The Bible: Law 2.0

Well now that you have read the title, I am sure you might be wondering what I mean. If you have taken any time to read my blogs you will know that I am a proponent of radical grace in all aspects and areas of life. I personally believe the law is utterly useless and full of crap. (Put down the stones…I see you back there…). I am sure many of you who are reading this have your guards put up and defenses strengthened. I can promise you, this blog isn’t what you might think, though there are aspects that will probably thoroughly offend some. It is not my intent to offend anyone or beat people down. I see that happening in the church quite frequently as it is. I hope this will provide relief, peace, and freedom.

So contrary how the title itself sounds, I actually do enjoy the bible. I find it has a ton of great lessons, nuggets of wisdom, sage advice, exhortation, and admonition. It definitely has a ton of uses which I am not knocking the least. As I have been on the receiving end of many of its blessings. I am not bringing that into question at all. So if I am not disputing those things, then what am I getting at? Well I am glad you asked...

I once had the privilege of meeting an author whom I thoroughly enjoyed. Their writing was captivating and inspiring. As they masterfully strung words together, I would always find myself in another realm. If they talked about a morning breeze and dew on the ground, I could almost tangibly feel it on my skin. I could read this authors books over and over. Can you imagine my surprise when I was able to meet this amazing writer in person? I fumbled over my words, but expressed how I loved everything that I had read, how I felt so drawn to them as a writer. It was as if I had known that person all of my life. However, reality came crashing down as the author asked my name and who he was autographing the book for. I soon realized that even though I was familiar with the writing of that great author, I was not familiar to him or with him. See I knew the authors writings, but I did not know the author. But even more of a blow to my ego was the fact that the author did not even recognize me.

The same could be said of many Christians today? While the vast majority of Christians are familiar with passages of scripture, having favorite books, stories, passages, characters…I sometimes wonder if they are at times missing the point of it all. I have heard it said that person A is like David, or person B is like a Peter, or even person C like a Paul. At times I have seen people even say things like, it is as if I really know what David was like, and I can really identify with him. The only question I have is this; have you actually met David, Peter, or Paul? I understand the pull that happens when we get to know certain characters in what we read. Well written characters have the ability to capture our hearts and bring us into their world in a way. The problem is, we are not really in their world and we have not actually met them. If we were given the ability to have them come to life, sadly they would not know us, and we would still not really know them.

See there is a difference in knowing about someone and actually knowing that person. This is where we get to the crux of the matter. The Bible: Law 2.0 is about turning the bible into our ending rather than launching point into knowing the person of Christ. As ridiculous as this might sound, this is becoming more and more prevalent in “Bible Believing” communities. Now this is not a knock on anyone. Please hear my heart. I am quite concerned over the pattern of religious abuse that I have come to see as people are endeavoring to encounter God. The bible makes it very plain that we are supposed to encounter a LIVING Jesus, an ACTIVE Holy Spirit, and a WORKING Father. Yet, what I have come to find especially where I live in Fresno, people are afraid of encountering a Living Jesus, an Active Holy Spirit, and a Working Father, face to face. Religion has been teaching us that our need for the book is just as important, if not more so than are need to actually KNOW God.

If you understand the moral of the story that I shared before, there is quite a difference between knowing ABOUT God through His book, and actually KNOWING God. The bible was never meant to be our end goal, but merely a sign that points to a great existing reality. However, someone we have mistaken the sign as being the only means to get to know this eternal transcendent God.  It is the launching point not the destination.

The more I continue on my journey, the more I realize that life is full of signs that point directly to the person of Christ. I find it fascinating that most of the time I have missed these signs because of my own upbringing and indoctrination. The more I allow Holy Spirit to do what he does in teaching me, the more I find Jesus to be every bit more real that the pages of the book described him as being. What’s more, the conversations with Him have been more tangible than the ink on those pages. Dare I say it, interacting with the living Jesus is so much more awesome that reading the book about Him. I am not trying to be sacrilegious in any way. It is just either the book was telling the truth that He would never leave us nor forsake us, that the anointing that we have received abides…or it was lying and in such case it would be better to throw the book out anyways.

I have determined for myself that if the bible really is true, then I should seek what it says I should seek. It says that I should seek to know CHRIST…not the pages of the book. I mean the book says that Jesus made an interesting statement. “"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'" And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' Now if that is what the book says Jesus said, then I want to take it seriously and actually get to know the guy himself. In that way I see the book being a sign that points to the reality of Christ. The pages of the book are not to become for us what the 10 commandments + the other 400+ laws were for the Jews of that day. The bible was never meant to become Law 2.0.

I leave you with these questions? Is what you are doing leading you to knowing Christ in a tangible intimate way? Or is it causing you to know scripture without knowing the person. Are you okay with God encountering you in a way that is uncomfortable...or have you made up in your mind that the only way God can encounter you is the way you have predetermined? Please do not hear what I am not saying. I am not saying throw away the bible. I am saying that if the bible says we are supposed to know the Lord and experience Him…shouldn’t we actually take that serious and do what it says? Isn’t that the highest priority of a Christian...to know God?

But what do I know I am just a fellow traveler trying to figure all of this out. J

What If This Were True?

At times I simply stare wide eyed in wonder. Am I living life or is life living me? Is this first person or third person? I look at my palms, almost staring through them. What is real? The texture of my skin, the feel of the hot air around me, is it real or is it a figment of my imagination? Is this nothing more than a construct of the walls my imagination creates or is this all there is? Let me back up for a second. I see these thoughts can be quite confusing without proper context. 

See, in the deepest reaches of my being, are the faintest glimmers of mystical experience that can only be described as other worldly. Sparkles of brilliance amongst the mass of darkness, the backdrop from which illumination and radiance begin to shine. This is my own inner darkness, depression, and depravity. Rather, my self-imposed darkness, depression, and depravity. Though the cloak of this living darkness seeks to suffocate all sparks of life, I find myself amazed at the resilience of ideas, dreams, hopes, and wants that seem to be immortal and unconquerable.

See there is a silly notion that runs rampant. No matter how many times society, family, friends, religion try to assassinate it, the eternal entity, this dream continues to live on. It has faced the electric chair, the firing squad, the gas chamber, lethal injection, decapitation, the noose, even being drowned. Yet, like a phoenix it is reborn each time with new intensity always engulfed in flames. My eyes cannot forget what has already been seen. No matter how much I fight, I am overcome by the urge to be my own superhero. No cape, not tights, or spandex, yet these abilities and ideas that overcome every barrier known to man.

As I awaken from my slumber, a question begins to haunt me. WHO….AM….I? From the darkness arise those small but intense radiant lights. Piece by piece these lights fragments begin forming an essence, an entity, not yet to have been seen by the world around it. They pulse with light, yet are being arranged in phenomenal detail. What or rather WHO is this? Are we in first person or are we in third person. Am I viewing me or am I viewing someone else?

I would swear I was seeing a musically themed super hero. He vibrated and resonated sound. He carried around a guitar, played the drums, loved by all, able to tap into a realm all his own and create sounds that would unlock the emotional heartbeat of all he came in contact with. He was charming, full of charisma, gentle, and full of wisdom. Mild mannered was his nature, full or hospitality, and wit. His persona was larger than life, full of joy. He is one that wants to share gifts with all he encounters. Humble and thoroughly loving, that is who this man is.

 However, when I changed perspective and looked at him again, I was amazed. He was a fighter. He had punches and kicks that could dominate any man on the planet. He was like fire. Once ignited, he was quite hard to control. He is full of passion and a sense of loving justice. His determination was one that could not be moved or budged. He was loved by all because of the intentionality of his ways. He was honest beyond anything anyone had ever seen. Truly this must have been the true form of the entity that was being made.

As I was lost in my thoughts, the light refracted causing me to be drawn in. What I was seeing was nothing like the other men I had seen. This one, he is refined, scholarly, a gentleman par excellent. The air around him was noble, refined, without a hint of arrogance or narcissism. His mere presence invited those around him into a higher place of being. He caused the dreams within people to awaken and begin to bloom. He was all about others and maximizing ones potential for the benefit of the world around. This man smelled of selflessness, a fragrance of pure intoxication.

Just when I thought I had seen everything this being had to offer, I was again surprised as I witnessed a vast new horizon. I was in the presence of a sage. His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the laws governing the world around were second to none. He was well learned but had such experience to back him up. It was a rare mixture which caused his words to hit home with force. As he spoke I realized though he had many answers, it was not the place he derived his essence from. I could tell he had more questions than I could fathom at this point. His questions fueled his desire to continue learning and understanding life. Though he looked relatively young, I understood that he had been around for eons.  He would continue even after most of the world as I knew it had passed away.

As overwhelming as all of this was, I shaken to full attention as a hand grasped my shoulder. I turned around and there was the entity well rather it felt like the entity but rather than being formed it was moving as if it were already alive.  As I looked I was undone. Of everything I had just written down and pondered, I was met face to face with a being that transcended my physical sense forcefully but gently bringing me into a space that had previously been hidden to the human eye. Call it supernatural, metaphysical, eternal, those words are only able to scratch the surface of where I was thrust into. As I looked at this person, I realized he is the sage, the musician, the gentleman, and the fighter. They are mere facets of his eternal being…my eternal being.  Gazing into His eyes I saw myself. He is Me, and I am Him. However, he was not finished, as I watched this surreal even unfold, He began to create. The artistry, the creativity, the innovation, and innocence, brought me to tears. I could hear the symphony as he sculpted. I heard the poetry as he painted. I could see the cinema sequence as he choreographed. Though it made no cognitive sense, my whole being felt as if this is exactly what I have been looking for all my life.

All at once I was again alone in my room. Left to ponder the mystery of what lies within me. Again to fight a voice that tells me there is nothing to like about myself. There is nothing to love…nothing worthwhile.

But…

This time…

I am not alone.