Sometimes I feel in despair because I’m not sure what to believe. It seems that I get mixed messages from people I want to believe. From one party I hear that the Bible is plain and can be understood, from another I hear that Genesis would have been plain if I were a 1500BC Hebrew, from yet another I hear that passages in the New Testament can’t properly be understood without learning New Testament Greek. So which is it and why should I bother? Is there one way to understand the words of the bible? Does it actually matter that people think differently about it. Can we truly agree with with the main message of the bible when we differ on the peripheral messages? How can we know that we got the message of Jesus correct if we don’t know whether we got the message of creation, or destruction correct?
I have a problem, in that I feel like things should be plain and there should be a right. Not that things are necessarily easy, I’m all for intellectual battle; I just want everyone in the room to agree at the end of the battle (not on all topics, but ones that are from a passage of scripture). When things are too hard and too many people disagree it upsets me because I feel like I don’t understand anything. Which isn’t really true at all, some things I understand (somewhat) and some things I don’t. It will always be that way I suspect. The main problem is that when things go belly-up in my mind I don’t know where to go next. If I’ve struggled through something and can’t understand it, I don’t say “okay lets set that aside and come back to it in the future” I just stop, I get lost, I don’t just start reading a different book of the bible. I feel like I have to do everything systematically. If I start a book I need to finish it and if I can’t then I stop. It’s not giving up, it’s more like a permanent state of confusion.
I need to change this. I need to be able to evaluate things for myself and not mind so much if people differ on a topic of little consequence. I need to just read the bible and let God speak – if something’s confusing I shouldn’t get bogged down in it.
Why, for something so important to me, can’t I just get it right? Why can’t I just read and pray and trust?
There’s a good song by Jeremy Camp called Understand:
To know that you are everything I need you to be
You’re my ever present help in time of needI know you understand it all
So why don’t I get back on my feet again?
For something a little more light-hearted; there’s a “Klingon Language Version of the World English Bible” available for the Sword Project.
The Bible says something wonderful that I think might be of help for you right now. It says to study and show yourself approved…meaning you read the Bible and let it apply to you how it applies. You study it. You find the meaning. The Bible, being a living document, can mean different things to different people (hence why we have so many denoms).
If you ever want to talk, I love to talk.
Hey Kriso,
I definitely don’t think you’re alone in thinking that the Bible is sometimes difficult to understand. I don’t think I’m any great dummy, but there are lots of passages which confuse me, and I definitely can’t “work them out” at first reading. But this is nothing new. Cop a squizz at 2 Peter 3 and you’ll see that struggling with difficult passages is as old as the good book itself. Have a look at Habakkuk 1 and you might feel that confusion with God’s way of doing things is even older.
But, as you so rightly say, these are sometimes peripheral issues. Jesus gives his disciples the big picture view in Luke 24 – the whole Bible, the easy bits and the difficult bits, come together to testify to Jesus and the forgiveness for sins which is available through him. That’s the bit not to lose sight of, and about which you should not despair.
Oh, and I do think there is a ‘right’ – we can’t fool ourselves into thinking that a committee made up of thinkers from each denomination will ever be able to decide on the correct interpretation of God’s word – God has already decided what it is and He reveals it to us as He sees fit. Psalm 19 seems to be talking about this idea of God’s revelation to us, and David concludes “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.”
The questioning and worrying is good, Kristen, but don’t let it turn into impatience or discontent with God.
The questioning and worrying is good, Kristen, but don’t let it turn into impatience or discontent with God.
I agree with MrDween.
Also, and this story has nothing to do with God but I think it kind of applies, so bear with me…
I once sold premium cutlery to people in their homes when I was younger. I was a good sales woman and was at the top of my “class”. But then, one day, I just stopped making sales. It frustrated me to no end that people just wouldn’t buy the darn knives! When I asked my manager what he thought had happened, he suggested I give him my presentation, which I did.
At the end he smiled and said, “You’ve gotten too good at your presentation and now you’re trying too hard.”
I guess I forgot that talking to people and finding out what their needs were in their kitchens was fun. And that FUN came through in my presentation. When I started focusing more on sales, I tanked.
I think sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the details of things. Study the bible, sure. Learn to understand the meanings, sure. But also, remember that your love of God means more than the words and stop trying so hard. Remember the joy that’s in your heart. Focus on that. The rest will fall into place…