I am utterly amazed at the ability of very educated theologians and clergy's ability to use the Bible like a fortune cookie. When I say a fortune cookie, I mean the action of tearing into the fortune cookie and blindly finding the veritable answers to all of life's questions. Of course, I am no expert. I listen and try to discern the best practices from more experienced members of my community to their advice and one thing that is universal. It is the confirmation of the whole being the sum of all of it's parts. In other words, it is the whole of the Bible, the beautifully challenging, purposefully dense, maddening, and ultimately divine book that we Christians use as our guide towards our ethical temporary existense on this mortal coil. What an amazing sin it must be to take small parts of the Bible and use it to propogate dissention and despair. This is a despair and hurt that is born of a human generated judgment. This judgement is an action that has no validity or authority for one who believes in God's unique providence to judge.
I have had people tell me I belong to a church in trouble. When I ask why, they
let me know about verses that are quite difficult and challenging when they are applied to some of the current issues facing all of the church. It just so happens that my church is having an open conversation instead of a closed one, and many think that is all the Episcopal Church is about. When speaking to me about our "troubles" I am usually confronted by a litany of scripture that persecutes the Church and raise many questions that are worthy of further discussion. The verses are verses that warn and sentence peolpe to seculsion and damnation with a very cut and dry judgement if taken on their own. Without reading the surrounding verses, or, much less, the entire Bible, the legalistic suffering that would be imposed on Humanity would truly be devastating . I think that we find an easy Bible, with the simplicity of fortune cookie like wisdom passed out in convienet sentences, much more comfortable than the challenging beautiful thing that is our Book of scripture. In other words, it is must be very difficult to be orthodox about the verses of Dueteronomy dealing with sexuality when one continues to eat shrimp and wear poly cotton blends, which is also forbidden.
So when searching for the answers to lifes sticky and ethical questions, please, go to the Bible. Please go to the whole Bible in all of it's glorious confusion and revelation. Who said God was easy?
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