Blogging From Below?

After my return from classes at Fuller Seminary and the Urban Youth Workers Conference, I decided to put in practice a little about what I have learned this week. Slowing down the Scriptures is a radical concept for some of us. We have become accustomed to speeding through familiar passages and skipping or skimming perceivedly boring or unfamiliar ones. When we slow down and read these for new content, we almost always will find something new.

We place a lot of emphasis on Jesus' Divinity, and rightfully so. But do we place much significance on His humanity? What IF we read Scripture more in light of his humanity instead of always reading the Bible from above, with Divinity in mind. Society has incorporated a lot of our own thoughts into a lot of the Biblical accounts by reading the Bible from the dominant perspective (or from above). A perspective where the people in power control and dictate what is read, said and interpreted rather then just letting the Scriptures speak for themselves. A primary example is how we have been taught to share the gospel. We always stress sin and our need to be forgiven, when in reality a good gospel presentation should begin with Creation. He created us in His image and it was VERY good, not just good or OK or alright, VERY GOOD! We all too often camp out on the "don'ts" of the Bible, beginning with the ten commandments and then working in our own dominant opinions of what "the Bible says" we should not do. In reality the Bible started out giving 3 positive things (do's) and then a fourth thing to be careful not to do. I will get back to the fourth thing in a minute.
God commands Adam and Eve to DO the following in Genesis 2: Be fruitful and multiply (sex), have dominion over the world (responsibility), eat freely (literally EAT, EAT). So God gives blanket permission for human kind top have sex, have power, and indulge in the fruits of the land freely (spending spree?). Sounds like the kind of party most of us would be down for of course. Sounds like a spousal relationship (remember only 2 humans at this point) we would all love to indulge in. This was the perfect plan the Lord set up for human kind in a perfect world. He also makes one warning, much like a parent might say "hey son make sure you don't touch that burner, if you do you will get burned." By saying, do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will surely die. Notice he doesn't say "I will kill you", or God's vengeance will fall on you! No, he issues a statement that this one thing should not be touched without natural consequences.

God set up this world to be a PARTY! It was all good, until the serpent put doubt into the mind of Eve. Then she adds in Gen 3:3 that they should not even touch the tree! Even the serpent did not add to what the Lord said in the prior verse. Eve adds to it, she embellishes the God of the NO and forgets about the God of YES that had given them everything they could possibly want or need.

So what about you? Have you ever added to the Word? Maybe just embellished a little to help your cause or argument? Be careful. It can be costly. Young people today and even many adults live in the God of the No. We should be preaching more on the God of Yes, because that was His original plan. WHAT IF we all leaned more on the God of the YES (his calling, his blessings his promises) then on the God of the NO (don't do this or that)? I believe we would be drawn more appropriately to do things that are righteous if we did so out of love for all He has done and how he has blessed us, then by living in fear for the righteous lightening bolt to zap us, and then from fear come crawling meekly to His will like we have been taught to do. Can we change? Let's try!