He started by talking about using a GPS to get somewhere. One of the first things he said was that you had to look up from the GPS every now and then, because if you got too into the GPS you would run off the road. He said it as a joke and not as a point. However, when he started comparing the Bible to a GPS, I made a connection back to that earlier comment that he never touched (and frankly is much more interesting than his intended point).
Let's combine the two. The Bible is like a GPS. You have to look up occasionally from the GPS to make sure you don't drive off the road. Anyone made the connection yet? You have to get out of the word occasionally!
I've noticed that a lot of the people who yell about God on street corners know their Bible very well. However, I can't help but wonder if they know anything about any of the people they're trying to influence. I then have to wonder if they're doing any good. (For further thoughts on this, see The Jesus Scepter.) Basically, they have their noses so far into the Bible, they can't see the world around them and they lose sight of their path. They run off the road.
If you don't like this analogy, fine. I have several problems with it to. No parable is perfect. I'm not sure that a GPS is really a good analogy for the Bible in the first place (even if it did make a good point). For the best analogy for the Bible as far as I'm concerned, we must look in the Bible itself:
"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." Psalm 119:105 (NIV)For those of you concerned, feel free to look at the context; I just don't feel like writing it all out. Did you know Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible? Neither did I. I'm not even entirely sure if that's true, but it's certainly interesting.
Notice that the verse says that God's word is a lamp for your feet. It's a light. It's not a map and its definitely the path itself. A light is very unlike a map in that a light only shows you a small portion of the path. You don't get the full picture or even directions. You just get a little illumination for when you really need it. Still, the point from the GPS analogy has some validity in this new perspective.
Have you ever stared into a lamp for a long time? Try it right now if you haven't. Look at a lamp or some bright light for a couple of seconds. Now try to read. It's not so easy to do with the dark blob in the middle of your vision. Looking directly at it and only it doesn't really do you much good. Staring at a lamp won't show you the path and may in fact hide the path from your vision. On the other hand if you allow the lamp to reflect off of the world around you, you find that you can suddenly see better than ever before.
God's word can be the same way. So often, people get bogged down in trying to "decode" the Bible. They sit there and get so far into it that they are blind to the world around them, much like paying attention to the GPS. Instead, we should let the lamp shine on the world around us. Use that lamp to see the world anew and suddenly it has a real function. Suddenly you can find your way.
At the same time, however, you don't really want to go walking around at night without a lamp, do you? While it may seem pointless in the light, once it gets dark, you need something to shine so that you can know where you're going. In the same way (I just used a Jesus line!) God's word may seem pointless when the path is laid out plain before you. You may find that it a little distracting even. However, when your life is cast into shadows, you're going to want you lamp back. When you can't see your path, God's word can shed enough light on the situation to keep you moving.
So are you too busy staring at the light to see your way? Are the dark blobs preventing you from seeing the world around you? Or are you letting the light do its job by illuminating your path?
Ahem, pardon me, but I must get my point across - I fucking love you and I fucking love this post.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, ADORE this.