the Irresistable revolution (or some such title)

My son has been reading Shayne Claiborne and bouncing ideas off of me and his own facebook cronies. What I find interesting is that the challenge of Claiborne and many of his ilk are not directed toward the biblical text, but toward how individuals have appropriated the biblical text in their lives and proclaim their practice as the "christian" way.

For the historically minded (that includes recent and Old Testament history), one is not surprised at the critique Claiborne provides. The fault is not his. Throughout ancient and recent history voices (should I call them prophetic?) have uttered the same challenge to their generation's appropriation of the biblical text (even before it was 'biblical').

But what Claiborne (at least from my son's account of him to me) and others fail to deal with is that the issue is not the biblical text, or even the salvation stance of those they criticize. The critical issue is an exploration of the interpretation of the biblical text. Until we begin to examine how we (I, you, others who do so) interpret the text and have a transparent conversation, there will be little change.

Unfortunately, the ones criticized by Claiborne don't pause to think about the how or why of interpretation. They are not challenged by the leaders of their congregations to think, but rather to act; as if acting correctly makes one correct.

Start considering that we are part of a long history of humanity who has attempted to interpret the message of God and that we are far more prone to get it wrong than to get it right. Then we might assume we have something to learn rather than act as if we have it all together.

Oversimplification of the Bible

I have had several conversations this past week that have revolved (that's a Greek Perfect... an action completed in the past that still impacts the present) around the same topic: the oversimplification of God and/or the Bible. It is common for a child who is learning a new, complex concept to want to get it in a simple terms and ideas initially. It is even common for adults, who learned a concept at an early age, but have not pursued further knowledge in that area to maintain a simplistic discussion. For example, my son took Anatomy and Physiology. He speaks of various specific muscles and muscle groups when I refer to my calf or shoulder muscles hurting.

What is unusual is that someone who would claim to be a follower of Jesus would be content maintaining a simplified view of God or of the Bible. Although not wrong, such a perspective is deficient. The biggest problem is it leads to the attitude that since I understand God or the Bible in a simplistic way, that I understand God or the Bible completely. Although I might be able to discuss the makeup of an atom as possessing a nucleus and protons and/or electrons, that doesn't mean that I understand subatomic physics.

If God is the God who created this world we live in, and has been seeking humans for fellowship ever since, then is it possible that this God is more complex than our human mind can fathom?

Just a random thought this morning.