NOTE (1/12/18): We’re all learning and growing.  Some of the stuff I’ve written in these old posts may no longer be exactly what I believe or think, or at least may not be articulated the way I’d do it nowadays.  I preserve them in an attempt it to be transparent about my journey, and in the hopes that readers may still glean some insight from the core ideas found here.  Thanks for journeying with me!

Hello everyone.  Just a shout out to anyone who hasn’t heard the good news of eternal life through Jesus – this article will probably be completely irrelevant to you, but let me redirect you here, as it’s even more important!!  However, if you have heard the good news of Jesus but ain’t buying it cuz you’re really unimpressed with his followers, well – I’m writing this article to all us believers in the hopes to help get this fixed.

This post is in response to realizing how many Christians (myself included) have misrepresented Christ simply because of a misunderstanding of how to read the Bible correctly. I want to share with you what I’ve learned in the hopes of to get people free of this so we can, in turn, free the world.

Part 1 – The Bible is Useless Without its Author

My own discoveries in this matter began when I attended Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry.  Upon my arrival in September 2009 I was rudely assaulted by a number of things that contradicted what I had previously believed to be true.  I met people who smoked – but also loved Jesus!  I met people who spent more than $2 on shirts – and also loved Jesus!  Anyone who knows something about us Mennonites can imagine my distress upon these discoveries.

From all this I was introduced to a very important discovery – the Bible contradicts itself.  Lots. Poverty vs. wealth, suffering vs. prosperity, creativity vs. simplicity…

But more importantly, I discovered the truth behind it all.  Ready for it?

It’s all about Jesus.

Now hold on a minute.  Everyone thinks they know this already.  But it’s the implications of this catchphrase that may catch you off-guard.  I put a video up a few months ago by Kris Vallotton about God being bigger than the Bible – if you missed it check out here.  Below is him explaining further on how the Bible is useless without knowing Jesus Himself.  It’s kind of long so perhaps come back to it if you’re short on time.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA6Pnqu86oE&w=640&h=385]
So – point 1: no Jesus, no sense.  Know Jesus, know sense.  This is the key.   But there’s another implication of this that I have only recently discovered for myself thanks to the crowd in San Jose…

Part 2 –  Jesus is the Final “Word”

Kris said in the video above, “The Word of God was long before anything was ever printed.”  Think about it.  What do we usually refer to as the Word of God?

And what does the Bible say about the Word of God?

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The true Word is Jesus Christ. He is the will of Father God expressed perfectly (Hebrews 1:3), he is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), and the chief cornerstone of the church (Ephesians 2:20).  He is the divine plan – not just in dying so that we can have eternal life, but the perfect blueprint that we’re also are supposed to live by (1 John 2:6)!  This is radical!

So if he’s our perfect example, who is not?  Well, Moses, for one.  Abraham isn’t either.  Or even David.  In fact, New Testament is the same deal.  Paul isn’t our perfect example.  Peter isn’t, and John isn’t.  Nobody else who ever lived should be the benchmark that we compare our lives to.  And this isn’t just cuz no one is perfect…

See, most of us know we’re not under the Old Covenant anymore.  We don’t sacrifice goats (although some of us aspiring chefs still prepare the occasional burnt offering).  But many of us still read the Old Testament like not much has changed.  Hebrews 8 said that God made the old covenant obsolete!  Between the character flaws of people and the difference in how God deals with us between the two covenants, we have to be very careful where we base our theology. We’ve got to correctly handle, or “rightly divide”, the word of truth – which is perhaps the concept Paul was talking about in 2 Timothy 2:15.

The gist of it is, as Bill Johnson says, “Anything that you think you know about God, that you can’t find in the person of Jesus, you have reason to question”.  Thus I say…it’s all about Jesus.

Now, to be clear – I am in no way saying that the rest of Scripture doesn’t inspire us, teach us, and completely blow our minds.  God put it there for a reason!  I am simply saying we’ve got to use the filter of Jesus’ life work to understand this.

Shane Claiborne said, “Christians are supposed to remind the world of what Jesus was like.”  So let’s emphasize what he emphasized – shout what he shouted and whisper what he whispered.  And if he didn’t talk about it…Then let’s stick with whatever helps us love God and love the world.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eohru8xXnn4]

The gist of everything I’ve said is that a lot of tensions in Scripture can be resolved by simply looking at what Jesus did and doing that.   But essentially all life’s tensions will dissolve as we look at the truth of Jesus alive and in us now.  He is, after all, the final Word of God. Live it real.