“The Bible and I”

By: Rachel Strange

I recently taught the New Testament to our church’s summer interns. Since my goal was to encourage them to not be afraid to run after scripture even when it’s confusing or seems complex, I ended the class by having them read Revelation.

The last day they had a lot of questions, and I didn’t necessarily have a lot of answers. I’m not a Revelation expert, and honestly, I tend to be very skeptical of those who claim to be. I’ve just seen too many people get lost in the weeds of some kind of Bible code and forget to do basic things like “love their neighbor” or “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.” But it was good to remember, as I reminded these very cool interns, that just because a part of scripture is weird, or people get weird about a part of scripture, doesn’t mean I should walk awkwardly by it, pretending it isn’t there.

Even though the interns and I may have had some weird conversations about dragons, we also had a conversation about how God will restore the world to what it’s meant to be. That Eden will happen again. That’s the truest hope of Revelation. That God will wipe every tear and restore all that is lost because of the injustice in this fallen world. That He will answer the cries of “How long Oh Lord?” If we ran away from Revelation, or if I had been afraid to bring it up in my New Testament survey, they wouldn’t get a chance to see that. And how many more parts of the Bible are like that?

If there’s one part of my life I’m really happy about, one part where I really see God’s hand most clearly in, it's in my lifelong love of the Bible. It's become more obvious to me as of late, but no matter what, I was always unafraid to look at the Bible in the face, even when it made me uncomfortable or confused, and say, “There is truth here, even if don’t understand it. Even if everyone around me seems to be ignoring it.” I can remember reading The Sermon on the Mount and thinking, “Has anybody else read this part of the Bible? Do we act like it’s true?” And most miraculously, I didn’t give up on the whole thing when the people around me seemed to ignore those truths.

Instead, I kept it in my heart. I pondered it.

And that’s what I’ve done throughout my life. I read. I studied. I meditated. Sometimes better than others. Sometimes I have been great about yearly plans, and sometimes I have prayed psalms, and sometimes I have spent months reading the book of Luke. And it has shown me time and time again to be worth my time.  The Word has shown me time and time again that it is living and active. That it has meaning and value for today, even when I have to dig into some cultural context or meditate and ask the Holy Spirit until I figure it out.

I love the Bible because it has deep things to say about the existential questions of life. But most importantly I love the Bible because through the Holy Spirit, the Bible points me to Jesus and to the goodness of the Father. Even in the violence and the dumb things God’s people do over and over, it shows me that God’s mercy never ends. Even in the confusing laws of Leviticus or the oddly specific letter to Philemon, there is something to be gleaned. And right now, I may shrug at some of it, just like I did when the interns asked me what various things in Revelation meant.

But eventually, if I keep sitting at the feet of Jesus and his divinely inspired Word, I will be further than I am today. Won’t you join me on that journey?

I know it can seem intimidating. I know it's easier to just get the Bible from your favorite preacher or podcast. But what if you just started somewhere?  Find an audio version? Read a proverb a day? Get a Children’s Bible and pretend it's for your kid, but then let it introduce you to new things. Whatever you do, don’t be afraid. And don't feel like you have to figure it out on your own. The Bible was always meant to be read in community. So find a friend, spouse, or a group, and just start digging. I promise, if you don’t give up, you won’t be disappointed.