Before I begin telling my story, I want to say that I'm not in any way trying to do violence to anyone's belief in the Bible as the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God. My beliefs in these three characteristics of God's word has not changed in the least. What did change was how I approach and read the Scriptures. In a nutshell, I approached the Scriptures assuming that they said and believed what I said and believed. I came to the Bible, not to meet with a Person and to be taught by Him; instead, I came to simply prove and affirm what I already believed. Now, mind you, I didn't realize that I was doing this, until God began to humble me. So, with that being said, here's my story.
I grew up partly in the Southern Baptist expression of Christianity and partly within the Assemblies of God. Both of these had different interpretations of certain scriptures and doctrines, but both were grounded in the Bible and emphasized the centrality of the Bible in importance. I was between the ages of 7 - 10 years old. I wasn't a Christian at this point, but it was time of God sowing some seed into my heart that would later come forth. By my early teens, I had begun to entertain the idea (though I didn't fully believe it) that God was a man-made concept. At age 15, I had a living, personal encounter with a real, living Person, Jesus Christ - and I was born again and baptized that very night, July 16, 1979. For the most part, I knew very little scripture. But one thing I did know (and still know): God and I had officially met, and a real transaction had taken place.
As I grew in my new life, I discovered different traditions and expressions of Christianity with their distinctive doctrines, beliefs, and interpretations of certain scriptures. Anything that made sense to me in their explanations and interpretations, I absorbed and embraced. Within the first 5 years of my new life, I had been exposed to non-denominational churches that emphasized weekly observance of the Lord's Supper (as a memorial, not a sacrament), the independent charismatic groups, and the Southern Baptist expression. All of them were Protestant and Evangelical in basic doctrine. I gleaned wonderful truths from all of them and am very thankful for them to this day. Now, that being said,....
Most of us, I think, approach our Christian life and the Scriptures with much more inherited baggage than we realize. Some of it is passed on through well-meaning family, some of it is fed to us by well-meaning Christians who simply regurgitate what was fed to them by well-meaning Christians. But much of it has been handed down to us through various traditions and expressions of Christianity by well-meaning Christians who, like myself, never approached the Scriptures as a learner but as a knower. So, with that in mind, I want to begin sharing with you the beliefs and interpretations that God used to challenge my approach to the Bible.
I want to start with one that was huge for me: "Call no man father"....
I grew up partly in the Southern Baptist expression of Christianity and partly within the Assemblies of God. Both of these had different interpretations of certain scriptures and doctrines, but both were grounded in the Bible and emphasized the centrality of the Bible in importance. I was between the ages of 7 - 10 years old. I wasn't a Christian at this point, but it was time of God sowing some seed into my heart that would later come forth. By my early teens, I had begun to entertain the idea (though I didn't fully believe it) that God was a man-made concept. At age 15, I had a living, personal encounter with a real, living Person, Jesus Christ - and I was born again and baptized that very night, July 16, 1979. For the most part, I knew very little scripture. But one thing I did know (and still know): God and I had officially met, and a real transaction had taken place.
As I grew in my new life, I discovered different traditions and expressions of Christianity with their distinctive doctrines, beliefs, and interpretations of certain scriptures. Anything that made sense to me in their explanations and interpretations, I absorbed and embraced. Within the first 5 years of my new life, I had been exposed to non-denominational churches that emphasized weekly observance of the Lord's Supper (as a memorial, not a sacrament), the independent charismatic groups, and the Southern Baptist expression. All of them were Protestant and Evangelical in basic doctrine. I gleaned wonderful truths from all of them and am very thankful for them to this day. Now, that being said,....
Most of us, I think, approach our Christian life and the Scriptures with much more inherited baggage than we realize. Some of it is passed on through well-meaning family, some of it is fed to us by well-meaning Christians who simply regurgitate what was fed to them by well-meaning Christians. But much of it has been handed down to us through various traditions and expressions of Christianity by well-meaning Christians who, like myself, never approached the Scriptures as a learner but as a knower. So, with that in mind, I want to begin sharing with you the beliefs and interpretations that God used to challenge my approach to the Bible.
I want to start with one that was huge for me: "Call no man father"....
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