I cannot stand when people use the Bible for their own personal gain. They manipulate scripture, take things out of context, and guilt people into doing exactly what they want. This is probibly on the top of the list, for me, of the most unaccepably wrong things you can ever do. 1.torture/murder, 2. Trafficking in Persons, and 3. Canibalism.
Just in case you're not sure, I'll give you some backround on the Bible. The Bible is a book inspired by God, written by man. It is by no means perfect and is not meant to be taking completely literal. A lot of it is a historical account of laws, the begninning of a nation, and wars. Some are open for interpretation, and I believe were ment to simply be inspiring like Ester. Some are basically like journal entries, Psalms, Proverbs, and the Letters of Paul for example.
I am not undermindidng the Bible by any means, I believe in the power of God's word and it has changed me many of times. But, no where does it give us the power to use it as a control device.
I have seen this used many times. So has the entire world! The Church is responsible for segregation and the opression of Blacks and women, just to name a few, all because of this very thing! The manipulation of scripture to be used as a power to cause thousands to submit and become brain washed. I still see this happen around me, preachers "command" things over their congregations through scripture as a "call to action." Husbans and wives us this, parents and kids, teachers and students, and many many others are constantly using the Bible falsely.
When you use the Bible falsely and manipulate it to your advanage it turns people away. I have seen this happen and once you make the Bible this hitch hikers guide to heaven, no one want's anything to do with Church. It makes people bitter towards God, and you doing the exact opposite of what you are suppose to be doing.
Our only calling as Christians is to spread the Gospel, and take as many people home when Jesus returns as we can. We want people to know the love, peace, hope, restoration, and provision of God. It is the most fufilling thing in the world because we were created for Him and he loves us so much, more than any one of us could every love anyone on this earth. I love the Bible, I think it is an amazing tool to encourage one another, hear God's voice, and just learn. I belive it is that, and only that. I don't believe that you have to even own a Bible to be a Christian. The Bible has become a crutch and a tool to manipulate people. All that does is create a bunch of spineless "christians" that turn away. Beign a Christian is not about the Bible! It's about your relationship with Christ. You can't be a Christian just by reading a book. It is a relationship that takes a lot of hard work and effort from both sides.
The Bible is just a bonus to our walk with Christ. All of the stories we read, all those people with such great faith, they didn't have a Bible. And I think that's our biggest problem. We rely far too much on it. We give it way too much power. You want faith like Joshua? Live like Joshua, don't read about Joshua. You want Faith like Paul, live like Paul. These great men and women of the Bible only had one thing! God. They did not have a Bible, and a lot of times they did not even have a Church! They just had pure, organic relationships with God. They spent time with Him, quality time. It's the most beautiful thing in this world, and also the most rare.
Don't get me wrong, I loooove me some Bible time. I try and get some in every single day when I wake up. But that is not the foundation of my faith. I do not feel guilty if I don't get to read. Why? Because I have a relationship with the Maker of the Universe and I spend time with Him.
It's time to put down your Bible's and get real. Have a relationship with God.
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I am adding to this post to clear up some questions people have raised. First of all, the entire point I was trying to make is that you must have a relationship with the living God of this universe, not the Bible. The Bible is a tool in which He speaks to us through and can guide us with, and it is wrong to take it into one's own hands to manipulate other believers in any way (taking out of context, using it as a tool to persuade, etc.).
The Bible is the most sacred book this world will ever know. We are so blessed to have it. Through it we know what is right and wrong, so therefore, we have no excuse when we do something wrong. God's commandments and will for our lives (the basic outline) are written in it. I say the basic outline because I belive that we each have a very special task and calling on our lives that is unique from any other person. God creates each of us different from the other for a different task. But the Bible lays the basic's out for us, which is the foundation of our faith. Foundations must be strong, or the whole structure will fall, and the 10 Commandments are the strongest this world has ever seen. So much so that I believe we are all born knowing some of these w/o anyone ever telling us what's right or wrong.
I believe the Bible is true. It is consisistent within itself and has so much power. I read it first thing every single morning before ever getting out of bed and ready for the day, I start there. It is packed full with knowledge and tells us how to live as Christians. However, it cannot save you, God can and does. We are Christians by confessing with our mouths that God is God and beliving in our hearts, only by that we are saved and we only get the opportunity to even be saved because of what God's only son, Jesus did for us. He died, for all of us. The Bible brings us closer to God, tells us how things happened, and shows us how to live.
The Bible is also used by God to speak to us, move us, inspire us, and show us how to handle certain situations through others circumstances or the wise words of Jesus and the prophets.
I don't know it all. My previous blog above was just an idea, or revelation that I had so to speak. You cannot take everything literal that I say in this blog. A lot, most, everything I say is an idea. I do not know everything, and I will not pretend that I do. In fact, I am often insecure because I was not born with book smarts, instead I was given a lot of common senese and school has always been a struggle for me. I'm sure you can see that by my many spelling errors that are within this blog, I'm sure. But, sometimes I feel that I get stereotyped as a know it all just because of my age and the fact that I'm in college. "Oh wait, your in college, what am I saying? You already know it all..." That is not true at all about any of us. We are all in a phase of learning and deep inspiration. We are soaking everything in like a sponge and are so excited about our futures and newly found knowledge that we want everyone else to know what we have learned. It is no different than you're 6 year old telling you that is not how you write an R, and his or her reason is because this (then shows you) is how their teacher told them how to do it. Everyone is excited when they feel like they have learned something new and they want to tell others so they might experience the same thing. We aren't closed minded, we are just telling you that this is what my teacher said. We may seem closed off to others opinions or like we aren't hearing you, but we are. Of course I am speaking from myself on behalf of all college students, I could be totally wrong and this is just me. But, I do know that I love to learn. So much so that is is one of my top strenghts. Therefore, I love when I feel like I've discovered something, new to me of course, and I want everyone else to know.
I am also a very literal person, very. I understand that the Bible is inspired by God, but when I read it and it says "And Abraham said" or "Elijah did..." I take it literally. When God himself or Jesus says something, it's them and I feel more power in those words than Moses'. Everyone interprets the Bible differently, and I don't think it is right to impose your interpretation on others. That's all, and by you reading my blog and my personal view on this, DO NOT take me as some expert! You decide for yourself.
Overview: I belive in the Bible 100%, I belive that it is inspired by God, I believe that it is the foundation of our faith, I believe it brings closeness to God when read, and I believe that everyone should read their Bible every day and take advantage of this great blessing, but they should not depend on it entirely for their relationship with Christ or use it out of context. It's a relationship, a real, raw, true, relationship that makes us Christians and changes us. God uses the Bible, but He should be the center, not the Bible.
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