Thursday, February 19, 2009

Wandering Wednesday

I was listening to Jars of Clay today while playing my morning rounds of Solitaire. The song "Oh My God" came on. There's this one line that says "We just want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder". I realized in that moment why I've been more than miffed at God lately. I've experienced a lot of intense emotional pain throughout the last few years. The pain came from making the right decisions, but that doesn't make it hurt less. I think right now all I want to see is that the pain was worth something. And I'm not seeing that. Thank you to those that are already formulating their response, "But God has a reason and you'll see that one day." I truly appreciate your loving and biblically correct answer. I just want God to take a step toward reminding me that the pain is worth the thunder. That's all.

The line "All I really know is I want to know. All I really know is I don't want to know." has been running through my head all day. I think it's from a Counting Crows song.

I've been doing some theological deconstruction lately. Not because I've lost my faith but because I want to understand more deeply and own it on a whole new level. I figured the first step was to look at Biblical inerrancy since Christians generally believe that one way that God speaks is through the Bible and all theology flows from it. I'm not going to lie. There's a few spots in the Bible that bother me in terms of inerrancy and I still don't have an answer to them, but if someone off the street asked me what I thought I would probably give them a good evangelical answer. I don't want to go the way that many go and just say that the Bible is authoritative but not necessarily inerrant. If it's not all it's cracked up to be, why give it authority? On the flip side, it bothers me that people claim that the Bible is inerrant and then pick and choose what parts of the Bible they're going to follow. If you are going to believe it, own it with all of your being.
I still haven't formulated a complete answer on Biblical inerrancy, but I have a feeling that when the decision is made, it will radically effect the way that I live life.

Thanks for sticking with me for another wandering Wednesday. Happy trails.

1 comment:

Rach said...

hmm...and to think I've been highly concerned with which book to read next...at least your getting your thinking out in written word. That always helps me. I've also found that "it always helps me" to come up with an answer in what I like to call "Boyte Speak." Ponder, take off your glasses, ponder some more, and then Boyte it up. Oh, and don't forget to give yourself points accordingly. I hate to think of Stephanie Davis or Ashley Jones having more points on that all important tally sheet of life.