It's late on Thursday evening (after 10pm) and I'm contemplating this evening's barchurch message and my own evolving theology. It's humbling (and a little frightening) to realize that much of my adult life has been spent believing and teaching things about God and the bible that may have been wrong.
It's strange that we can read The Sermon on the Mount and hear Jesus repeatedly say, "You've heard it said ... , but I'm telling you ... ," and then continue to use the history of the Jews and the stories from the Old Testament from the same perspective of the people that had it wrong. As I go through the Old Testament stories with the lens of Jesus, I'm seeing both God and the characters of the stories in a much different light. Both retirement and the current health crisis have allowed me the time to be more contemplative about God, man, and my place in it all.
I am no longer feeling the calling nor compulsion to preach. Social media is teaching me that few people really want to hear from someone that challenges the way they think or what they see from a limited perspective. (I was blocked today by a "Jesus follower" that called my thoughts on more training for law enforcement bullshit. I wasn't even responding to her post or comment.)
I digress.
Anyway, I think that simple conversations with reasonable people is more my style. Given today's environment, maybe simple posts sharing my thoughts are better for me. Reinterpreting old stories through the lens of The Christ is pretty interesting and somewhat challenging. Unlearning what we once believed to be truth is quite difficult.
Here's a set of questions to challenge you (or to challenge me):
What are your favorite stories from the Old Testament? What did you learn from them? And are you willing to take another look at the stories and the lessons through the eyes of God?
Feel free to answer the first two questions here. We can look for answers to the last one together.
John <><
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