About Me
- Joe Garrison
- Fishers, IN, United States
Director of Contemporary Worship and Assistant Director of Student Ministries at Castleton United Methodist Church in Indianapols, IN. Husband,Guitarist,and Drummer
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Bible: Did it really happen?
Through some recent conversations I have realized something that I have known all along, but have come to a deeper and weightier realization...people just do not take Scripture seriously.
Ok, so that is a pretty obvious statement. Many of us, although we would confess to be Christian, do not take Scripture as the absolute God breathed truth. Instead of Scripture informing our world view we so often let our world view inform Scripture.
Think about the stories of the parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush, Jonah and the Whale, Jesus raising the dead, Jesus feeding 5000 with a couple fish and a loaf of bread, Jesus casting out demons etc. Do you believe that these things actually happened? What impact does it have on our faith if we do, or do not believe these things?
I think there are a few different ways of looking at these events.
1. These things did not happen and could not have happened.
- This is the most dangerous view point. First of all it implies that God lied somehow in the Bible. Of course it is possible that these stories were just added to the Bible for teaching purposes (like a parable) and for God to make a point. However, if we believe that these things could not have happened we dangerously put God in a box as a "small God" incapable of miraculous things. We limit God's power in our minds and therefore limit what he is capable of doing in our own lives.
2. These things did not happen but could have happened.
- This is a little better than view point #1. This viewpoint holds the belief that God is of course powerful enough to do anything, yet He chose to use illustrations of events that didn't happen for teaching purposes within the Bible. This allows in our minds the power that God truly has but comes short of saying that the Bible is historical and accurate.
3. These things did happen just as the Bible says they did.
- This viewpoint holds that God is powerful enough to perform any miracle told throughout Scripture and holds the Bible as an historical document that can be trusted as absolute truth.
What view do you hold? I personally fall into viewpoint number three... that these amazing things in Scripture truly did occur. That the Red Sea was parted, three dudes were untouched while standing in a fire, Jesus fed 5000 people with almost nothing and that a guy got swallowed by a giant fish.
Here is why I believe that...
So often we want to hold ourselves as the all knowing creatures of the world. We know what can, and cannot, happen. We understand all things. We are smart enough and scientific enough to tell God that certain Biblical "stories" aren't true or are not fair. We give ourselves too much credit.
Who are we to say that something in Scripture cannot be true? As Christians we believe that Scripture is the Word of God. If Scripture is truly the Word of God can it really be our place to decide what is true and not true in Scripture or decide what events really happened or not? I don't think so. History and science often fail us, God does not and never has.
As Christians it is our job to read Scripture and apply it to our lives. We should be the ones to conform to Scriptural teaching, not Scripture conforming to our world view. Too many times we want to see Scripture through the filter of our own world view instead of letting Scripture, and therefore God, tell us what our world view should be.
How would your life change if you took Scripture at its word, if you stopped viewing it through a filter and took it as absolute truth?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Your Will Be Done...
A lot of us have been in a church worship service and recited the Lord's prayer in unison with the congregation. I grew up my entire life reciting this prayer in church, most of the time in a monotone, uninterested manner. I always made fun of it because we all sounded like a bunch of mindless zombies as we recited, "Our Father, who art in heaven...".
I taught on this prayer a few weeks ago at our high school Bible study. One section that has been particularly convicting for me, and I think (maybe hope) for the students, has been the "your will be done" line. Here is the entire prayer (ESV)...
As I was studying this prayer the line "your will be done" struck me particularly hard. As I thought about Jesus' example of prayer for my life I realized how often I bark orders at God and completely ignore His will.Our father, in heavenHallowed be your nameYour kingdom comeyour will be doneOn earth as it is in heavenGive us this day our daily breadand forgive us our debtsas we also have forgiven our debtorsAnd lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.
As I prayed for things in my life whether for myself, or others I often told God what I wanted to happen and ignored his specific will for events and circumstances in my life and others.
One thought that particularly struck me was that God's will for my life, or yours, may not include us having a long life. Sometimes our death, or another's death, is God's will and is something he will use or the advancement of His kingdom.
Often when someone gets deathly sick we pray for a miracle or their healing (which in itself is completely appropriate, God works miracles!), what we don't pray is "God, please work a miracle and heal this person...but if Your will is their death for the benefit of Your kingdom...not my will but Your own."
Praying "Your will be done" can be terrifying at times. It takes all the control out of our hands (as if we had any in the first place).
How often do you pray "Your will be done"? What thoughts and fears keep you from praying that prayer?
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