April 20, 2007

We live in a society in which the Bible rests comfortably on bookshelves or coffee tables, and is never actually read. As a result, the Bible becomes a tool for debate, an intellectual puzzle, or repository of pagan-style chants rather than what it actually is . . . and as I read (and am now re-reading) the Bible, I see that it is neither a love letter nor a set of instructions, as evangelical and/or charismatic Christians around me always claimed.

Instead, the Bible is a sad story.

In its pages is the account of a God who works tirelessly to prevent a world from rushing headlong into a chasm of darkness and self-destruction, only to fail. The garden of Eden, meant to be an idyllic paradise without suffering, became one of the human race's most bitter memories; the nation of Israel, meant to be a pure exemplar of God's character and power to a world divided against itself, instead became a source of tears and ridicule; and the church, having begun in a display of clear manifestations of God through Jesus Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit . . . decayed. The end of the Bible, the book of Revelation, which describes in detail Christ's return to the Earth, was a source of hope for Christians languishing under persecution, but it is also a testimony of deep sorrow. In the end, God is left with a second coming that will constitute, not a redemption for the entire human race, but the gathering of a few scattered people here and there whose interests lay in the well-being of others.

The Bible, at its core, is not designed to make its readers comfortable--hence, I suspect, people feel more drawn to Christian self-help books, videotapes, and CD's which offer promises of self-actualization and fulfillment without due soul-searching and personal reflection. Instead, at its core, the Bible is a window of truth into the dark heart of the human race, unrelenting in its honesty.

We live in a society without inspiration, without ideals--a soecity that, no matter how many toys it generates, is utterly lifeless. This absence of spiritual vitality is nowhere more evident than in the events that occurred at Virginia Tech 3 days ago--in a society in which soul-health has become less important than the prospect of buying a car, having the "right" friends, and engaging in as many selfish modes of entertainment as possible, it is inevitable that acts of violence will become all the more bizarre, desperate, and animalistic in their brutality. The greater our efforts to ignore the spiritual deficit which is so plainly obvious in every facet of our society, the higher the price we will eventually pay when we can no longer avoid the consequences of our actions.

It is with the hope of averting a catastrophe beyond humanity's worst nightmares that I write this blog. I hope that as you read it, you will be confronted not only with the words of the Bible but with the spirit of the Bible as well, a spirit that yearns for the reconciliation of every lost and wandering soul in this world with its creator. Christ, as John so eloquently states in his gospel, is every word of God revealed in the pages of the Bible personified--love, judgment, and mercy, as well as unrelenting truth.

May you come to know him through its pages, and may you encounter his spirit through the reflections contained in this blog.