The Real Main Character

"When I was a boy, I often would lie on my back in the warm grass of summer, just before bedtime, and stare into the star-filled sky. I remember feeling small--and I remember liking that feeling; I think it was because I knew there was somethin big into which I fit, something far bigger than me. I didn't know what that something was, but I knew it had to do with a big story that God was telling. I wanted to know that story, and I wanted to be part of it.

[T]oday's Bible teachers and pastors and other Christian leaders are expected to...become experts in handling the "real" problems of life.

As a result, the theological statements coming out of modern culture look more like recipes for living than declared truths about God. Transcendent theology, which flows out of the big picture, has been replaced by recipe theology, a way of thinking that keeps its focus on the particulars of life. The center of transcendent theology is God, his character and purpose. The center of recipe theology is man, his needs and well-being."

~Silence of Adam, by Larry Crab

I tend to read the Bible for its application to my life to the exclusion of anything else. This makes certain (seemingly inapplicable) passages feel irrelevant (i.e. Why is Numbers in there?). Crab's insight is simple yet profound: a "recipe" gloss on the Bible is ill-advised. You don't read Romeo and Juliet for dating advice; you would lose so much of the depth of the play if you did so (and it probably wouldn't provide very good advice anyway). Similarly, reading the Bible as a how-to guide leaves it bare-boned. The "meatiness" of the Bible can only be appreciated when you see it as God's story of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. This is the only way to make any sense of the Bible. He is the main character; we are not.

This is not to say that Bible is irrelevant to one's everyday life. It certainly is not. It's application, however, filters through the framework of God's story. The Bible isn't about guilting or shaming us into following "God's recipe." The gospel is what frees us to do those things. Our understanding of what Christ has given to save us allows us to address our ambitions, insecurity, pride, greed, etc. in order to be generous, loving, compassionate, etc. (For more, check out my boy, Tim Keller's Preaching the Gospel)

I have found Crab's insight to be applicable even outside of how to handle quiet times. In a recent talk I heard, Connally Gillam suggested that instead of seeing the bible as a roadmap leading you through life and telling you exactly how to be an advocate for Christ, try picturing the Bible as a compass pointing you towards where God is working. The compass metaphor is quite liberating. For those of us with the tendency to obsess over what to do, the idea that we can enjoy and appreciate glimpses of God's work around us reminds us that the world's salvation does not rest on our shoulders. Christ took care of it. That is the Gospel.