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"The challenge -- never
negligible -- regarding the Christian Scriptures is getting them read,
but read on their own terms, as God's revelation."
~ Eugene Peterson
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Without
Authority
Two things matter.
We can express the foundation
of the Christian faith with two core statements; "the Lordship of
Christ" and "the authority of Scripture."
While these phrases roll off our
tongues fairly easily, the application of them to our lives often
reflects some dissonance.
Each day in the United States
168,000 copies of the Bible are sold, given, or distributed. Yet only a
handful will be opened and read with any regularity and even fewer will
be studied.
We could probably describe the
Bible as the least read bestseller of our time.
While we admire the Bible's
historical significance and respect its role for preaching and
teaching, many believers view it as irrelevant, boring, difficult,
or hard to grasp. And in a sound-byte, image-based culture, that's
understandable. Disturbing, but understandable.
Scripture serves as little
more than a repair manual. We refer to it when something breaks. But
we've pretty much abandoned the idea that the Living God continues to
speak through it in a dynamic, personal, life-directing way.
As pastors, teachers, and
authors quote verses to bolster their messages, we sense that they've
done no more than the car salesman who cites manufacturer specifications.
We're glad that the Manufacturer gets a mention in the conversation. It
provides some reassurance and helps us feel better. But we grow
increasingly content to refer
to the Word rather than soak
in it.
To limit the authority of
Scripture in such a way is to strip it of its personal authority
altogether. It becomes just one voice among many, easily rivaled by Dr.
Phil, Oprah, or William Young (The
Shack ).
In a world that increasingly
rejects authority, that insists that each person has the right to
self-determination, and that makes ethics a matter of individual
preference, the Bible seems archaic to say the least.
But here's the rub.
The Lordship of Christ and the
authority of Scripture are directly proportional to each other. A low
view of the authority of Scripture, reflects a low view of the Lordship
of Christ. Similarly, any rejection of the exclusive Lordship of Christ
demonstrates a practical diminishment of the authority of Scripture.
May we fan into flame the
Lordship of Christ and the authority of Scripture with fresh,
energizing, life-giving conviction.
In HOPE –
David
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