In a conversation with a more conservative Christian then me (take in mind I call myself a bed-wetting liberal and I’m also a big time Process Theologian) the person started rambling off scripture quotes (proof texting really) to make a point. I have never claimed to be a great memorizer of anything. And even though I have read the Bible many times and own many copies of the Bible, I am still not a person who can just pull out scripture references in mid conversation. I do have several verses that I turn to and love dearly but I can’t tell you word for word what John 2:5 or Ruth 1:4 says.
This got me thinking, why do Christians really feel the need to qualify their faith based on the amount of scripture that they can recite from memory? While it may be very handy to be able to quote scripture in a variety of situations, I believe that this can be dangerous. Proof texting (pulling scripture, from any religion, to support an argument without careful and learned consideration for its context) all the time without careful consideration of the whole picture of a particular verse leads to misunderstanding and mis-teachings. Individual verses belong to particular chapters, sections and books for a reason. They speak as a whole. And while a verse may catch us or support our claim, it still needs to be considered with what comes before and after it on the page.
So will I ever be a walking Bible reference, no. But what I can say is that I will strive to be a better resource for people that I interact with. I have been blessed to have had the education and great guidance in how to gather good resources and have also been taught the importance of knowing when to humble myself enough to say “I don’t know, but I’d love to look it up with you.” In a nutshell, it’s not about how many verses of the Bible you can recite it’s about taking them into your whole being and letting them transform you. It’s about taking the words on the page and letting God guide you into being the hands and feet of God’s words. This is really a better measure of faith.
This got me thinking, why do Christians really feel the need to qualify their faith based on the amount of scripture that they can recite from memory? While it may be very handy to be able to quote scripture in a variety of situations, I believe that this can be dangerous. Proof texting (pulling scripture, from any religion, to support an argument without careful and learned consideration for its context) all the time without careful consideration of the whole picture of a particular verse leads to misunderstanding and mis-teachings. Individual verses belong to particular chapters, sections and books for a reason. They speak as a whole. And while a verse may catch us or support our claim, it still needs to be considered with what comes before and after it on the page.
So will I ever be a walking Bible reference, no. But what I can say is that I will strive to be a better resource for people that I interact with. I have been blessed to have had the education and great guidance in how to gather good resources and have also been taught the importance of knowing when to humble myself enough to say “I don’t know, but I’d love to look it up with you.” In a nutshell, it’s not about how many verses of the Bible you can recite it’s about taking them into your whole being and letting them transform you. It’s about taking the words on the page and letting God guide you into being the hands and feet of God’s words. This is really a better measure of faith.
Do you find that "new" Christians need to validate their faith more than those that are more comfortable with their faith?
ReplyDeleteIt's refreshing seeing someone "live" the bible instead of "quote" the bible.
Thanks for the post, I enjoyed reading it.
I think that both "new" and "old" Christians are equal in the need to validate their faith. Events in life trigger people to have questions of their faith. Often the questions boil down to "why do bad things happen to good people" - because of death, violence, greed, injustice, etc. Sometimes events or encounters with people trigger people to resort to what they know. How many people have you heard resort to John 3:16 "For God so love the world that God gave God's only Son..." when they don't know what else to say.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this isn't "bad" there could be better answers or just a general humbling of the self. People of faith need to take the time to learn all aspects of faith and learn to apply them. Knowning scripture is great and is part of the faith but that is not the end.
Thanks for the comments Chris. Peace and Blessings - Kate