook various passages in accordance with that understanding, believing that God is pleased to guide me in that process as a form of divine communication.

We Christians have always done that, of course, whether or not we admit it. Those of us who once owned slaves confidently underlined one set of Bible passages, while those who worked to abolish slavery just as eagerly underlined another, very different, and each side interpreted away or ignored every Bible passage which contradicted their paradigm of God. For better and worse these divine paradigms, whether consciously or unconsciously adopted, have always determined the way we read the Bible on issues like capital punishment, war, the role of women, economic justice, divorce, and gay marriage, not to mention the essential character of Jesus.

Boy, sure would be great to read the whole of God's words and press into Him for what He would like me to hear. This is a very, very exciting thought for me. Have I heard the Father's voice on gay marriage, war, or the minor issue of who He is? Jesus' voice. Not the local Sunday morning speaker guy, not a book on the subject, not a friend, not the tv - so that I can make an informed, logical conclusion. And not that God doesn't speak in these places because He does. But, with these issues...

have I...heard Jesus...speak to me?

I have an easy answer (for me) on this one and it is certainly NO. For the most part I haven't even really asked the questions. Again, not that the Lord even needs me to ask to provide an answer, but I haven't sought Him on many issues. Strange for one who would call himself a Christ follower, but true.

If I felt inclined to strive, yesterday I was given a picture of what would be good to strive for. And the picture is in this question. What would it look like if someone in Africa found a Bible and had no preconceived notions of the Christianity we see on a daily basis? Then read the book and said, "This I believe." "I'd like to know this fella Jesus and I can because I believe he is alive." What would that look like? That sounds like a pretty great way to know Jesus.

I feel like I am being stripped of these add-ons that insulate me from the foundational relationship I desire with God. It's fantastic. Hopefully I'll find myself in Africa soon picking up the Bible for the first time. Wouldn't that be incredible.