"You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too.
[And he paused in awkward silence]
"But I guess that's why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest."
[Rich Mullins speaking at a chapel service in Wheaton, IL.]
A while back, I was looking through the bible I had in college. I was looking at the things I had written in the margins, the passages I highlighted (my campus ministry was big on highlighters). But mostly I was looking at the questions I asked. And I was struck by something. Most of them were questions I don't ask anymore. Not because I have the answers, but because I have bigger questions.
Many of my questions in college were about "them." Other people. ("What about the person on the island of [Bowa Bowa] who doesn't hear about Jesus?") Or they were about theological issues ("How can people NOT believe that adult baptism is necessary for salvation!!! It's right there in the bible!" AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was in the Church of Christ at the time.)
I "used" the bible a lot...reading it topically on subjects like baptism, predestination, homosexuality, women in ministry...mostly to prove the things I was being taught at the time (Which is strange if you think about it).
Back then, we called it "defending our faith." I'm not sure what I call it now.
I loved highlighters.
Now I'm older. Maybe more cynical, but probably just more awestruck by the Uncaged Lion ("...He is not a tame Lion...but he is good.").
Maybe I like letting The Lion out of the cage more. He never really belonged there in the first place...
And apparently the "cage" didn't hold him anyway. (1 Cor. 15:54)
But what that means is that, more and more, I keep running into This Lion in random places. He is not contained by my little study guides. He sneaks into my life... sometimes he prowls into the places I would least expect Him. My worry, my eating, my understanding poverty, my understanding of my poverty in riches, my relationship with my neighbors, my buying patterns, my relationship with the earth and the environment. Rather than Him being all consumed that I looked at pornography (my big college struggle), He asks me to question why pornography exists in the first place. Why do we live in a world that objectifies people? Why do we think that lust satisfies? What about the young girls (and boys) who are objects of the porn trade?
The questions are bigger, and they are not as easy to answer... there are not enough highlighters. And the answers don't fit into the study guide blanks. Sometimes they seem at odds with them.
It was easier when it was just me, my bible (and study guide!)...
And my highlighter.
Reflections of a Journeying Blogger
6 comments:
you are bold. and you should ask jim about my excessively highlighted bible. oy.
the older we get, the less we know...
well, I have an excessively underlined bible...
i have seen m's highlighted bible. pretty in pink.
but i too have an excessively underlined bible & i also have an older bible that is excessively highlighted.
just for fun, i just flipped open a couple of the bibles i have here to see if i have "go sell all your possessions and give to the poor" highlighted or underlined. you know this story, "the rich young man," is in three of the gospels. lots of chances to underline or highlight. not a mark. oh.
maybe sometimes it's what we don't highlight that says the most about us. not sure i like what that says about me.
Paul--I'm really impressed by your post.
The Bible I used in high school is very highlighted and underlined--I had a four pack of highlighters in different colors, and I used them all. Excessively.
My current Bible(s) are not marked up at all. I know what that says about me, and I don't like it much.
As far as the parable in question, I always get hung up on the bit before "sell everything you own". The part where the rich young ruler tells Jesus that he has kept the commandments Jesus lists, and then asks what more he can do.
Yeah. I can't imagine telling Jesus that I have the "love your neighbor as yourself" thing down pat.
Thoughtful. I like it. I groan when I read over the verses I underlined and wrote on note cards, ripped out of context to make me feel better or support an issue.
What kills me now are the Bible studies that use one verse to support an idea.
It reminds me of a friend who was a philosophy major telling me that to develop that interest I just needed to find a philospher I agreed with.
It's like writing a research paper and only choosing the articles that support your topic.
I am totally in the clear, I use a crayon. Not only is it not a highlighter, it doesnt bleed through...(Pausing to reflect on my own genious ans satasfied grin comes over my face and then the Homer Simpson quote) Everyone is stupid but me.
For those of you who may have missed the humor in calling every one stupis it was my hope to commically point out my own stupidity and not yours. Please dont be angry laughter was more the intent.
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