SHOULD A NON-CHRISTIAN READ THE BIBLE?
YES!
I like books. I think literature and culture matter. Someone once said that “you can’t understand Russia without reading Dostoyevsky”. Now, I traveled to Russia over 20 years ago, and I hadn’t heard of Dostoyevsky. But every time I’ve read him in the years since, it has been incredibly informative to my experience there.
In the same way, I don’t believe you can truly understand American or the Western experience without having some sort of interaction with the Christian faith. They might have ignored it (Franklin), rejected parts of it (Jefferson) or not lived it out fully (Washington) but America’s founders were all informed and shaped by the Bible. The Bible shaped the path of nations, from the Martin Luther & the Protestant reformation (Germany) to Wilberforce & the abolition of slavery (Great Britain) to Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement (America). The Bible and the Christian faith were influential to all of these cultural and historical pivot points.
WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
The Bible is not one book. Rather, it’s a collection of books. Spanish speakers (or anyone who’s watched Community) will know that Bibleoteca is a library. The Bible (Spanish/Latin: Biblia) is a library or collection of 66 books. These books were written by over 40 authors over a 1500-year period. Some of the writers were famous kings while others were obscure peasants. Some wrote history, others prophecy, while others created art through music and poetry to communicate what they believed to be the truths of God.
WHERE SHOULD I START?
Normally, you’d start at the beginning, right? Well, there’s nothing wrong with starting with the Bible’s first book (spoiler: it’s one of my favorites). But everything in the Christian faith stands or falls on Jesus Christ. Either he is the God/man who saves all humanity from our brokenness, or he is not. Everything else doesn’t matter if Jesus isn’t real. So, I would highly recommend starting in the New Testament with one of the four Gospels. Mark’s gospel is the shortest if that’s a factor in your decision.
WHAT IF I DON’T LIKE WHAT IS IN THE BIBLE?
You would not be the first. Remember that in Jesus’ day, there were a lot of people who didn’t like what Jesus said. There were a lot of people who didn’t like what his apostles taught. Many of the prophets experienced rejection and even imprisonment or death. What I’m saying is that you and I are hardly the first people to wrestle with what’s in the Bible? I’m a pastor and I have issues with stuff I come across all the time.
But if Jesus is who I believe he is. If God loves me as much as I believe he does. If humanity is as broken as I know we are. Then I believe that whatever I don’t like about the Bible or my faith is on my end, but the good news is that God is so good to us that he takes us with all of our questions, doubts and even rejections and he walks with us through these things. Most of the time, I’ve come to see how I was wrong and God was right. Sometimes, I still have trouble seeing but God’s grace is sufficient to help me in my lack of understanding.
WHAT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS?
I love questions! One of our core values is that Faith on Hill is a safe place. That means we are safe for people to have questions. We are safe for people to not agree. We are safe for people to just “not be there yet.” But we also are a Jesus place, so we believe that Jesus speaks to our questions and we would love to walk that journey with you.
-Pastor Adam