New And Improved God! Get Yours Today!

It came to my attention last night that Jesus didn't believe in the Bible. It was during a conversation with my wonderful wife who often challenges my faith stance and forces me to either explain or get off the pot. Something like that, anyway. I can't really remember how the conversation began but it eventually led into a discussion about the need for letting go of the Old Testament view of God in favour of a New Testament perspective. I said that it bothered me when people who advocated the position that the Bible was the unalterable, infallible and sacred word of God said that we needed to switch horses in mid-resurrection. Forget the vengeful, angry and violent God in favour of the new, improved, kinder, gentler God, for instance. It seemed to me that regardless of the reason, once you devalue something in the Bible, even in favour of something else in the Bible, you begin to pick and choose your Bible. If it is all the WORD OF GOD, then it is all of equal importance. If it is not all of equal importance, then it can't all be the WORD OF GOD. That seems logical doesn't it?

Then a moment of startling revelation that came out of my mouth before I even realized how powerful a theological statement it was. I said, "Even Jesus didn't believe in the Bible because he said, 'You've heard it said of old....but I say unto you...'" He changed the rules. He said, in effect, that even though the sacred word of God says this, I'm saying this. He might have been making the rules more caring, tougher, clearer, but it doesn't really matter to this discussion. The fact is that the man we look to, as Christians, to set the standard of faith said that there are parts of the Bible that need to be either changed, or updated, or even (dare I say it) ignored.

I'm OK with that. I mentioned to my congregation a few weeks ago that I had a confession to make. I'm an evolutionist. I am not a creationist. Actually, I'm not either one. I'm just a guy who doesn't really understand or know why the universe exists or how it came into existence but who is pretty happy that it did. Evolution makes more sense to me, that's all. It appeals to the empiricist within me. In a conversation with a congregant after that admission, I said that I had no faith in the church or in the Bible. My faith is in God. It's a conversation I've had many times. One of my greatest struggles throughout my life, not just my ministry, has been with people whose faith is in the Bible instead of in God. It has always seemed to me that the Bible has become an idol to be worshipped rather than a wonderful compendium of stories about how people have experienced God in their lives. The stories that have survived are iconic. They tell about people who were deeply flawed as individuals but who, by trusting God in the end, came to a greater understanding of themselves and their lives. The lives of the people of the Old Testament are as turbulent and dramatic as any soap opera, and the endings, while not all happy for everyone, seem to be just in some way. Those stories, along with the common sense proverbs, common sense law, case law, poetry and drama, allow us to see our own reflection in the people we think of as being closest to God. They are morality plays that transcend time and place and culture and language because at their essence they are just about people trying to live out their faith. Remind you of anyone?

So, if we are free to accept, deny, or even change and update what the Bible says, it comes down to a matter of personal theological perspective. Personal theological perspective comes down to what we believe about ourselves, God, Jesus, life, death, hope, love and a bunch of other intangibles. I, personally, believe in a loving God who listens to my prayers and provides for my needs. I, personally, believe that a man named Jesus was born, lived, died and was resurrected in the first century in what is now Israel and environs. I believe that I have a mission in life to use the good things that God has given me, including my brain (some may argue that my brain isn't all that much good but they are just jealous, or so my Mom said), to show the world what it means to love, be compassionate, and live a life with meaning. I believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus gives me hope that there is life after death and that I may be found worthy to be included in an eternity of bliss. I don't believe that the loving God demanded a blood sacrifice but I do believe that a loving God understands people so well that he (she/it) knew that people would never accept a free gift of grace and needed to see justice done by their limited standards. I believe in the intrinsic value of all life, especially that of my own species, and I will defend any one's right to hold any opinion they choose regardless of how stupid and uninformed it might be right up to the point where it infringes on my, or any one's , freedom. I am prejudiced against stupidity, offended by fanaticism, outraged by injustice, and sickened by ignorance, but I know my fellow human beings well enough to know that, like poverty, we will always have the stupid, fanatical, unjust and ignorant with us.

I also believe that, however the universe came into being, God had something to do with it. I like my God and my personal theological perspective. I think it is both faithful, reasoned, rational, and passionate. I think it leaves room for others to have their own point of view while not giving up anything that I consider fundamental. I envy Muslims their devotion, and Jews their history, and Catholics their order, and charismatics their joy, and Hindus their diversity, and Buddhists their serenity. And if I ever heard of your religion, I'm sure that I would envy something about it, too. But I'm very content with my new and improved God. It seems as if I have the best of all possible worlds. Now if I can just get a dozen or so converts, some really high-pressure persecution and a dozen centuries to get it off the ground, I think I may really have something here.