The Bible: The Answer-Book?

For those who watched the Vice Presidential debate last night, there was a pretty cool moment at the end. The candidates, both practicing and devout Roman Catholics, were asked to speak about their faith and how it impacted them. And they did. They were passionate, they were articulate and they had respect for the Roman Catholic hierarchy. They also got off-track onto politicking, but it's a debate... we ought to expect that. But at the end of the day, I truly believe that both of them are living out of their faith.

Here's the thing... they disagree about what that means. And that's okay. They both turn to resources outside of the Bible to help them create policy. And that's okay, too. You do it, too.

When I was introduced to the Bible, I was told that it was an answer book that contained within it the answer to life's every question. And I believed it, and even told my friends that the Bible had all the answers.

It doesn't. The Bible doesn't intend to give us all the answers. It "merely" serves to introduce us to the One who has all the answers. The Bible is a story of what God has done on our behalf and of the kind of people God is forming us to be. What it doesn't do is answer every question we have about life. And it doesn't necessarily say how a Vice President should exercise authority in a democratic republic.

And this is good news to me. In my best days, I want more out of life than the right answers. After 6 years of academic life, I hope that life is more than the right answers. I want connection. I want to know God. Certainly, with knowing God comes wisdom, but God seems primarily concerned with that connection, then filling me with wisdom. This means that, more than occasionally, I will have a disagreement with another wisdom-seeking Christian about matters in life. And in some circumstances, we may both be right. Wisdom is contextual, and what is wise in my context may not be wise in yours.

Another unintended consequence of the "answer book" mentality is that Scripture becomes a weapon to fight. And so verses are prioritized (in my tribe of being Reformed, generally: Pauline epistles > Non-Pauline epistles > Gospels > Proverbs > Rest of Old Testament > Revelation) and counted numerically in order to determine relative worth in verbal combat. Eventually, the Bible becomes more about being right than being holy.

And I guess that's where I hope we can find a better way. A way where we seek God, recognize that we may disagree, and seek wisdom together.