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2011 Northside VBS

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Combatting Biblical Illiteracy

I don't know how many times I've heard people say, "I wish I knew my Bible better," or "I know I should know what's in the Bible," or even "Now where is Isaiah again?"  Well here you go!  Two simple steps to combat biblical illiteracy!

Solution:  Read & Study the Bible
Step 1:  Get a good study bible that you enjoy reading (put down the KJV if you don't like wading thru Ye Olde English). I recommend the NRSV New Oxford Annotated Study Bible -- you can pick it up hardcover for around $30, or leatherbound for $75, or the NIV Study Bible  is really good and will run you about $30.  Between the two, the NRSV is a better translation, but the NIV has excellent notes and historical information.

Step 2:  Start somewhere you can learn something
Want to know more about Jesus?  Start in the Gospel of Luke.  Why Luke?  Because he takes a very orderly approach the the life and ministry of Jesus.  Luke was a physician (in the 1st Century that basically meant less people died after he helped them), and so he investigated everything he could about this Jesus fellow.  He has a particular emphasis on Jesus' ministry to the outsiders and unworthy.

Looking for a better grasp of what it means to be a Christian and what the church is?  Start in Romans.  I'm not even going to spoil it for you.  Enjoy yourself.

Are you just searching for a deeper connection with God?  Turn to the book of Psalms.  Unlike most of the other books in the Bible, Psalms is a collection of 150 works of song and poetry and they don't need to be read in order.  Sip a cup of coffee and sit in God's presence. 

Is the Old Testament daunting?  Did the little piggy cry 'wee, wee, wee, all the way home?'  Read Exodus.  It's the basic history of the people of God under Moses' leadership.  You get all the exciting stuff in context -- plagues of Egypt, parting of the red sea, 10 commandments, manna in the wilderness, all the food laws, the golden calf, and the ark of the covenant (yes, that ark!).

Farming

Sowing oats the old-school way.  Quaint and time consuming.

I had a great conversation today with a real-life farmer.  He's a corporate suit by day (although I doubt he wears suits that often), and moonlights on his farm up in the Knoxville area.  His kids think it's cool, and so does his wife, except when he's up there for several weeks straight.

I both envy and understand his need to get away and get his hands dirty.  I also like getting my hands dirty, but doubt I could be productive enough at it to actually consider making a living from it.  I'm more of the 'play in the dirt' type.

The one thing I appreciated was when my farmer buddy, Scott, told me that after drilling the seeds in and covering them up, you fertilize and pray for rain and sun.  Even though he uses a 3.5 ton tractor to plant rather than an ox and sack of seed, much has not changed about farming in the last two millennia.

Jesus' parable of the sower from Matthew 13 uses the agricultural metaphor of sowing seeds and waiting for growth.  It's also a good reminder that, "neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth" (1 Cor 3:7).

I say this not as a cop out to ministry, just as farmers do not use it as a cop out to doing the work of farming.  The reality is that we can only control what we say and do, and who we interact with.  And even those are limited by things beyond our control.  We must trust that God's ministry through us will be the grace-filled work of Jesus Christ, and that the Holy Spirit will accomplish God's purpose.

Modern sowing.  Still hard agricultural work, but you get to ride a tractor.

It's also a reminder that we can only do so much.  We have no more control over the soil of people's hearts than the farmer does over the composition of a new field.  We do have control over our own hearts, however, and should carefully cultivate within ourselves an openness and receptivity to God's way.

It is not our job to 'make people believe' -- it's our job to love them and tell them about Jesus.  Not brow beat them with threats of hell.  Not offer nice but meaningless platitudes.  It is time to invest in ministry to others like farmers invest in farming:  ALL IN!