“…. If the gospel of Jesus is just some formula I obey in order to get taken off the naughty list and put on some nice list, then it doesn’t meet the deep need of the human condition, it doesn’t interact with the great desire of my soul, and it has nothing to do with the hidden (or rather obvious) language we all are speaking. But if it is more, if it is a story about humanity falling away from the community that named it, and an attempt to bring humanity back to that community, and if it is more than a series of ideas, but rather speaks directly into this basic human need we are feeling, then the gospel of Jesus is the most relevant message in the history of mankind …. Now that I no longer see it [the Bible] as a self-help book, it has infinitely more merit. It has a soul, I guess you could say.” – Donald Miller, Searching For God Knows What
I love this quote. Actually I love the whole book – read it if you can. Donald Miller has good ideas, not all fully formed, but that’s what is beautiful; it is more of a conversation with him than a lecture by him.
I love this quote because it expresses a feeling that has been growing in my soul lately. I am starting, for maybe the first time ever, to really read the Bible. I probably could let loose a flood of Bible facts, but I’m starting to realize how insignificant those facts are if I’m missing all that is going on underneath. So instead of reading it as a textbook or a manual, I’ve begun to read the Bible like a novel. And when I read Dostoyevsky or Steinbeck, I usually end up feeling like I’m getting to know the author personally through the characters and the language and the style. In the same way, I have been getting to know my God in a new way through Moses and David and the young church in Acts. And, even more, I’ve begun to see how identical I am to each of these characters, which makes them all the more real to me. Essentially, I guess, I’ve started to read the Bible less with my mind and more with my heart, and it is startling and wonderful to have my eyes opened to all that I’ve been missing…..
I especially love reading Psalms, because to me it feels like I’m reading David’s personal journal. It’s all in there – all his suffering and hurt, all his overwhelming joy and praise, all his mistakes and all his triumphs. And recorded in between all these lines is proof of God’s faithfulness and love for a man who turns out to be just like any else, not perfect but so desperately in love with his God.
Two more things:
Being in Spain has transformed my relationship with my Jesus. There is no Intervarsity or Calvary Chapel here to spoon-feed me, and so my personal devotions have become all the more essential and, consequently, all the more fulfilling. God is so good to me.
And lastly, here is one last quote from Donald Miller that I want so desperately to live out: “…And I believe now and will always believe that if we are willing to love people, God will pour out His resources to bless our lives and our efforts.”
I need to relearn LOVE.
