Reading God's Word Through God's Lens

I'm going to be very transparent this week and share something that, frankly, I'm pretty embarrassed and ashamed of. But I think confession and vulnerability are for our good, so here it goes:

Jill and I still watch American Idol.

What a relief it is to get that off my chest.

Yes, it still comes on, like 15 years later. No, we don't actually vote, but yes, we do yell our opinions at the tv (by "we" I mean mainly me while Jill works on something). It would be ten times worse if I had the ability to watch the NBA playoffs, thank the Lord for no cable.

So, the other night we were catching up on an episode from this season and I was getting particularly upset about the people with subpar talent that they were letting through. Now, obviously I'm all for compassion and sympathy, but in a competition that aims to find the best voices all over the country, putting people through just because they have a great story is not helpful in my opinion. If anything, it's hurtful. You're only prolonging what we all know is inevitable: they're not going to make it very far.

As the show wrapped up and I continued ranting, Jill interjected saying, "I'm so grieved."

It threw me off guard a little bit, as I thought, "Well, I mean it upsets me too, but I don't know that I would say it "grieves" me. That seems a little strong..."

She continued, "No, I'm over here grieving about the fact that Moses wasn't allowed into the promised land."

Then I realized while I was yelling at the TV she was over on the couch reading her bible. Yeah, that about sums up our marriage. Of course I was neck deep into a rant that I didn't know how to turn off, so I responded with, "You know what's wild? Moses didn't get to go into the promised land but THESE people are getting to go to the next round!" She wasn't amused.

THE WORD

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

-Numbers 20:12

Our conversation eventually shifted from light-hearted and humorous to take on a little more serious tone. I put on my "sensible Bible-teacher" hat and began to explain why God couldn't allow Moses in after his rebellious attitude. Perhaps even more importantly, He needed a warrior like Joshua to conquer the land. She agreed, we felt accomplished for having an intellectual and Biblical discussion of sorts, and then we moved on and called it a night.

It wasn't until the next day as I was going through my morning routine that those words began ringing in my spirit; "I'm grieved." When was the last time I grieved over something I read in the Bible? As a matter of fact, when have I EVER grieved over the consequences of someone's sin in the Bible at all? When was the last time I was as EMOTIONALLY invested in a Bible story as I am in an episode of a substandard reality show?

It dawned on me, despite my ability to explain the rationality of God's decision and my determination to agree with God's judgement, I'm not as quick to share God's HEART. The reality is, I'm pretty sure the decision to keep Moses out grieved God's heart too.

GOD'S GRIEF IS GOOD GRIEF

Growing up I loved reading the Peanuts comic strips. Everyone who did knows Charlie Brown's most common catch phrase was: "Good grief." That's an interesting phrase to me. What makes grief good? How can grief of any kind be considered good?

God's grief is good grief in that it's justified and righteous. We know sin and rebellion anger God, but are we aware that it also grieves Him?

"How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!"

-Psalm 78:40

"But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them."

-Isaiah 63:10

It's God's grief that precedes His wrath and judgement. The heart of God is FOR His people, not against them. When we read Deuteronomy 34, as Moses comes to the end of his life, God takes him up on the mountain to show him a full view of the land his descendants will inherit. It reads very poetically and quite frankly I can't think of a more peaceful way for Moses to pass than knowing he had been faithful to lead God's people to the edge of their destiny and was now able to trust them in the hands of God as he transitioned into eternity.

But there was still grieving. Forty days to be exact. For forty days the Israelites shared the heart of God in mourning over their fearless leader who the Bible says "knew the Lord face to face." He was so near to the God that the Lord Himself personally buried his body.

CLEANSE YOUR LENS

Everyone has a worldview, a way in which they process what they experience. The lens through which we see God, the scriptures, others, and ourselves can be easily influenced. We are suckers for viewing our current circumstances through the lens of past events and inner desires.

If we're not careful we will read the Word through the lens of education rather than the lens of revelation. Paul told us the letter kills but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). We must be honest with ourselves about the fact that we all come to the Word with a preset list of ideas and beliefs. It's vitally important that we allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse our lens so that we don't conform the scriptures to our beliefs but rather conform our beliefs to the scriptures.

THE BIBLE ISN'T ABOUT YOU

There's a young guy at our church I've been pouring into over the years whom I affectionately refer to as "the hair" because of the massive mane that dawns his head. The Hair is one of our regular musicians on Sundays and from time to time he wears a shirt that states in big bold letters, "THE BIBLE ISN'T ABOUT YOU." I always give him a hard time about how confusing it is for people to read.

As a seminary student and lover of theology he understands something that perhaps most believers do not: the scriptures ALL point to Jesus. From front to finish, Genesis to Revelation, both old and new testament, the Bible is summed up in the man that is Jesus Christ. But we often read it with ourselves in mind. When we read about David fighting Goliath we think of the giants WE must face and defeat. When we read about Moses leading the people out of Egypt, we think about the things WE must leave behind. But David and Moses are both archetypes of Jesus. It's Jesus who defeats the giant and it's Jesus who leads us out of captivity.

Now let me be clear, I don't think it's totally wrong to look for ourselves in scripture. I believe Jesus came to reveal the Father AND to reveal us as His children. I think we find US in JESUS. But it's imperative that we don't come to the Word only looking for ourselves in its pages. We must learn to seek God in His Word.

CONCLUSION

I want to be grieved by what grieves God. If we're quick to be angry about the sin and darkness in the world but not grievous about it, we have a skewed lens. I want to be moved by the Word, not just in ACTION but in EMOTION. The application of scripture is important but so are its implications. It was inspired and written for us to still be dramatically shaped and transformed by it. As you read the Word today, be conscious of your own biases and bents. Embrace in the roller coaster of scripture and the heart of God that it carries.

And maybe dial it back a bit on the reality tv. I'll try to do the same.