living the bible in our day

Well, here's what I'm exploring right now. I'm very interested in fresh approaches to how we deal with this complex book that we call the Bible. Scot McKnight points out how, as much as many people try to deny this, EVERYONE picks and chooses what they follow from the Bible and how they're going to follow it. Literally adhering to all of the Bible is impossible as evidenced by A.J. Jacobs in his Year of Living Biblically project. Thus, the question is, "how then do we live out the Bible?"

Scot tells the story how, as a birdwatcher, he observed a blue pet parakeet that had obviously escaped his cage and come and landed amongst the crowd of sparrows in his backyard. Initially, the sparrows were alarmed by this unwanted guest. Soon, however, they got accustomed to this parakeet and even seemed to like it. But, they didn't get him to become one of them. They couldn't tame him. He was simply an unusual intrusion to be lived with and observed.

Scot likens this example to the Bible. Often, we feel that we can make sense of much of the Bible until some "Blue Parakeet" passage pops in and seems to ruffle the understandings we've put together. So, what do we do? Do we tame the passage? Ignore it? Try to stuff it back into the cage of a predetermined theological system?

To begin, we have to recognize that the Bible is a story. This story reveals God creating, the fall, and the ensuing lengthy process of re-creation or new creation. God is seeking to restore oneness in His creation between each other and Him. As the story unfolds, we see God interacting with each person and group in their cultural ways. God talks to David in David's ways, Peter in Peter's ways, Paul in Paul's ways, and so on.

Our challenge is what to do with this Biblical collage. Do we return and retrieve the commands given to any particular Biblical character as literal for us?

Scot suggests that we need to start with LISTENING to the story. Then, we need to seek to DISCERN how to live out our lives now with the guidance of spiritual community, Holy Spirit, and also listening (not necessarily practicing verbatim) to the traditions of the forefathers of our faith. Ultimately, working within these parameters, we have to wrestle to work out what it means to live out God's story in our lives today!

I think I'm finding this perspective exciting and liberating.

However, I can hear voices (either in my head or anticipating what others may say) objecting to where will this approach end. Is there nothing absolute in scripture? Is this the beginning of the end of a denomination's theological belief system package?

Well, I don't know...

But, I do think we need to believe and rely more on the same Spirit that we believe inspired the Biblical process to also inspire the process of us continuing to live forward the story of God's redemptive work in our day and culture.